Ten Minneapolis lawmakers have sent a letter to Mayor Jacob Frey and Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman urging them to release the bodycam footage in the killing of a suspect as they were executing a warrant for St. Paul Police.
In the letter, the legislators call for the release so that they can begin to rebuild trust between the community the police.
"These past few years have been difficult on the Minneapolis community due to strained relations and lack of trust between the community and the Minneapolis Police Department. We believe that one path to establishing trust between the police department and the community is greater transparency and accountability of police actions. Releasing the bodycam footage of this event, allowing the public to see actions of both officers and Mr. Locke, is essential."
Community leaders say the man who was killed was Amir Locke. Minneapolis Police have not officially confirmed the deceased.
The letter also asks Mayor Frey to give the transparency they say he has promised.
"Minneapolis has a long path before us in establishing a trusting, effective, and professional relationship between its police department and community. Increasing transparency around this tragic situation will be an important step in this journey. We urge you to think creatively with the current laws to release the footage. And we stand ready to support you in your efforts to update state laws so that these delays are no longer a roadblock to the transparency that you and the community seek."
In a tweet, the ACLU also called for the footage to be released.
"Minneapolis police killed a man while serving a search warrant. While we wait for info, we call on MPD to act with full transparency: Release body-cam footage & the names of involved officers. Whenever police kill someone, it's a tragedy."
The Democratic legislators signing the letter were Rep. Fue Lee (59A), Rep. Esther Agbaje (59B), Rep. Sydney Jordan (60A), Rep. Mohamud Noor (60B), Rep. Frank Hornstein (61A), Rep. Jamie Long (61B), Rep. Hodan Hassan (62A), Rep. Aisha Gomez (62B), Rep. Jim Davnie (63A), and Rep. Emma Greenman (63B).
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