WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2022) The Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed 22-year old African-American man Amir Locke in February while executing a warrant at an apartment is walking free because there is insufficient evidence to file charges, prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday.
"Specifically, the State would be unable to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt any of the elements of Minnesota's use-of-deadly-force statute that authorizes the use of force by Officer Hanneman," the statement said. "Nor would the State be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt a criminal charge against any other officer involved in the decision-making that led to the death of Amir Locke."
Though no charges will be filed by those offices, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and County Attorney Michael Freeman said in their statement that Locke, 22, - who was sleeping when officers burst into the apartment and reached for a gun he was legally allowed to own - is still a victim. Locke was not named in the search warrant and had no criminal record.
