Minnesota gun rights organization condemns fatal police shooting: 'Amir Locke, a lawful gun owner, should still be alive'

• A Minnesota gun rights organization has condemned last week's fatal police shooting of Amir Locke.
• "Amir Locke, a lawful gun owner, should still be alive," the organization's chair said.

A Minnesota gun rights organization has condemned last week's fatal police shooting of Amir Locke, a Black man who was killed while Minneapolis Police officers were serving a no-knock search warrant.

"Amir Locke, a lawful gun owner, should still be alive," Bryan Strawser, chair of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, said in a statement on Friday.

After using a key to enter Locke's apartment during the early hours of February 2, police officers fatally shot the 22-year-old.

Locke's family said he lawfully owned a firearm.

"The tragic circumstances of Mr. Locke's death were completely avoidable, " said Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus senior vice president Rob Doar. "It's yet another example where a no-knock warrant has resulted in the death of an innocent person. In this case, as in others, the public should expect and receive full transparency and accountability from law enforcement agencies that serve and protect our local communities."

Strawser told Insider on Monday that, in the wake of issuing its statement, the caucus has received support from its members.

Any criticism they've received has been from people who don't have "any history supporting our organization," he added.

No-knock search warrants like the one reportedly used in Locke's killing have been the target of intense scrutiny in recent years.

Multiple cities have banned no-knock warrants, and Minneapolis restricted their use in 2020.