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A28 u.s. news
Diasabra 5 Februari 2022

NYPD honors whistleblower Frank Serpico — 50 years late

silence,” the protection that the heart.” sure you get your medal.”
fellow officers sometimes
give each other, such as re- Serpico was shot in the face On Thursday, Serpico tweet-
fusing to testify. during a drug arrest in Brook- ed a photo of the framed
lyn in 1971 months before he medal of honor and certifi-
Al Pacino went on to portray testified and has maintained cate that reads in part, “in
him in the hit 1973 movie that the other officers he was recognition of an individual
“Serpico,” and his story is with never made a call for an act of extraordinary brav-
also relayed in a book by Pe- “officer down.” ery performed in the line of
ter Maas. duty.”
While the department gave
Current Daily News and for- Serpico a medal recogniz- He has continued to speak
mer Associated Press reporter ing his injury in 1972, it was out against corruption and
Larry McShane interviewed handed over without cer- abuse by the police since his
Serpico in December about emony or the accompanying retirement in 1972 and says
the 50th anniversary of his certificate, he told the news- he has supported and listened
appearance before the Knapp paper. to other whistleblowers over
(AP) — More than 50 years The former undercover de- Commission. the years, including those
after Frank Serpico testi- tective, 85, received the hon- In recent years, the depart- who testified about the now-
fied about endemic cor- or in the mail Thursday, the “I felt that finally I was go- ment has awarded medals terminated stop-and-frisk
ruption in the New York New York Daily News re- ing to tell the world and to recipients at annual large policy.
Police Department, the ported. nobody’s going to inter- public events.
department finally recog- rupt me,” Serpico told the In 2017, he publicly support-
nized his service and inju- Serpico testified in Decem- newspaper, speaking from Mayor Eric Adams respond- ed quarterback Colin Kaepe-
ry in the line of duty with ber 1971 to a panel appointed his home in upstate New ed to the coverage, saying rnick, who protested against
an official certificate and by Mayor John Lindsay to York. “I thought, ‘I know the Serpico’s “bravery inspired racial injustice while playing
inscribed medal of honor. investigate police corruption, truth.’ ... Every single word my law enforcement career. in the NFL.
breaking the “blue wall of was mine, and it came from Frank — we’re going to make

Attorney: Family ‘flabbergasted’ by killing of Amir Locke

(AP) — The parents of Amir Locke An incident report said he had two mands from officers pointing lights
and their attorneys said Friday that wounds in the chest and one in the Hennepin County Attorney Mike and guns at him.
the 22-year-old Black man was “exe- right wrist. Freeman said he asked Minnesota At-
cuted” by a Minneapolis SWAT team torney General Keith Ellison to help “Mr. Locke did what many of us
that woke him from a deep sleep, and The killing prompted outrage in review the case for possible charges. might do in the same confusing cir-
that he reached in confusion for a le- Minneapolis, where prominent activ- Ellison’s office led prosecutions of cumstances, he reached for a legal
gal firearm to protect himself. ists confronted the mayor and inter- former Minneapolis Police Officer means of self-defense while he sought
im police chief at a news conference Derek Chauvin in George Floyd’s to understand what was happening,”
Locke’s parents, Andre Locke and Thursday. Nekima Levy Armstrong, killing and of former Brooklyn Cen- said Rob Doar, a spokesman for the
Karen Wells, described him as re- a civil rights attorney, called the city’s ter Officer Kim Potter in the shoot- Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.
spectful, including to police, and said release of information “the anatomy ing of Black motorist Daunte Wright.
some of their relatives work in law of a cover-up.” Interim Police Chief Amelia Huff-
enforcement. Wells said the couple “Amir Locke’s life mattered,” Ellison man said during a news conference
coached their son on how to act and Body camera video released by police said in a statement, promising a fair Thursday that Locke wasn’t named
do “what they needed to do whenev- Thursday evening shows the footage and thorough review “guided by the in the warrants. She said it wasn’t
er they encountered police officers” in slow motion and at regular speed. values of accountability and transpar- clear how or whether Locke was con-
because of the danger to “unarmed It shows an officer using a key to un- ency.” nected to St. Paul’s homicide investi-
Black males.” lock the door and enter, followed by gation. A spokesman for the St. Paul
at least four officers in uniform and A gun-rights group highlighted the Police Department said he could not
“My son was executed on 2/2 of 22,” protective vests, time-stamped at timing of the raid, saying it appeared comment because the homicide in-
Wells said. “And now his dreams have about 6:48 a.m. After they open the from the video that Locke was awak- vestigation was ongoing.
been destroyed.” door, they repeatedly shout, “Police, ened by a confusing array of com-
search warrant!” They also shout
The parents spoke at a news confer- “Hands!” and “Get on the ground!”
ence organized by civil rights attorney The video shows an officer kick a
Ben Crump, who said Locke’s family sectional sofa, and Locke, who was
was “just flabbergasted at the fact that wrapped in a comforter on the sofa,
Amir was killed in this way” and dis- begins to move, holding a pistol.
gusted at how the Wednesday morn- Three shots are heard, and the video
ing raid was conducted. They said he ends.
was law-abiding, with no criminal re-
cord, and had a permit to carry a gun. The city also released a still from the
video showing Locke holding the
“They didn’t even give him a chance,” gun, his trigger finger along the side
Crump said, adding that it was shock- of the barrel. Otherwise, all that can
ing that Minneapolis police had not be seen of Locke is the top of his head.
learned from the death of Breonna
Taylor, who was killed in a botched Levy Armstrong posted a link to the
raid at her home in Louisville, Ken- video on social media “for those who
tucky, in 2020, leading to calls for an can stomach the murderous conduct
end to no-knock warrants nation- of the Minneapolis Police Depart-
wide. ment.” She added: “The mother in
me is furious and sick to my stomach.
Police said Locke pointed a loaded Amir never had a chance to survive
gun “in the direction of officers.” that encounter with police.”