Minneapolis Police Changed My Writing Plans from Supply Chains to Yet Another Black Man Getting Killed at Their Hands
On the morning of Wednesday February 2, the Minneapolis Police Department conducted a no-knock raid in downtown Minneapolis. This raid was requested by the Saint Paul Police Department in connection to a homicide that occurred earlier in January on Saint Paul’s West Side, though it must be noted that the department specifically did not want a no-knock raid and that it was the MPD that made it so
Within ten seconds of kicking down the door, Minneapolis Police Officer Mark Hanneman shot Amir three times while he was under his blanket with his gun pointed at the floor, twice in the chest and once in the wrist. Amir was not named in any of the warrants regarding the homicide in Saint Paul.
If this sounds familiar, it is because this exact situation played out in Louisville, Kentucky, resulting in the death of Breonna Taylor.
Right now, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is reviewing the case to see if it would be appropriate to file criminal charges. Thanks to the fact that his office successfully prosecuted former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd and former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kimberly Potter on manslaughter charges for killing Daunte Wright, I am confident that Attorney General Ellison’s office will handle this case will the care and professionalism required.
Again, the Minneapolis Police Department kills another Black man. It does not matter if Officer Hanneman went in with an intent to kill; he fired the three shots that killed Amir Locke.
For those of you in the comments pointing out that Amir was armed, he had obtained his weapon to protect himself as a Lyft driver and DoorDash deliverer working in Minneapolis. He had every legal right to be armed the way he was. Amir even had his weapon pointed in the correct direction.
This last week has been quite rough for the Minneapolis area. First, a school shooting in Richfield (a suburb just outside of Minneapolis) happened, with one student dead and one more critically injured. Now a repeat of what happened in Louisville in 2020 has occurred in Minneapolis.
What is weird about this cycle is that some Republicans, mainly the gun caucus, have condemned the actions of the MPD. The head of the gun caucus, Rob Doar, even went so far as to say that Amir should still be alive.
To be fair, stranger things have happened. Representative Liz Cheney, for example, is helping investigate the terrorist attack on January 6. It does not mean I like or even trust the Wyoming representative; it just means I see her as useful in this moment.
This does reinforce that in politics, you can find unexpected allies.
Quite a few people in Minneapolis seem to want to relitigate the Minneapolis municipal elections of 2021 as a result of this botched raid. If they insist, I will remind them that Black residents on the whole rejected disbanding the MPD and that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey largely improved his performance by drastically increasing his margins on the Northside. I will also point out that the residents of Minneapolis’s Ward 4 voted out someone who, in part, led the effort to get Question 2 (to disband the MPD) passed. Keep in mind what I said about how good of a job All of Minneapolis did with its outreach to communities of color outside of the canvassers.
On Twitter, there have been many calls for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to step down. This is not going to happen. If Twitter were in any way accurate, All of Minneapolis would have badly lost, as would have a lot of the candidates whom they backed.
The one point I do agree on with a lot of these people is that Mayor Frey is not fit to be mayor of Minneapolis—he is not a strong mayor with the requisite administrative or policy skills.
In similar moments, Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter III and Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott performed far better than did Mayor Frey.
To save the strong mayor system in Minneapolis, there must be someone who can actually wield it successfully. I am thinking Minneapolis Council President Andrea Jenkins would be the best replacement. She has the necessary knowledge and experience working in municipal government to run the city.
Regardless of what happens next, Amir Locke is dead when he should not be. His name will go on the list of Black men unjustly killed by Minnesota law enforcement alongside Daunte Wright, George Floyd, and Philando Castille—and so many others.
As soon as possible, I will link any efforts to aid Amir Locke’s family in this difficult time.
Within ten seconds of kicking down the door, Minneapolis Police Officer Mark Hanneman shot Amir three times while he was under his blanket with his gun pointed at the floor, twice in the chest and once in the wrist. Amir was not named in any of the warrants regarding the homicide in Saint Paul.
If this sounds familiar, it is because this exact situation played out in Louisville, Kentucky, resulting in the death of Breonna Taylor.
Right now, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is reviewing the case to see if it would be appropriate to file criminal charges. Thanks to the fact that his office successfully prosecuted former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd and former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kimberly Potter on manslaughter charges for killing Daunte Wright, I am confident that Attorney General Ellison’s office will handle this case will the care and professionalism required.
Again, the Minneapolis Police Department kills another Black man. It does not matter if Officer Hanneman went in with an intent to kill; he fired the three shots that killed Amir Locke.
For those of you in the comments pointing out that Amir was armed, he had obtained his weapon to protect himself as a Lyft driver and DoorDash deliverer working in Minneapolis. He had every legal right to be armed the way he was. Amir even had his weapon pointed in the correct direction.
This last week has been quite rough for the Minneapolis area. First, a school shooting in Richfield (a suburb just outside of Minneapolis) happened, with one student dead and one more critically injured. Now a repeat of what happened in Louisville in 2020 has occurred in Minneapolis.
The Cycle Repeats
No-knock raids must be banned. Frequently, they are more troublesome than they are worth in the sense that they cause more harm than good.What is weird about this cycle is that some Republicans, mainly the gun caucus, have condemned the actions of the MPD. The head of the gun caucus, Rob Doar, even went so far as to say that Amir should still be alive.
To be fair, stranger things have happened. Representative Liz Cheney, for example, is helping investigate the terrorist attack on January 6. It does not mean I like or even trust the Wyoming representative; it just means I see her as useful in this moment.
This does reinforce that in politics, you can find unexpected allies.
Quite a few people in Minneapolis seem to want to relitigate the Minneapolis municipal elections of 2021 as a result of this botched raid. If they insist, I will remind them that Black residents on the whole rejected disbanding the MPD and that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey largely improved his performance by drastically increasing his margins on the Northside. I will also point out that the residents of Minneapolis’s Ward 4 voted out someone who, in part, led the effort to get Question 2 (to disband the MPD) passed. Keep in mind what I said about how good of a job All of Minneapolis did with its outreach to communities of color outside of the canvassers.
On Twitter, there have been many calls for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to step down. This is not going to happen. If Twitter were in any way accurate, All of Minneapolis would have badly lost, as would have a lot of the candidates whom they backed.
The one point I do agree on with a lot of these people is that Mayor Frey is not fit to be mayor of Minneapolis—he is not a strong mayor with the requisite administrative or policy skills.
In similar moments, Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter III and Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott performed far better than did Mayor Frey.
To save the strong mayor system in Minneapolis, there must be someone who can actually wield it successfully. I am thinking Minneapolis Council President Andrea Jenkins would be the best replacement. She has the necessary knowledge and experience working in municipal government to run the city.
Regardless of what happens next, Amir Locke is dead when he should not be. His name will go on the list of Black men unjustly killed by Minnesota law enforcement alongside Daunte Wright, George Floyd, and Philando Castille—and so many others.
As soon as possible, I will link any efforts to aid Amir Locke’s family in this difficult time.