(PresidentialHill.com)- After the February 2 officer-involved shooting death of 22-year-old Amir Locke in Minneapolis, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar called for Congress to pass legislation restricting so-called “no-knock” warrants.
In response to Locke’s death, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced a moratorium on officers requesting or executing no-knock warrants unless there was “an imminent threat of harm to an individual or the public” or if the interim police chief approved.
At a press conference at the Minnesota State Capitol after the shooting, Locke’s mother Karen Wells demanded that President Biden and Congress ban no-knock warrants in the name of her son.
Congresswoman Omar agreed with Wells, saying she doesn’t want this issue to be addressed locally. Instead, she wants the federal government to step in and take action to restrict no-knock warrants on a federal level.
However, such federal legislation is bound to face opposition from lawmakers who would view such intervention into local law enforcement as federal overreach.
But Minnesota Democrat Senator Tina Smith supports Congresswoman Omar’s effort to ban or restrict no-knock warrants. Despite the 50/50 split, Smith believes there is hope to get such legislation passed in the Senate.
Amir Locke was shot and killed by a Minneapolis SWAT team member while police were serving a search warrant on an apartment in connection to a St. Paul homicide. Locke wasn’t named in the warrant nor was he a resident of the apartment.
Bodycam footage showed at least four officers, using a key, quietly entering the apartment and shouting their presence. An officer kicked the sofa Locke was lying on. Then Locke is seen wrapped in a blanket and holding a gun before the officer shot him.
Locke’s family called his killing an “execution,” disputing the police’s claim that Locke was shot after pointing his gun at officers.
Last Monday, Ilhan Omar appeared on MSNBC’s resident racist Joy Reid’s program to talk about the Locke shooting and her proposed legislation.
Watch that HERE.
