Look, it’s dangerous sufficient when cops are fired for egregious misconduct or police brutality, solely to be employed on by one other police division, the place they in the end repeat the identical conduct, however the Minneapolis Police Division is de facto enjoying round in our faces by giving Amir Locke‘s killer the position of the division’s use-of-force coach.
In keeping with MPR Information, Police Chief Brian O’Hara defended the choice to make Sgt. Mark Hanneman the pinnacle cop in control of educating different cops when, the place and the best way to use pressure, claiming he’s an “excellent” coach dedicated to bringing constructive change to MPD.
From MPR:
Chief O’Hara stated he understands the issues, however he believes the choice to have Hanneman lead use-of-force trainings will advance cultural change inside the division. He stated Hanneman, greater than others, is a frontrunner in “promoting these reforms” to the division. O’Hara added Hanneman has been instrumental in serving to develop new use-of-force insurance policies and the coaching itself.
“The No. 1 dedication that now we have is to make sure we’re doing every thing we are able to to make reform actual,” O’Hara stated. “I do know that is tough and I do know lots of people aren’t going to be pleased with it, however I believe at this level, having him there, based mostly on the entire info that I’ve been supplied, is the perfect choice that I could make to proceed to advance the reform effort.”
For true advocates in opposition to police violence and systemic racism in policing, to listen to the chief of the police division that killed, not simply Locke, however George Floyd, speak about police reform prefer it’s a pro-cop advertising and marketing technique whereas elevating a Black man’s killer to a use-of-force coach place is particularly outrageous. Hanneman will advance “cultural change,” how? What tradition would that be? What nice change to police tradition will come of getting a cop who shot a Black man to demise, who wasn’t even named within the no-knock warrant Hanneman was executing, develop new use-of-force insurance policies?
On Feb 2, 2022, Mark Hanneman and his SWAT group carried out a no-knock warrant once they encountered Locke, who was quick asleep on a sofa within the house. Locke didn’t stay there. Locke, once more, was not named within the warrant. He was not even an individual of curiosity, though initially, the MPD did falsely report that he was a suspect. Locke was asleep, and when he was all of a sudden woke up by cops shouting orders at him, he reached for his gun, which he carried legally, and he was shot useless instantly.
And, in fact, the cops’ story didn’t match what was clearly proven within the police body-cam footage.
From Bossip:
In keeping with Newsweek, the physique digital camera video of the incident exhibits inconsistencies within the police report supplied to the press.
Minneapolis Police issued an announcement claiming that they “loudly and repeatedly introduced their presence, crossed the brink of the condo, and superior with continued loud bulletins of their presence.” Nevertheless, the video clearly exhibits an officer opening the door with a key and not one of the officers state their presence or objective till they have been deep contained in the condo.
Others, like Minnesota Senator Omar Fateh, are additionally mentioning the truth that a beforehand sleeping particular person has no thought what’s going on or any skill to react to instructions instantly. It stands to motive {that a} law-abiding gun proprietor would stand away from his weapon if he knew that police have been about to enter the premises in order that he doesn’t make himself seem like a menace. Can’t try this if you happen to’re unconscious.
Right here’s the factor: Even when one actually believes Hanneman and the remainder of his group did every thing proper and Locke’s demise was only a tragic, utterly unavoidable accident, why select him, out of all the opposite tenured cops within the division, to steer use-of-force coaching, realizing how huge the group outrage over Locke’s killing was, particularly, after it was introduced that Hanneman wouldn’t be charged?
Additionally, the MPD, apparently, doesn’t care in any respect what Locke’s household thinks about all of this.
“If Hanneman is likely one of the greatest officers to develop into a coaching officer, why is my son Amir Locke not right here?” Karen Wells, Locke’s mom, stated in response to Hanneman’s new appointment. “They present they don’t care. They present that that is our tradition.”
“Anyone that stands behind Mark Hanneman turning into a coach for different officers, they’ll proceed to have the bloodshed of my child boy, Amir Locke, on their watch, on their palms,” Wells stated. “My son was a 22-year-old younger man who had a shiny future forward of him, and now he can’t stay that out.”
Locke’s mother and father are suing Hanneman and town over their son’s demise, claiming within the federal lawsuit that their son’s constitutional rights have been violated, that MPD did not adequately prepare officers, and that the division has a historical past of utilizing extreme pressure and no-knock warrants in opposition to individuals of coloration. In 2023, the U.S. Division of Justice investigated the Minneapolis Police Division, and — shock, shock — it discovered the MPD and town of Minneapolis had engaged in a sample of racist conduct, and had been particularly abusive in the direction of Black and Latino civilians.
We’re consistently instructed we have to respect the police, however do they respect us? The rehiring of racist, brutal cops and the appointment of a killer cop as a coach for the subsequent potential era of killer cops exhibits they don’t.
SEE ALSO:
NC Troopers Fired After Cowl-Up In Black Man’s Dying, Attorneys Say It’s ‘Solely One Step In direction of Justice’