Community groups are challenging the Minneapolis Police Department over their choice to promote the officer who shot and killed Amir Locke.
The quiet promotion of Officer Mark Hanneman in September of 2022 to sergeant overseeing use-of-force training recently sparked controversy, given the department's ongoing consent decree aimed at cultural reform with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
Some community members gathered Tuesday now demanding Hanneman's immediate removal and an explanation for the promotion from Mayor Jacob Frey.
"If Officer Mark Hanneman understood how to properly use use-of-force in the kind of situation that Amir Lock found himself in, Amir would still be alive today," civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong says.
She adds that the situation underscores the public expectations for accountability and reform within the Minneapolis Police Department.
"We are dealing with a failed system," Amir Locke's Father Andre Locke said Tuesday. "The system failed my son and my family from the top down through MPD. I understand what's taking place."
In a statement, the Minneapolis Police Department said that Sgt. Hanneman is "helping lead the department’s culture shift toward prioritizing de-escalation."
“Sgt. Hanneman’s work on the current use of force training will be completed in August," Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara announced later on Tuesday. "That work has been reviewed and approved by the City’s independent evaluator. What he does next will continue to be based on the needs of the department and our continued goal to build community trust.”
The promotion came seven months after the death of Locke. The 22-year-old was killed by Minneapolis police after they had entered a downtown apartment on a no-knock warrant. He was sleeping on the couch, woke up, and grabbed a gun, which he was licensed to carry. Locke was not the suspect police were looking for, but is seen clearly on video holding a gun.
Then Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison declined to charge the officers involved in Locke's shooting.
This comes just days after an appeals court ruled that the Locke family's wrongful death lawsuit against Hanneman can move forward.