Good morning, and happy Monday.
No-knock warrants are set to become an issue at the Minnesota Capitol after Minneapolis police officer Mark Hanneman shot and killed Amir Locke while executing one last week. Gov. Tim Walz said Friday night that he would sign a ban on no-knock warrants if the Legislature passes one. Last year lawmakers restricted the use of the warrants. “I think these things have such potential to go bad, like we saw in this case with with Amir Locke,” Walz said on TPT’s Almanac program. “I think the Legislature needs to buckle down on this. I think what they're seeing is, this is not just the public safety piece, that's a part of it, we have to make sure we're seeing violent crime and gun violence go down. But we also have to make sure that we're doing it in a way that that people's personal security, freedoms and liberties are protected in this.”
Some of the Republican candidates for governor are also reacting to Locke’s death. In a video posted on Twitter Saturday, former Sen. Scott Jensen said leaders need to ensure that the rights of both citizens and law enforcement are protected. "What we have is a policy that needs to be scrutinized under the light of day, the no-knock warrant policy,” Jensen said. “We have a policy that may well be putting police in harm's way as they try to do their best work. The no-knock policy is fraught with danger." And two current GOP state Senators also running against Walz – Paul Gazelka and Michelle Benson – are also supporting a review. “We worked hard to make changes to no-knock warrants in the 2021 legislative session,” Gazelka wrote Saturday afternoon. “In the light of this tragic event, we need an immediate review of no-knock warrants at the Minnesota Legislature.” Benson said Sunday she was heartbroken by Locke’s killing. “It’s crucial that law enforcement has the tools they need to do the often difficult and dangerous job they do to keep our communities safe,” Benson said. “However, no-knock warrants have given rise to the death of citizens not subject to the warrant. These procedures require tough conversations to review the circumstances in which no-knock warrants can and should be used. I look forward to helping lead that conversation.” The statements came after Bryan Strawser, a cofounder of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, tweeted that he was disappointed in the silence of the Minnesotan GOP and the gubernatorial candidates’ silence on the issues that led to Locke’s death.
So what is the law on no-knock warrants?MPR’s Catharine Richert reports: During the last legislative session, lawmakers stopped short of banning no-knock warrants. Instead, they compromised by placing restrictions on the practice including explicit justification why a conventional warrant won’t work, and sign-offs from the agency’s chief law enforcement officer and a second senior officer. Agencies will also have to submit data to the state on their use of no-knock warrants, which will release a report to lawmakers once per year.
The Star Tribune reported Sunday: In November 2020, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and then-Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced they would restrict the use of no-knock warrants, and that police would have to identify themselves as "police" executing a search warrant before entering any home, regardless of whether a judge gave them permission to enter unannounced. "Outside of limited, exigent circumstances, like a hostage situation, MPD officers will be required to announce their presence and purpose prior to entry," Frey's office said in a statement at the time. Subsequently, Minneapolis police continued to apply for and obtain no-knock warrants even as the mayor touted having ended their use on campaign literature disseminated before the November election. In the past month, the police department obtained more than a dozen no-knock warrants — more than the number of standard warrants issued — according to a Star Tribune review of court records. Frey told the paper that those warrants were applied for but that police department records showed they had not been executed.
And MPR’s Brian Bakst reports the questions about no-knock warrants puts a new dynamic into the public safety debate, which this year has been centered on adding more money and new approaches to fighting rising crime. Just last week, lawmakers of both parties promoted plans to recruit more police, perhaps through bonuses or tuition breaks. The main focus this week at the Capitol is likely to be on fast-track legislation to patch a deep hole in Minnesota’s unemployment fund.The unemployment issue is deemed urgent given a debt that could trigger big spikes in employer assessments. Hearings are planned on competing bills in the House and Senate. It goes back to the very beginning of COVID-19. When Minnesota, like most other states, imposed stay-at-home orders and other restrictions, it led to massive layoffs in hospitality, retail and other industries.
First Lady Jill Biden is set to visit Minnesota Wednesday. She'll be joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Wednesday for an afternoon event at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, the White House said Sunday. Biden and Becerra will be touting investments in child care, part of the federal American Rescue Plan Act signed into law last year.
State Sen. John Jasinski, R-Faribault, was injured in a snowmobile accident Friday in northern Minnesota during the Minnesota United Snowmobilers Association’s Winter Rendezvous trail ride. Few details were known over the weekend, the Pioneer Press reported. | 