On April 6, officials announced that charges would not be filed against the officer who shot and killed Amir Locke after entering his apartment on a no-knock warrant on February 3, 2022. This announcement underscores the fact that laws and policies that were created to protect Minnesotans, are in fact harmful and must be addressed.
If the dangerous practice of no-knock warrants had been ended, Amir Locke would still be alive. Our society needs to own and address the systemic racism that leads to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, especially the Black community, being continuously impacted by violent policing practices such as no-knock warrants.
Minnesotans can and must speak up and hold leaders accountable for addressing this and other racist systems in our state. The time for fixing serious flaws in our laws and policies is long overdue. We are again renewing our call for substantive and immediate policy changes to transform the systems and institutions that made Amir Locke’s killing possible. Policy change has a key role to play in ensuring something like this never happens again.
As part of our Commitment to Anti-Racism, Fresh Energy has made a pledge to speak out against systemic inequities and in support of solutions to racist structures and systems. Many of our political leaders have promised change; the time for promises is long past, and we are now watching for and expecting real action.
