Family, 5-Year-Old Son Of Keenan Anderson File $50 Million Claim Of Damages Against Los Angeles
Lawyers for the estate of Keenan Anderson, who died of cardiac arrest after he was repeatedly tased by Los Angeles Police Department officers, filed a $50 million claim of damages against the city of Los Angeles.
According to CBS News, the legal claim is necessary before Anderson’s son, Syncere Kai Anderson, 5, and estate can pursue a lawsuit against Los Angeles Police Department “for wrongful death and civil rights violations for restraining him and shocking him six times with a Taser in less than a minute.”
Syncere Kai stood next to his mother, Gabrielle Hansell during the conference, along with the administrator of his estate and the attorneys.
RELATED: Cousin Of Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Patrisse Cullors Dies After Being Repeatedly Tased By LAPD
Anderson, 31, was a 10th grade English teacher in Washington D.C., who was the suspect in a hit-and-run traffic collision in Venice, California on January 3. He was stopped by Venice police and in footage released by the LAPD, officers tackled Anderson in the middle of an intersection after responding to the accident.
Anderson is also the cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder, Patrisse Cullors.
The video shows Anderson begging for his life, saying, “They’re trying to George Floyd me,” referencing the tragic unfolding of the 2020 Minnesota deadly police killing.
“They’re trying to kill me,” he continued, as an officer’s forearm pressed against his chest and an elbow laid on his neck.
"We can only wonder what Keenan Anderson meant," attorney Ben Crump said. "But if he meant that he would end up dead at the end of the encounter at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department then Keenan Anderson was correct. They George Floyd him."
Anderson was subdued by the unnamed officers and died four hours later in a hospital as a result of suffering cardiac arrest.
The claim states that officers “used unreasonable deadly force, carelessly and mistakenly deployed the taser, failed to follow training on the dangers of asphyxiation while handcuffing Anderson and conspired with each other to hide and distort information in false police reports.”
Anderson initially complied with authorities as officers attempted to figure out whether he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Cocaine and cannabis was found in Anderson’s body by an LAPD toxicology test.
The names of the officers remain unknown for now, but their union say the family and attorney are attempting to “shamelessly profit” from a “tragic incident.”
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office is still investigating Anderson’s death.