'Car caravan' protest in downtown Minneapolis over Amir Locke police killing
Demonstrators have taken to their cars to protest the shooting of Amir Locke, the 22-year-old Black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police this week.
On Friday evening, drivers converged on downtown Minneapolis near City Hall, honking their horns and and calling for charges against the officer who shot Locke:
Star Tribune reporter Alex Chhith counted "at least 3 dozen cars and growing":
This comes two days after Minneapolis SWAT teams, in connection with a homicide investigation by the St. Paul Police Department, executed a no-knock search warrant at the Bolero Flats apartment building downtown. Locke, who can be seen on body cam footage sleeping when police entered the apartment, was shot to death in the encounter.
The Minneapolis Police Department said in its initial news release that Locke pointed the gun "in the direction of officers." In the bodycam footage, it does not appear the gun is ever pointed at officers, but rather is pointed down towards the floor. Locke also does not appear to have his finger on the trigger.
In light of the controversy that followed, Minneapolis imposed a moratorium on no-knock search warrants, something that Mayor Jacob Frey had previously suggested had been all but eradicated following the implementation of a new city policy in November 2020.
For more background on the case and what happened at the time of the shooting, check out our explainer right here.
