Star Tribune
Federal judge says lawsuit can proceed against Minneapolis SWAT officer who killed Amir Locke
A federal judge says a lawsuit can move forward alleging a Minneapolis SWAT officer and the city are liable for constitutional violations in the killing of Amir Locke during a no-knock warrant search in February 2022.
Attorneys for the city and officer Mark Hanneman sought to dismiss the civil suit in a motion filed last fall, saying Hanneman acted reasonably when he shot Locke three times during a pre-dawn raid because he believed “Locke represented an immediate threat of death or serious physical harm.” The city attorney also argued the officer was entitled to qualified immunity, the legal principle that protects government workers from civil liability when acting in the course of duty.
In denying the city’s motion Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Eric C. Tostrud wrote that the body-camera footage doesn’t conclusively show that deadly force was warranted during the unannounced search, and the lawsuit “alleges facts plausibly showing that Officer Hanneman’s use of force violated Amir’s clearly established Fourth Amendment rights.”
Hanneman and the Minneapolis SWAT team stormed into the Bolero Flats apartment building downtown on Feb. 2, 2022 in search of evidence related to a St. Paul homicide investigation. An officer’s body-camera recording showed police quietly unlocking the apartment door with a key before barging inside and yelling, “Search warrant!” as Locke lay under a blanket on the couch. When an officer kicked the couch, Locke stirred and emerged holding a pistol in his right hand.
Hanneman fired three times, hitting Locke in the face, chest and arm.
The killing of Locke, a Black man, brought renewed scrutiny to the practice of no-knock warrants — those that permit police to enter a residence without announcing themselves, intended for high-risk searches. In this case, St. Paul police had originally asked for a standard warrant, but the Minneapolis SWAT team insisted it be a no-knock operation.
Minneapolis had restricted the use of the unannounced raids a year earlier as part of a series of reforms made in the wake of George Floyd’s death. At the time, Mayor Jacob Frey claimed he banned no-knock warrants for “all but exigent circumstances.” Yet it continued to be a common practice in Minneapolis police; police conduct 87 of them after the policy change.
Locke, a DoorDash delivery driver and aspiring rapper who legally possessed the gun, was not the subject of the search warrant and had no criminal record.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of his parents, alleges the no-knock warrant that resulted in his death is consistent with the city’s “custom, pattern and practice of racial discrimination in policing.”
“Any reasonable officer would have understood that Amir needed an opportunity to realize who and what was surrounding him, and then provide Amir with an opportunity to disarm himself,” the suit reads. “Hanneman failed to give Amir any such opportunity. … Instead, Hanneman fired three shots while Amir was still covered in a blanket on a couch where Amir had been resting peacefully only 10 seconds before the SWAT entry.”
Locke never raised the weapon in the direction of any officer or placed his finger on the trigger, the lawsuit says.
Star Tribune staff reporter Liz Sawyer contributed to this report.
Star Tribune
Sentencing set for Monday morning for a Minnesota man who was drunk and speeding when he hit a woman’s SUV and killed her.
A man with a history of driving drunk received a four-year term Monday for being intoxicated and speeding when he hit a woman’s SUV on a southern Minnesota highway and killed her.
John R. Deleo, 54, of Lake Crystal, Minn., was sentenced in Brown County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash on Aug. 17, 2023, in New Ulm at Hwy. 68 and S. 15th Street that killed 82-year-old Sharon A. Portner, of New Ulm.
With credit for the two days he was in jail after his arrest, Deleo is expected to serve the first 2⅔ years years of his term in prison and the balance on supervised release.
A week ahead of sentencing, defense attorney James Kuettner asked the court to spare his client prison and put him on probation for up to five years.
Kuettner pointed out in his filing that Deleo stayed at the crash scene and attempted “to aid Portner, and he left [her] side only when directed to by law enforcement.”
The attorney also noted that Deleo has been sober since the crash, and therefore, at a particularly low risk for reoffending.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police arrived to find the two damaged vehicles near 15th and S. Broadway streets. Emergency responders took Portner to New Ulm Medical Center, where she died that day.
ROCHESTER – The defense for Shane Roper, the former state trooper charged for his role in a crash that killed Owatonna teenager Olivia Flores, has asked the court to dismiss eight of the nine charges against him.
In a motion filed Oct. 24, Roper’s attorneys said the state has “failed to meet its burden of offering direct evidence tending to demonstrate that [Roper’s] actions, or negligence, were the proximate cause of death or bodily harm.”
Roper, 32, faces nine criminal charges related to the May 18 crash, including felony charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide. Both charges carry maximum sentences of 10 years in jail.
The only charge the defense did not ask to have dismissed is a misdemeanor for careless driving, which carries a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail.
Among the other requests made to the court, Roper’s defense asked for a change of venue outside of Olmsted County, citing the extensive media coverage of the case. The defense said “jury pools have surely been tainted and a fair trial cannot be had” in the county.
Roper’s attorney, Eric Nelson of Halberg Criminal Defense, also argued that any evidence related to Roper’s prior speeding or traffic incidents should be precluded as evidence in the case.
In the five years leading up to the crash, Roper had been disciplined by the State Patrol on four separate occasions for careless or reckless driving, including a February 2019 crash that injured another officer.
District Judge Christa Daily has not responded to the motions. Roper is scheduled to be back in court Nov. 21 for a pretrial settlement conference.
Star Tribune
Who is comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who insulted Puerto Rico at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally?
NEW YORK — Of the nearly 30 speakers who recently warmed up the crowd for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe got the most attention for racist remarks.
”I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” he said, later including lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jewish and Black people.
The comments have led to condemnation from Democrats and Puerto Rican celebrities, with Ricky Martin sharing a clip of Hinchcliffe’s set, captioned: “This is what they think of us.”
The Trump campaign took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe. ”This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Here’s what to know about Hinchcliffe, his comedic styling and the response to his Madision Square Garden comments.
Hinchcliffe, raised in Youngstown, Ohio, is a stand-up comedian who specializes in the roast style, in which comedians take the podium to needle a celebrity victim with personal and often tasteless jokes. He has written and appeared on eight Comedy Central Roasts, including ones for Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady.
Even fellow comedians aren’t immune. At the Snoop Dogg roast, Hichcliffe made a joke referencing comedian Luenell, who is Black, being on the Underground Railroad. Of the honoree, he said: ”Snoop, you look like the California Raisin that got hooked on heroin.”
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