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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Ewan Gleadow & Graeme Murray

Police break into Black man's apartment and shoot him dead while he's lying on the couch

Disturbing bodycam footage shows police break into an apartment and kill a Black man who was lying on the couch.

The footage shows cops carrying out a raid on a home shouting "police! Search warrant," as they smash through the door.

The short piece of video footage shows a black man who appears to be asleep. Upon waking he appears to be holding a gun before he is shot and killed.

Police search warrants did not name the man before the raid, said police, but he was identified as 22-year-old Amir Locke.

Legal representatives of Mr Locke's family say he was in lawful possession of the gun.

Amir Locke (Locke Family Handout)

Mike Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney, asked Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to review the shooting by officers in Minneapolis, US.

The Daily Star reports that Freeman said: "We will be working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to ensure a thorough and complete evaluation.

"Thereafter we will decide together, based on the law and evidence, whether criminal charges should be brought."

Amir Locke can be seen waking up (Minneapolis Police Department/AF)

The violence has brought so-called 'no-knock warrants' back into the spotlight after Breonna Taylor was shot in March 2020.

The case, along with the killing of George Floyd, sparked widespread protests and calls for police reform.

New rulings to the no-knock system have been introduced in the wake of George Floyd's death, saying the reforms were designed to limit the "likelihood of bad outcomes".

Mr Floyd was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin in the same city in Minnesota, US.

Police point their guns at the sleeping man (Minneapolis Police Department/AF)

At a press conference, Amelia Huffman, interim Minneapolis Police chief said: "both a no-knock and a knock search warrant were obtained... so the SWAT team could assess the circumstances and make the best possible decision."

One attorney for the Locke family, Jeff Storms, said: "To the best of my knowledge, he was not named in any of the search warrants.

"He was not even a target."

The man is shot but representatives say he was not even a police target (Minneapolis Police Department/AF)
Over a hundred demonstrators marched from Union Square to Times Square in New York City on February 6, 2022 in solidarity with protesters in Minneapolis (NurPhoto/PA Images)

There have been protests in the wake of Mr Locke's death.

A young swimmer was this month temporarily suspended from competing in a school swim meet for wearing a Black Lives M atter costume.

Leidy Lyons, 12, wanted to show her support for the movement in Duluth, Minnesota, US.

She created her own swimsuit and planned to display the anti racism message.

Amir Locke's mother Karen Wells (R), speaks flanked by his father Andre Locke, during a press conference at City Hall in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on February 4 (AFP via Getty Images)

According to NAACP president Classie Dudley, the girl made the swimsuit after hearing about the shooting of Amir Locke by Minneapolis police last week.

But an official tried to disqualify Leidy, and the saga rumbled on four hours as they changed their reason for the ban to logo size, rather than a political stance.

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