Austin, TX – On Thursday evening, February 24, students at the University of Texas at Austin gathered at a campus plaza to demand justice for Amir Locke, who was murdered by Minneapolis police earlier this month. The group held signs and chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, these racist cops have got to go!” and “Say his name: Amir Locke.” A few passersby joined the speak-out upon hearing the chants and reading the signs.

Jake Holtzman spoke on behalf of the Austin Students for a Democratic Society, the group that organized the hour-long event, saying, “Students for a Democratic Society stands in solidarity with the family of Amir Locke and demands justice for all victims of police crimes. The movement has shown us that it is only through organizing and protest that our demands will be met. But if we stay organized, we can win!”

#AustinTX #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #AmirLocke

Minneapolis, MN – On February 16, Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota rallied and marched to demand justice for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man murdered by the Minneapolis police in a relative’s apartment earlier this month.

80 people gathered outside the Student Union on Washington Avenue, chanting “What do we want? Justice!” and “Say his name! Amir Locke!” A banner reading “Justice for all stolen lives” was at the front, along with signs demanding justice for Amir Locke and community control over the Minneapolis Police Department. Signs announced SDS’s own referendum campaign for community control over the University of Minnesota Police Department. Members handed out fliers calling for police accountability and justice on and off campus.

Bella Harbison, speaking for SDS, said, “Police departments and political leaders across the country are not afraid of committing acts of violence against our Black and brown community members; they are afraid of being caught, and being held accountable for crimes against humanity.” Harbison declared to the powers standing in the way of accountability that “Amir Locke’s name will never be forgotten, and that we will always be ready to fight for him.”

Jae Yates from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization made clear that “it is no coincidence that police and slaveowners have so much shared history; both seek to keep oppressed nations and members of the working class in place.” Yates continuing in saying that in order to fight for real accountability, “you should join the fight for community control of police in Minneapolis both on and off campus. We cannot rely on the same people that benefit from policing to defund, demilitarize, or abolish the police. We have to fight for the self-determinative power that Black people have fought for for 400 years.”

Loretta Van Pelt, speaking for the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar raised the peoples’ demands: community control, a permanent end to no knock warrants and the charging and arresting of Amir Locke’s killer, Officer Mark Hanneman, and all other officers involved in the murder.

Allison Leopold, a member of White Coats for Black Lives, a student group from the UM medical school, made clear that when police are threatening the lives of Black community members it is a health issue, and that we have a duty to fight back against racist police crimes.

After chanting and listening to the speakers, students marched down Washington Avenue, ending up at the UMPD station. As they turned the corner, the chants of “Indict, convict send those killer cops to jail! The whole damn system is guilty as hell” were heard throughout the area.

Closing out the protest, Sasmit Rahman, another SDS member said, “We need you guys to sign [the referendum petition], we need more energy, because it is too easy right now for Joan Gabel and the regents to ignore us and to ignore our demands. We need people to share it with their friends, we need consistent action and consistent pressure on Joan Gabel and the regents!”

UMN SDS is currently running a campaign to get Community Control over the UMPD on the ballot in the all-campus elections of Spring 2022. This would be in the form of a democratically elected, all-civilian Civilian Police Accountability Council, that represents students, staff, faculty and the communities surrounding the campus – such as Cedar-Riverside where the UMPD are regularly present – so that they all have the power to decide UMPD’s budget, to hire and to fire, to discipline and carry out other accountability measures.

For students who want to join the fight, keep an eye out for SDS tabling and petitioning around campus. Sign and share the petition, and to keep up with the campaign follow SDS on instagram @umnsds. If you want to help organize around it, join the SDS weekly meetings, Thursday at 6 p.m. in Tate 105.

#Minnesota #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #AfricanAmerican #CivilianPoliceAccountabilityCouncil #AmirLocke

New York, NY – Over 80 people rallied in Union Square in New York City on February 8 in honor of Amir Locke and Isaiah Williams, two young Black men murdered by police. Locke was murdered by Minneapolis PD under a no-knock warrant, and Williams by Metro Police near Las Vegas while police executed a warrant for a murder he did not commit.

Speeches addressed the injustice of cops murdering Black people and it being rooted in racist inequality. They emphasized how no-knock warrants are disproportionately used as an excuse to murder Black people. The rally was followed by a march.

#NewYorkNY #NewYorkCityNY #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #Antiracism #AmirLocke #IsaiahWilliams

Minneapolis, MN – Around 5000 people marched in protest here February 5, to demand justice for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man murdered by police on February 2. Police were carrying out a no-knock search warrant on the apartment where Locke was sleeping and shot him three times, nine seconds after they snuck open the door. Protesters demand jail, prosecution and murder charges for the officer who shot Amir and those who planned the raid; an end to no-knock warrants; and the resignation of the Minneapolis Police Chief Huffington and Mayor Frey.

