Amir Locke's burial will be held Thursday in the same church where Daunte Wright's funeral was conducted in April.
The Rev. Al Sharpton will lead Locke's funeral at Shiloh Temple International Ministries. He previously presided over Wright's burial days after the young Black man was slain by a suburban Minneapolis police officer.
Amir Locke Funeral Set for Thursday
The public viewing will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the funeral ceremony at 11a.m., according to Locke's family. Locke was shot by a SWAT team member before 7 a.m. on Feb. 2 as authorities were serving a search warrant in a homicide investigation in St. Paul.
At least four policemen were shown on body camera video quietly entering the downtown flat where he was staying with a key before declaring their presence. Before a cop shot Locke, the footage showed him stirring and carrying a weapon while shrouded in a comforter.
The warrants did not mention Locke. Locke's killing was dubbed an "execution" by family members, who pointed out that the video shows an officer kicking the sofa and speculated that Locke was jolted awake and disoriented. They've urged that no-knock warrants be outlawed statewide in Minnesota.
Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis has put a hold on such warrants while the city reconsiders its policy. Locke's shooting is being investigated by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, according to ABC News.
On Friday night, rioters in Minneapolis destroyed buildings and obstructed traffic in protest of Amir Locke's death at the hands of police officers during a no-knock warrant.
Approximately 50 to 100 demonstrators marched throughout the city, stopping traffic outside the Minneapolis Police Department's fifth precinct. At around 9 p.m., the protest began. Some were seen on camera hurling things through windows and damaging properties.
Throughout the protest route, demonstrators sprayed "Amir Locke," "Winston Smith," and "Destroy MPD" on shops and other structures, according to images and videos from the event. Bicycle racks, barricades, and other items were thrown into the streets. Following Locke's death, there had been weeks of protest action in Minneapolis, Fox News reported.
Amir Locke's Death Reopens Police Reform Debate
Attorneys for the Locke family, including civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, have demanded that the officer who shot Locke, Mark Hanneman, be dismissed and prosecuted with murder.
The incident is being investigated by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, a state agency that investigates police murders. Because of the continuing state inquiry, Minneapolis officials have refused to declare whether Hanneman broke department rules or should be dismissed.i
Locke seemed to be waking up as SWAT officers stormed into the flat, his body draped in a blanket and a bright light in his face, according to body-camera video provided by Minneapolis police. A pistol is shown in Locke's hand as he twisted his body to sit up. Before the video was cut off, three gunshots were heard, all of which were fired by Hanneman. Locke was struck twice in the chest and once in the wrist and evetually died in the hospital. The tumultuous situation lasted less than ten seconds.
Interim Minneapolis police chief Amelia Huffman said officers "loudly and repeatedly declared 'police search warrant' before crossing the threshold into the apartment" during a press conference just hours after the incident. But body-camera footage released on Feb. 3 cast doubt on Huffman's story, as per Washington Post.
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