WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar is urging Congress to pass restrictions on no-knock warrants after the recent police shooting death of 22-year-old Amir Locke in Minneapolis.
Omar's office confirmed that the Minneapolis Democrat soon will introduce legislation on the issue amid questions over how elected officials are responding to the raid that resulted in Locke's death. The move comes as President Joe Biden's administration examines potential steps at the federal level.
"The message that we want to send is that this can't be a localized issue that gets addressed," Omar said. "Obviously, if we're having challenges in addressing this in one of the most progressive cities like Minneapolis, … I can't imagine what people are dealing with that live in areas where people are not even receptive to change, and so we have to try to do as much as we can on the federal level."
The latest tragedy happened less than two years after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police. While Floyd's death led to momentum in Congress for police reform, lawmakers in Washington failed to pass any legislation. Bipartisan talks fell apart in September. Calls for change are emerging once again as mourning over Locke's death continues.
"I am demanding that President Biden and everybody else, from the ground up to the top, ban no-knock warrants in the United States of America in the name of Amir Locke," Locke's mother, Karen Wells, said in a news conference Thursday at the State Capitol.
Any push for changes in Congress, however, risks the same fierce partisan divide that derailed police reform work last year.
"I support efforts to ban or severely restrict the use of no-knock warrants," Democratic U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said when asked about Omar's proposed bill. "I see no hope that that kind of legislation is going to pass through the United States Senate given the current makeup of the Senate with our very, very slim 50/50 majority."
Democrats and Republicans in Congress have struggled to find common ground on police reform legislation in yet another example of the stark differences between the two parties. In the days after Locke's death, Minnesota Republicans in Congress largely were more reticent than their Democratic counterparts about sharing their thoughts.