There have been multiple protests since the murder of Amir Locke, including a 100-plus vehicle car caravan through downtown, organized by CAIR-MN the night before Saturday’s protest.

The February 5 protest was initiated by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J), endorsed by over a dozen groups. Amir’s father Andre Locke and other family member were the featured speakers.

#MinneapolisMN #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #Antiracism #MinneapolisPoliceDepartment #TwinCitiesCoalition4JusticeForJamarTCC4J #AmirLocke

Minneapolis, MN – Around 5000 people marched in protest here February 5, to demand justice for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man murdered by police on February 2. Police were carrying out a no-knock search warrant on the apartment where Locke was sleeping and shot him three times, nine seconds after they snuck open the door. Protesters demand jail, prosecution and murder charges for the officer who shot Amir and those who planned the raid; an end to no-knock warrants; and the resignation of the Minneapolis Police Chief Huffington and Mayor Frey.

There have been multiple protests since the murder of Amir Locke, including a 100-plus vehicle car caravan through downtown, organized by CAIR-MN the night before Saturday’s protest.

The February 5 protest was initiated by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J), endorsed by over a dozen groups. Amir’s father Andre Locke and other family member were the featured speakers.

#MinneapolisMN #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #Antiracism #MinneapolisPoliceDepartment #TwinCitiesCoalition4JusticeForJamarTCC4J #AmirLocke

A statement from Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J) noted, “Officers were allegedly executing a search warrant, but instead they executed a human being. According to police chief Huffman, after nine seconds, the cops ‘encountered’ the victim and fired. As with police murder of Winston Smith last summer, violent cops turned ‘executing a warrant’ into a death sentence.”

As of February 4, there have been many mobilizations in response to the murder. The next upcoming protest, initiated by TCC4J and endorsed by over a dozen groups, will be Saturday, February 5, at 3 p.m., starting at Hennepin County Government Center.

On evening of the murder, February 2, community members gathered for held a vigil outside of the apartment building where Amir Locke was killed. The Racial Justice Network, Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, CAIR-MN, TCC4J, Communities United Against Police Brutality, and a few other groups spoke to the crowd and media in bitter, below zero wind chills.

Local activists immediately demanded that authorities release the body camera footage. After a day of refusing, they released footage on Thursday night. It showed police doing a no-knock warrant, sneaking the door open, then screaming garbled gibberish before shooting Locke nine seconds later.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman held a press conference Thursday. Many activists were in the audience. Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights activist and Minneapolis attorney and founder of the Racial Justice Network, expressed frustration and anger over Amir’s murder. “Don’t cover up for what those cops did,” Levy Armstrong told Mayor Frey. “If they knew that the kid had a gun after he started waking up, say ‘drop your weapon’. They didn’t do that. One cop opened fire and took the life of a child.”

Michelle Gross, CUAPB, denounced the city of Minneapolis’ initially releasing a photo of Amir’s gun, even though he never fired it, adding in a statement, “Was this an attempt to vilify Mr. Locke, a legal gun owner with a conceal and carry permit? Was the purpose to obscure the fact that Mr. Locke had every right to defend himself against intruders?”

Audience members at the press conference asked Mayor Frey and acting Chief Huffman multiple times why Amir was listed as a suspect in Minneapolis’ initial press release (he was not a suspect) and other pointed questions about the murder. Huffman and Frey responded to by walking out of the room.

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Center for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN), then declared, “This is what we’ve been fighting against since George Floyd was killed. Running away from accountability and transparency.” Hussein said, “This young man did not have a chance. This was Breonna Taylor in Minneapolis.”

On Friday, February 4, the Amir Locke’s parents, Andre Locke and Karen Wells, and their attorneys, Ben Crump and Jeff Storms, held a press conference, where Wells stated, “I am going to fight, every day, throughout the day, 365 days to make sure that Amir Locke gets justice for being executed by the MPD.”

Community Control of the Police

Calls for justice have failed to prevent the deaths of Dolal Idd, Winston Smith, and now Amir Locke since George Floyd’s murder in May of 2020. Since this time, Minneapolis has seen multiple attempts by various entities to “reimagine public safety.” The November 2021 elections saw the failure of a ballot measure which would have embedded armed officers into a new Department of Public Safety. After this failure, Mayor Frey commissioned a Community Safety Workgroup to develop public safety and accountability recommendations. What these efforts lack is the power to change the MPD.

Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, along with Minneapolis for Community Control of Police (M4CCP), has been leading a campaign to amend the city charter to include the Civilian Police Accountability Commission (CPAC), an elected body that would have authority to discipline, fire, and hire police. Coalition members have collected signatures in an effort to get the charter amendment on the ballot in Minneapolis. Community control of police efforts have seen increased support across the Midwest. to prevent murders by the police, such as Amir Locke’s killing, and other police misconduct.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #TwinCitiesCoalition4JusticeForJamarTCC4J #AmirLocke