Minnesota National Guard Authorized as Outrage Swirls After New Officer-Involved Shooting, Floyd Trials
Correction, February 7, 2022: After this article was published The Western Journal received the following message from Minnesota National Guard’s Director of Operations Army Col. Scott Rohweder. “The Minnesota National Guard is prepared to provide assistance if necessary as a supporting agency to the federal civil rights trial of former Minneapolis Police Department officers at the request of the City of Saint Paul and with the authorization of the Governor. The Minnesota National Guard has units that are trained and have been identified to be a reaction force in the event they are needed to protect lives, preserve property, and ensure people’s rights to protest peacefully. The Minnesota National Guard has not alerted or activated Soldiers for reaction force duties at this time.” The Minnesota National Guard was not activated, but they were authorized “to make preparations to assist local law enforcement agencies as needed” by Gov. Tim Walz.
The Minnesota National Guard is being made available for the streets of the Twin Cities following a controversial officer-involved shooting last week.
The Guard will be available to provide safety in St. Paul and Minneapolis upon request of local officials, WCCO-TV in Minneapolis reported.
“Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of Minnesotans, and at the request of the City of Saint Paul, I have authorized the Minnesota National Guard to make preparations to assist local law enforcement agencies as needed,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said, according to KMSP-TV.
“The National Guard will be available to help keep the peace, ensure public safety, and allow for peaceful demonstrations,” he said.
Minneapolis and St. Paul were already on edge due to the ongoing trial — at the federal courthouse in St. Paul — of three former Minneapolis police officers connected with the death of George Floyd in May 2020 when a new officer-involved shooting took place Wednesday.
“We are outraged at the senseless killing of Amir Locke, which was both egregious & avoidable, & stand with his family as they call for accountability in his name. We demand an immediate, rigorous, transparent, & comprehensive investigation.” – @JNelsonLDFhttps://t.co/zud6J14iB9
— Legal Defense Fund (@NAACP_LDF) February 5, 2022
Officer Mark Hanneman shot Amir Rahkare Locke Wednesday morning in an apartment, according to WCCO-TV.
Police have released bodycam video of the shooting, which shows officers entering the apartment before encountering a person wrapped in a blanket.
WARNING: The following video contains graphic violence that could disturb some viewers.
VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED: Body Camera footage of the Minneapolis Police Fatally Shooting Amir Locke during the execution of a search warrant for SPPD where Amir was not listed as a person of interest according to an attorney who has spoken to the family pic.twitter.com/um1su7TXup
— Georgia Fort (@ByGeorgiaFort) February 4, 2022
Locke, who had been sleeping, picked up a gun and was holding it as police entered in a welter of voices issuing commands.
Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman said Hanneman had little time to make a decision when he saw the gun.
Huffman said Hanneman had “to assess the circumstances to determine whether he felt like there was an articulable threat and whether the threat was of great bodily harm or death, and that he needed to take action right then to protect himself and his partners.”
Locke was licensed to carry the gun, his family said.
“Of course, he had his gun by his side, because where else is he going to put it? He was sleeping at somebody else’s house,” Linda Tyler, his aunt, said, according to KSTP-TV in St. Paul.
Police had entered the apartment to assist the St. Paul Police Department, which was seeking a homicide suspect.
Explanations from officials did little to calm the anger over the shooting.
“I want the police officer that murdered my son to be prosecuted and fired,” said Karen Wells, Locke’s mother, said, according to KSTP.
Roughly 150 cars drove through the streets of downtown Minneapolis Friday night Feb. 4, 2022 blasting their horns and holding signs to protest the shooting death of Amir Locke who was shot by Minneapolis police Wednesday morning. pic.twitter.com/qGLMUZ2iDs
— Renee JonesSchneider (@reneejon) February 5, 2022
Protests began on Friday.
As the new shooting roils the city, the trial of former officers J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao, and Thomas Lane was on hold because one of the former officers has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
The trial had gone on for seven days prior to the delay.
All three former officers are charged with failing to provide medical aid to George Floyd. Thao and Kueng are charged with failing to intervene to protect Floyd, the Star-Tribune reported.
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