Wednesday, LAPD released bodycam footage showing the moments when officers repeatedly Tased a man who later died.
The incident occurred on Jan. 3 after Keenan Anderson, a Los Angeles teacher and the cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, got into a traffic accident.
Footage of the encounter shows Anderson, 31, asking officers for help after witnesses indicated he had caused the accident.
“My cousin was asking for help, and he didn’t receive it. He was killed,” Cullors told the Guardian. “Nobody deserves to die in fear, panicking and scared for their life. My cousin was scared for his life. He spent the last 10 years witnessing a movement challenging the killing of Black people. He knew what was at stake and he was trying to protect himself. Nobody was willing to protect him.”
The bodycam video shows Anderson later complying with the officer’s command to sit on the sidewalk. However, he is later seen concerned with the officer’s behavior, saying, “I want people to see me,” and “You’re putting a thing on me.” Anderson later jogs over to the other side of the intersection, which prompts a brief chase. Once the cop catches up to Anderson, he sits on the ground in the middle of the street, and that’s when the cop tells him to turn over on his stomach. A struggle eventually ensues when other responding officers arrive. At one point, Anderson yells: “They’re trying to George Floyd me.” The struggle continued, and Anderson was Tased repeatedly and eventually handcuffed and then taken into custody.
Police say Anderson was later taken to a Santa Monica hospital, where he was later pronounced dead after suffering cardiac arrest.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a press conference that Anderson’s behavior was “erratic” and that he suffered a “medical emergency.” He also said that a preliminary toxicology report showed that Anderson tested positive for cannabis and cocaine. However, an official cause of death has not yet been released.
“It was a traffic accident. Instead of treating him like a potential criminal, police should have called the ambulance,” said Cullors. “If there was a policy in which traffic stops were met with unarmed professionals who come to the scene to help with whatever situation has happened, that would have prevented my cousin’s death. And that would have prevented so many other deaths.”
She added, “These types of killings and this type of force will not be interrupted unless we have courageous elected officials come forward and challenge not just the police, but also the policies.”
