Los Angeles: Family of man killed by police files $50m claim

• Anderson was a 31-year-old high school English teacher in Washington, DC.
• Anderson screamed for help after officers pinned him to the ground.
• Anderson went into cardiac arrest after being subdued and died.

Los Angeles: Lawyers for the five-year-old son of a man who died in the United States after being shocked repeatedly with a stun gun by Los Angeles police have filed a $50 million lawsuit against the city.

Before Keenan Anderson’s son can sue the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for civil rights violations, he must first file a claim. Officers Tasered his father six times in less than a minute to subdue him on January 3.

“He was a flower just beginning to bloom, but the LAPD, unfortunately, was a hammer.” but the LAPD, unfortunately, was a hammer,” the family’s lawyer, Carl Douglas, said at a news conference announcing the case.

“They treated that flower like it was a nail,” he added.

Black Lives Matter

Anderson, a 31-year-old high school English teacher in Washington, DC, and cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors was a suspect in a hit-and-run traffic collision in Venice, California, on the United States west coast. He allegedly fled from officers and resisted arrest.

According to a video released by the LAPD, Anderson screamed for help after officers pinned him to the ground.

“They’re trying to kill me!” yelled Anderson.

An officer was seen pressing his forearm against Anderson’s chest and his elbow into his neck.

“They’re trying to George Floyd me,” Anderson said, referring to the Black man killed by Minnesota police officers.

Anderson initially cooperated with officers as they investigated whether he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to Police Chief Michel Moore. He was apprehended after running into the middle of the street and resisting arrest.

According to the chief, an LAPD toxicology test found cocaine and cannabis in Anderson’s body, but those findings are separate from the coroner’s independent report.

The officers involved have not been named yet but their union issued a statement saying the family and its lawyers were “trying to shamelessly profit” from a “tragic incident”.

Anderson went into cardiac arrest after being subdued and died four hours later at a hospital.

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