Funeral for Amir Locke set for Thursday

The funeral for Amir Locke, a Black man who was shot in an apartment while Minneapolis police were serving a no-knock warrant earlier this month, is set to be held on Thursday.

Locke’s family has planned a public viewing at 10 a.m. followed by his funeral service at 11 a.m., according to the Associated Press. 

The service will be held at Shiloh Temple International Ministries, the same church that hosted the funeral for Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by a Brooklyn Center police officer last year in a suburb of the Twin Cities. 

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who also officiated Wright’s service, will officiate services for Locke, the AP noted.

Locke, 22, was shot and killed by a SWAT team member during an early morning no-knock warrant raid for the St. Paul Police Department’s homicide unit on Feb. 2.

Body camera footage of the incident showed Locke wrapped in a white blanket as police converged on his position on the couch. Locke then got up and appeared to quickly grab his handgun, which Locke’s family has said that he obtained legally. As he got up, he appeared to be shot multiple times.

The Minneapolis Police Department said Locke had aimed a weapon at the officers when they entered, and released a still image from the video showing a handgun near his body.

Locke’s name was not on the warrants.

The footage of his death circulated on social media platforms, leading to protests in downtown Minneapolis.

“My son was executed on 2/2 of 22,” his mother, Karen Wells, said. “And now his dreams have been destroyed.”

Since the incident, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) has imposed a moratorium on such warrants while the city reexamines its policy. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is still investigating the shooting, according to the AP.