Minnesota AG Keith Ellison to join probe of no-knock warrant shooting

Minnesota’s attorney general will join the investigation into the fatal police shooting of Amir Locke, a Black man who was killed while asleep on the couch during an early morning no-knock warrant raid on Wednesday.

State Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) has not yet publicly announced he will join the investigation, but authorities confirmed the details to The Associated Press on Friday.

Locke, 22, was killed by the Minneapolis Police Department’s SWAT team while officers were serving a no-knock warrant that did not name him as a suspect.

In body-worn camera footage released on Thursday, officers are seen entering the Bolero Flats apartment just before 7 a.m. in downtown Minneapolis. After entering the apartment, officers can be heard shouting “Police!,” which stirred Locke awake from the couch, where he was covered in what appears to be a white blanket.

As he rose up from the couch, Locke was shot multiple times. Police said he aimed a gun at the officers, and the Minneapolis Police Department released a still image from the video showing a handgun near his body.

Following the incident, the officer who shot Locke, Mark Hanneman, was placed on administrative leave, according to Garrett Parten, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis Police Department.

The Minneapolis Police Department is conducting an internal investigation into the incident while the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is conducting an external, independent investigation. 

“The internal investigation will focus on policy and procedure as it existed at the time the warrant was served,” Parten said. “The chief did say that we will be reviewing the warrants as they relate to policy.”

Parten also confirmed to The Hill that police were serving the no-knock warrant for the St. Paul Police Department’s homicide division at three separate apartment units in the building, but declined to speak further on the case.