No-Knock Warrants Should Almost Never Be Issued

 2/5/22 CNN:

The parents of Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man fatally shot by police in a Minneapolis apartment during a no-knock warrant execution, said Friday that he had obtained a gun legally after a conversation with the family.

"He made sure that he did his research, everything was going to be legal," his mother Karen Wells told CNN's Don Lemon, adding that he learned how to use it and obtained a permit.

If he had a permit, that would indicate no criminal history.  

"Because they've been watching all their lives about what has been unfolding throughout this nation, on our Black males," she said.

The parents said the conversations with Amir and his older brother were often about how to interact with police so he can "live to see another day."...'

According to police body camera video, Locke was sleeping when officers entered the apartment and yelled, "Police! Search warrant!"

"Hands! Hands! Hands!" one officer yells while others yell "Get on the fu**ing ground!" as they make their way toward the back of a couch where a man is seen wrapped in blankets at 6:48 a.m., according to the footage. One officer kicks the back of the couch, appearing to wake up the man, who looks up to see the officers all around him.

He begins to try and stand up, still wrapped in blankets, and is seen holding a gun, according to the footage. Three gunshots are then heard from officers.

Someone forces entry, even announcing that they are police is a recipe for disaster.  No-knock warrants make sense for:

1. Hostages.

2. Abdullah has been gathering the parts for a WMD.

And precious little else.  If the police are worried about flushed drugs this cannot be a large quantity of drugs going into the toilet.