Federal judge: Lawsuit against Minneapolis SWAT officer who killed Amir Locke can proceed

A federal judge says a lawsuit accusing a Minneapolis and city SWAT officer of being responsible for constitutional violations related to the killing of Amir Locke during a no-knock search in February 2022 can move forward.

City attorneys and officer Mark Hanneman sought to dismiss the civil suit in a motion filed last fall, arguing that Hanneman acted reasonably when he shot Locke three times during a dawn raid because he believed “Locke posed an imminent death or serious physical threat.” The city attorney also argued that the officer was entitled to qualified immunity, the legal principle that protects government employees from civil liability when they act in the course of their duties.

U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud denied the city’s motion on Monday, writing that body camera footage did not conclusively show that deadly force was justified during the unannounced search. The lawsuit “alleges facts that plausibly demonstrate that Officer Hanneman’s use of force violated Amir’s clearly established Fourth Amendment rights.”

Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney representing Locke’s parents, said in a statement, “This ruling represents a critical step forward in the pursuit of accountability and justice for Amir Locke and his family. While neither we nor Amir’s family had control over law enforcement, this order now gives us the ability to fully conduct the City of Minneapolis’ investigation and ensure that every stone is turned over in Amir’s name. He was a promising and positive young musician who wanted to use his life to inspire young people in the Black community and beyond. The Minneapolis Police Department’s practices in February 2022 reflect systemic issues within the department that disproportionately affect minority communities and undermine public trust in law enforcement.”

A Minneapolis spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning.

Hanneman and the Minneapolis SWAT team stormed the downtown Bolero Flats apartment building on Feb. 2, 2022, to search for evidence related to a St. Paul homicide investigation. An officer’s body camera footage showed police quietly unlocking the apartment door with a key before rushing in and yelling “Search warrant!” while Locke lay on the couch under a blanket. When an officer kicked the couch, Locke stirred and emerged with a gun in his right hand.

Hanneman fired three times, hitting Locke in the face, chest and arm.

The killing of Locke, who was black, has brought the practice of no-knock search warrants back into the public eye. These are search warrants that allow police to enter a home without warning and are intended for high-risk searches. In this case, St. Paul police had originally requested a standard search warrant, but the Minneapolis SWAT team insisted it would be a no-knock search warrant.

Minneapolis had restricted the use of no-knock search warrants a year earlier as part of a series of reforms following the death of George Floyd. At the time, Mayor Jacob Frey said he had banned no-knock search warrants “for all but urgent cases.” Nevertheless, it remained common practice in Minneapolis, with police executing 87 search warrants after the policy change.

Locke, a DoorDash delivery driver and aspiring rapper who owned the gun legally, was not the subject of the search warrant and had no criminal record.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of his parents, alleges that the no-knock search warrant that led to his death was consistent with the city’s “drills, patterns and practices of racial discrimination in policing.”

“Any reasonable officer would have understood that Amir needed an opportunity to recognize who and what was surrounding him and then give him the opportunity to disarm himself,” the lawsuit states. “Hanneman failed to give Amir such an opportunity. … Instead, Hanneman fired three shots while Amir was still wrapped in a blanket on a couch where he had been resting peacefully just 10 seconds before the SWAT team arrived.”

At no point did Locke raise the gun toward an officer or put his finger on the trigger, the lawsuit says.

Star Tribune writer Liz Sawyer contributed to this story.