The family of Keenan Anderson, the 31-year-old cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, has filed a $50 million wrongful death claim against the city of Los Angeles — claiming he died because cops repeatedly tasered him after a traffic accident.
Friday’s legal action, which is the precursor to a lawsuit, came after the LAPD released bodycam footage of police wrestling with Anderson while trying to detain him, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Benjamin Crump, an attorney who has represented many of the nation’s high-profile victims of police brutality, and Carl Douglas, who was part of O.J. Simpson’s defense team at his murder trial, said at a Friday press conference that they had filed the claim on behalf of Anderson’s 5-year-old son. Cullors and other family members stood with the two lawyers.
“This is the story of a 5-year-old young man who will never be able to enjoy another day in the presence of his father,” Douglas said, standing next to the boy.
He said that Anderson had complied with a motorcycle officer’s order to sit on the sidewalk until several officers ran at him. Douglas said Anderson feared for his safety and ran into the street.
“We saw a man who was afraid,” said Douglas. “We saw a man who was unarmed and compliant.”
The incident happened on the afternoon of Jan. 3 in Los Angeles’ Venice neighborhood, according to police officials who released a 19-minute video about the encounter Wednesday.
Witnesses initially told officials that a man — later identified as Anderson — had caused a traffic collision at a busy intersection and was “running in the middle of the street and exhibiting erratic behavior,” according to LAPD Capt. Kelly Muñiz.
After officers arrived, Anderson obeyed orders and sat on the sidewalk while being questioned, the footage showed.
The young black man then expressed concern that other cops would try to plant evidence in the BMW he was driving and took off down the street.
Several officers tried to subdue Anderson, who fought back against them. One cop used a Taser stun gun on him at least six times in 42 seconds, according to details released by the LAPD.
Anderson died a few hours later at the hospital. A cause of death and whether the shocks from the Taser contributed to his demise hasn’t yet been reported, the LA Times said.
Police also said that preliminary tests found cocaine and cannabis in Anderson’s system but did not provide any information about when he may have ingested the drugs.
