The National Guard has been activated in the state of Minnesota in order to help the Twin Cities in case of any civil unrest following the death of Amir Locke in Minneapolis and the ongoing federal trial in St. Paul involving three officers in the George Floyd’s death.
Governor Tim Walz issued the Executive Order authorizing the Minnesota National Guard to provide public-safety assistance.
A Minneapolis police officer on Wednesday fatally shot Locke, 22, as cops executed a no-knock search warrant.
Police body camera footage released this week showed Locke asleep on a couch and then waking up and holding a handgun toward the floor before the officer opened fire.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, pictured, is activating the Minnesota National Guard as the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers nears its end in St. Paul
The federal trial of the former MPD officers J. Alexander Kueng, left, Thomas Lane, center, and Tou Thao, will enter its third week on Monday in St. Paul.
Cellphone video shows George Floyd on the ground. From left, with three officers kneeling on him: Officer Tou Thao, standing, Officer Derek Chauvin, with knee on Floyd’s neck, Officer J. Alexander Kueng and Officer Thomas Lane
The city of St. Paul has also requested help from the National Guard in advance of the federal civil rights trial verdict against three former officers for allegedly violating George Floyd’s civil rights
The city of St. Paul had also requested help in advance of a verdict against three former officers for allegedly violating George Floyd’s civil rights.
The federal trial of the former MPD officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, will enter its third week on Monday in St. Paul.
The three face federal civil rights charges stemming from their involvement in Floyd’s 2020 death.
Floyd is among several black men to die in confrontations with Minneapolis police in recent years, and his death spurred widespread protests and drive to remake the department.
The governor says the order, which is going into effect immediately, does not direct the Minnesota National Guard to assume posts throughout the Twin Cities at this time, but it does allow local law enforcement to ask them to help respond to any public safety needs. The guard are pictured in April 2021 following the death of Duante Wright
The Department of Justice is currently investigating the Minneapolis Police Department to see if it has a pattern or practice of civil rights violations.
‘Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of Minnesotans, and at the request of the City of Saint Paul, I have authorized the Minnesota National Guard to make preparations to assist local law enforcement agencies as needed,’ said Governor Walz.
‘The National Guard will be available to help keep the peace, ensure public safety, and allow for peaceful demonstrations.’
Graphic bodycam footage shows Minneapolis police enter 22-year-old Amir Locke’s (pictured) apartment while executing a search warrant in a homicide investigation
The governor says the order, which is going into effect immediately, does not direct the Minnesota National Guard to assume posts throughout the Twin Cities at this time, but it does allow local law enforcement to ask them to help respond to any public safety needs.
If needed, the governor says the state will provide more help, including the Minnesota State Patrol.
On Thursday, the mayor of Minneapolis released body camera footage showing the police shoot and kill Locke who was curled up on his couch.
The 54-second clip shows a SWAT officer use a key to enter the apartment followed by at least four others in uniform and protective vests, time-stamped at about 6:48am.
As they enter, they repeatedly shouted, ‘Police, search warrant!’ They also shout ‘Hands!’ and ‘Get on the ground!’ The video shows an officer kick a sectional sofa, and Locke begins to emerge from under a blanket, holding a pistol.
Three shots are heard, and the video ends.
The city also included a still from the video showing Locke holding the gun, his trigger finger laid aside the barrel. The top of Locke’s head is barely visible.
Bodycam footage shows an officer using a key to unlock the door and enter, followed by at least four officers in uniform and protective vests
As they enter, they repeatedly shout, ‘Police, search warrant!’ They also shout ‘Hands!’ and ‘Get on the ground!’
The footage was released after more than 36 hours of unanswered questions and calls for transparency over the shooting.
The Minneapolis Police Department said in a statement Wednesday that Locke pointed a loaded gun ‘in the direction of officers.’
An incident report said he had two wounds in the chest and one in the right wrist.
On Friday, Locke’s parents said their son was ‘executed’ by a Minneapolis SWAT team that woke him from a deep sleep, and that he reached in confusion for a legal firearm to protect himself.
Andre Locke and Karen Wells, described him as respectful, including to police, and said some of their relatives work in law enforcement.
Karen Wells, mother of Amir Locke, holds the hand of a family member as she speaks during a press conference at City Hall in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Andre Locke and Karen Wells, parents of Amir Locke, address the media at a news conference regarding the death of Locke, who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police’s SWAT team
Amir Locke’s mother Karen Wells (R), speaks flanked by his father Andre Locke, during a press conference at City Hall in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday
Wells said the couple coached their son on how to act and do ‘what they needed to do whenever they encountered police officers’ because of the danger to ‘unarmed Black males.’
‘My son was executed on 2/2 of 22,’ Wells said. ‘And now his dreams have been destroyed.’
The parents spoke at a news conference organized by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who said Locke´s family was ‘just flabbergasted at the fact that Amir was killed in this way’ and disgusted at how the Wednesday morning raid was conducted. They said he was law-abiding, with no criminal record, and had a permit to carry a gun.
‘They didn’t even give him a chance,’ Crump said, adding that it was shocking that Minneapolis police had not learned from the death of Breonna Taylor, who was killed in a botched raid at her home in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2020, leading to calls for an end to no-knock warrants nationwide.
Locke was seen wrapped in a blanket on a couch when SWAT officers entered the apartment, and displayed a handgun as they shouted at him to show his hands and get on the ground
Interim Chief Amelia Huffman confirmed in a news conference after the video was released that Locke isn’t named in the warrants. She said it isn’t clear how or whether Locke is connected to the homicide investigation, which she said is under the control of the St. Paul Police Department.
She said that the city had both knock and no-knock warrants.
Mayor Jacob Frey said the video ‘raises about as many questions as it does answers’ and said the city was pursuing answers ‘as quickly as possible and in transparent fashion’ through investigations, including one by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The officer who shot Locke was identified as Mark Hanneman, who was hired by the department in 2015.
Records released by the city showed three complaints, all closed without discipline, but gave no details. Data on the website of the citizen group Communities United Against Police Brutality showed a fourth complaint, in 2018, that remains open. No details were given.
Footage shows 22-year-old Amir Locke wrapped in a blanket on a couch holding a gun moments before he was fatally shot by Minneapolis police as they were executing a warrant
