Armed Minneapolis Police Officer, Mark Hanneman, “Feared For His Life” While Approaching Sleeping Black Man
April 13, 2022 - Written by S.J.
On Monday the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released additional body camera footage of the no-knock raid that led to the death of Amir Locke, a 22 year old Black man, shot three times by Minneapolis Police Officer Mark Hanneman.
The new footage includes several previously unreleased body camera angles of the February 2nd, 2022 raid—along with photographs from the scene, interviews, and documentation.
The footage has been made available on the heels of last week’s decision by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman not to pursue charges against Hanneman or any of the officers involved in the raid. In a press release last Wednesday Ellison stated “there is insufficient admissible evidence to file criminal charges in this case.”
The fatal incident took place during an early morning no-knock raid of a downtown Minneapolis apartment belonging to Locke’s cousin. Locke was sleeping on his cousin’s living room couch when Hanneman and a SWAT team violently entered the residence.
The police officer’s brief encounter with Locke, who was awakened by the commotion, lasted only a few seconds and resulted in Hanneman firing three shots into Locke, killing him.
"In this moment, I feared for my life and the lives of my teammates," Hanneman told investigators after the raid. "I was convinced that the individual was going to fire their handgun and that I would suffer great bodily harm or death. I felt in this moment that if I did not use deadly force myself, I would likely be killed."
Locke was not named in the warrant, nor was he a suspect in its associated case.
Body camera footage was initially released on February 3rd, one day after the raid took place. That footage showed only Hanneman’s exchange with Locke and ended after shots were fired.
The new footage shows several officers restraining a fatally-wounded Locke after the shooting. The extended video also depicts officers entering the bedroom of Locke’s cousin, Marlon Speed. Speed and his girlfriend were in the bedroom when police burst into the apartment home.
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension also released interviews with the SWAT officers involved in the raid, as well as the police interviews of Speed and his girlfriend.
The no-knock warrant has been a controversial, and historically deadly, police tactic for a long time. Often executed during hours when residents are asleep, the no-knock warrant creates opportunities for miscommunication and disorientation—a lethal combination when firearms are involved.
In 2020 police officers in Louisville, Kentucky shot and killed Breonna Taylor, a 26 year old Black woman, during a no-knock warrant raid. Much like in Locke’s case, Taylor was not named as part of the warrant.
The additional information released on Monday may help the public understand exactly what happened the morning of February 2nd. However, no matter how much context is added, it won’t help to reverse Hanneman’s actions or the fact that another member of the Black community has been taken too soon at the hands of the police.