Andre Locke Sr. called his time at the State of the Union on Tuesday night bittersweet.
Locke, the father of Amir Locke who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police officers executing a no-knock warrant in February 2022, was invited as a State of the Union guest by Rep. Ilhan Omar.
"Being at the State of the Union, it was bittersweet, exciting, historical, but most of all I was honored that I was invited," Locked told WCCO Radio's Vineeta Sawkar on the Morning News. "What an honor to represent my family."
Locke said he spent time with the family of Tyre Nichols on Tuesday. Nichols died three days after he was severely assaulted by Memphis police officers during a traffic stop.
"It's just surreal to see what they're dealing with and that we're all part of this new fraternity of family that has lost a loved one to police violence and just being victimized," he said. "I shared some kind words with them to the best of my ability. It still isn't real to his mother. I told her it's going to take awhile. We're still dealing with the loss of Amir."
Rep. Omar's reintroduced the Amir Locke End Deadly No-Knock Warrants Act to end deadly no knock warrants. According to the bill, quick-knock warrants, all nighttime warrants, as well as the use of flash-bang stun grenades, other explosive devices, chemical weapons, or any military-grade firearm would be banned.
"Too many parents have lost their children to police violence. Far too often, no-knock warrants and raids have severe and deadly consequences. We saw the consequences of not restricting no-knock warrants with the murder of Amir, who became a victim of yet another botched no-knock warrant police raid. We also lost Breonna Taylor, who was not the subject of a warrant and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time," Rep. Omar wrote. "It is unconscionable that no-knock warrants continue to be in effect with little to no restrictions, regulations, and regard for the impact on lives. We have the power to save innocent lives with the Amir Locke End Deadly No Knock Warrants Act, and I am honored to be joined by his father.”
Sawkar asked Locke about what impact he thinks the bill named after his son could have.
"Not only is no knock warrants not safe for civilians and people in the Black and brown communities, it's not even safe for officers, either," he said. "This is something that will be helpful throughout each of our communities to help us not be at high risk of losing our lives for nothing."
Just last week, Locke's family filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis and Mark Hanneman, the officer who fire the fatal shot, in federal court.