The family of a man who died after he was repeatedly shocked with a stun gun by Los Angeles police filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, their attorneys said Monday.
The family of Keenan Anderson, a Washington, D.C., teacher and cousin of a Black Lives Matter co-founder, is seeking $100 million over his January death, family attorney Ben Crump said at a news conference Monday. An autopsy released earlier this month found Anderson, 31, died from an enlarged heart and cocaine use, and his death was “determined hours after restraint and conducted energy device use.”
Drake Madison, a spokesperson for the LAPD, told USA TODAY the department does not comment on pending litigation. But Crump said Monday what killed Anderson “was an overdose of excessive force.”
“Had he not been tased,” Crump said. “Keenan Anderson would be here today.”
$100M lawsuit alleges civil rights violations, assault, false imprisonment and negligence
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Anderson’s 5-year-old son, Syncere Kai Anderson, and the child’s mother, Gabrielle Hansell, against the city and dozens of unnamed individuals. It alleges civil rights violations, assault and battery, false imprisonment and negligence, according to a copy of the lawsuit provided by family attorneys.
The suit claims Anderson, a Black man, did not pose a threat, but officers used a stun gun on him because of his race.
The suit, which comes after the family filed a claim for damages totaling $50 million against the city earlier this year, alleges the defendants failed to properly train officers to detain someone without using “unreasonable deadly force” or that the defendants didn’t implement that training.
The claim was denied, according to a statement from family attorneys. Los Angeles’ city attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
What happened to Keenan Anderson?
Police encountered Anderson in early January after several people involved in a traffic collision flagged down an officer and indicated Anderson was responsible for the crash, police said in a statement.
Police said an officer saw Anderson “running in the middle of the street and exhibiting erratic behavior.” Family attorney Carl Douglas said in a statement Anderson was in “obvious mental distress.”
As officers tried to determine if Anderson was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Anderson initially complied but then fled, police body camera footage and bystander cellphone video shows. At one point, the footage shows an officer pressed his elbow into Anderson’s neck while Anderson was on his back on the pavement.
“They’re trying to kill me,” Anderson said. “They’re trying to George Floyd me.”
As the officers tried to turn Anderson over and handcuff him, Anderson resisted, the footage shows. An officer can be heard repeatedly threatening to user a Taser on him before Anderson was repeatedly shocked.
Anderson was taken to a hospital, where he died more than four hours later.
Autopsy cites cocaine use and “undetermined contribution” of law enforcement
The autopsy listed the manner of Anderson’s death as undetermined, but said the injury occurred due to cocaine intake and “undetermined contribution of law enforcement restraint and conducted energy device use.”
Douglas said Monday a second autopsy also found Anderson had drugs in his system at the time of his death, “but it matters not whether there was cocaine in his system, because the actions of the officers were wrong.”
“It matters not why he was in distress, because it’s clear from the body-worn footage that he was never a threat,” Douglas said.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement after the autopsy report was released the medical examiner’s findings leave some unanswered questions about Anderson’s death. The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit from USA TODAY.
The LAPD is conducting an administrative investigation into Anderson’s death, and a final determination on the “necessity and appropriateness of both the force and tactics used” is expected to be made in August, according to a statement from police.
“I await the result of the investigation already underway,” said Bass, who committed to expanding training for LAPD officers to better respond to people in crisis.
