A federal court has ruled that a civil rights lawsuit filed against the City of Minneapolis by the parents of a man shot and killed by Minneapolis police will continue.
The lawsuit was filed after 22-year old Amir Locke was shot and killed by Minneapolis police officer Mark Hanneman during a no-knock raid in downtown Minneapolis in February 2022. Details on the amount the family is suing the city for have not been released.
Locke's parents claim the use of deadly force violated Locke's Fourth Amendment rights and that the city maintained unconstitutional policies that contributed to his death.
Tthe shooting happened just before 7:00 a.m. in February of 2022 while a SWAT team was executing a search warrant on behalf of an investigation being conducted by the St. Paul police’s homicide unit.
In the bodycam footage, Locke is seen on a couch underneath blankets, and as police enter the room, he begins to get up with a visible firearm in his hands. It is at this point that the officer shoots him.
Locke was not named in the search warrant that was being issued when he was shot and killed.
Attorneys Ben Crump, Antonio Romanucci, and Jeff Storms have released a statement on behalf of Locke's family.
“This ruling marks a critical step forward in the pursuit of accountability and justice for Amir Locke and his family," said the statement. "While neither we nor Amir’s family had control over the prosecution of criminal charges, this Order now gives us the ability to fully conduct discovery into the City of Minneapolis and ensure that every stone is turned over in Amir’s name."
The statement also claims "the practices of the Minneapolis Police Department in February 2022 reflect systemic issues within the department that disproportionately impact minority communities and undermine public trust in law enforcement.”
Attorneys for the city and officer Mark Hanneman sought to dismiss the civil suit in a motion filed last fall. They claimed that Hanneman acted reasonably when he shot Locke three times, saying they believed Locke represented an immediate threat.
Two months after the shooting, then-Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison declined to file charges, saying they didn't think they could get a conviction.
Attorneys for the Locke family say body cam footage shows he never raised the weapon towards a police officer or placed his finger on the trigger.