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Moments before expressing solidarity with the family of Amir Locke — the 22-year-old Black man fatally shot during a no-knock search warrant operation last week — the families of other Black men killed by police huddled in prayer, clutching photos of their own lost loved ones.
Then one by one, they stepped forward from their support group, Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, and demanded justice for Locke’s killing. Through fatigue and tears, they drew connections between their own grief and that of Locke’s family.
“They’ve killed so many of our children, we have lost count and we can’t remember the names,” said Valerie Castile, the mother of Philando Castile, who was shot and killed by a St. Anthony police officer during a 2016 traffic stop. “Our children’s lives mattered. Don’t think for one second that I didn’t love my son. … You love your children, and so did we.”
The mothers joined thousands who have spoken out, marched and protested since the Feb. 2 death of Locke, who was not the target of the investigation. He was sleeping in the downtown apartment of relatives when a Minneapolis police SWAT team burst in shortly before 7 a.m.
The case has revived intense debate about the use of no-knock search warrants, which critics say unnecessarily escalate police encounters. Read more.
