Keenan Anderson, Patrisse Cullors' Cousin, Dies After LAPD Tasing

Another day, another Black man gets killed by police after fleeing because he was terrified he would be—killed by police.

Source: Jupiterimages / Getty

Keenan Anderson, a cousin of Black Lives Matter Global Network co-founder Patrisse Cullors, died recently following a Jan. 3, encounter with officers with the Los Angeles Police Department. In fact, police body camera footage shows that before the man was allegedly tased to death by one of the officers, he basically predicted that he would die in a similar manner as George Floyd.

Source: LAPD / LAPD

The Guardian reports that bodycam footage was released Wednesday showing that Keenan Anderson, a 31-year-old high school teacher, and father, was begging for help as multiple officers held him down. At one point he chillingly said, “They’re trying to George Floyd me.”

One officer had his elbow on Anderson’s neck while he was lying down before another Tased him for roughly 30 seconds straight before pausing and tasing him again for five more seconds.

Footage shows that Anderson who was involved in a car collision encountered an officer afterward who instructed him to “Get up against the wall.” Anderson held his hands up, responding, “I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry” and complied with the officer’s commands and sat down on the sidewalk.

After a few minutes, he appeared to be concerned with the officer’s behavior, saying, “I want people to see me” referencing bystanders, “You’re putting a thing on me,” he added.

Eventually, Anderson started to flee, at which point the officer chased him on his motorcycle, shouting, “Get down to the ground, now,” and “Turn over on your stomach.” Anderson repeatedly responded, “Please help me,” and “They’re trying to kill me,” as multiple officers arrived and held him down. One of them placed his elbow and body weight on Anderson’s neck while he was lying with his back on the ground. At this point, the officer standing above him shouted, “Turn over or I’m going to tase you.”

During the tasing, Anderson repeatedly said, “Help me,” as the officer told him to stop resisting.

Four and a half hours later, Anderson died at the hospital of cardiac arrest.

Imagine that. Officers of the law who think it’s appropriate to respond to a civilian literally pleading for help by treating said civilian like a dangerous criminal, then allegedly killing the aforementioned civilian just for behaving like a Black man who’s terrified he’s about to be killed by police.

“My cousin was asking for help, and he didn’t receive it. He was killed,” Patrisse 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.”

“It was a traffic accident. Instead of treating him like a potential criminal, police should have called the ambulance,” Cullors went on to say. “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. 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.”

Predictably, LAPD Chief Michel Moore justified police actions by claiming during a news conference that Anderson’s behavior was “erratic” that he died from a “medical emergency” and not from police brutality, and that a preliminary blood test revealed cannabis and cocaine in the victim’s system.

For the record, a formal cause of death has not yet been determined, but what can be easily determined is the degree to which THIS CASE IS DAMN NEAR EXACTLY LIKE GEORGE FLOYD!!

Mind you, Moore is the very same LAPD police chief who erroneously claimed protesters were just as much responsible for Floyd’s death as Derek Chauvin and the other three cops who helped Chauvin kill Floyd.

Moore also admitted during the news conference that the police taser was “activated” against Anderson 10 times, but he said not all deployments of the taser were “effective” adding, “It’s unclear what role the physical struggle with the officers and the use of the taser played in his unfortunate death.”

Moore also noted that under LAPD policy, “There is no pre-set limit on the number of times a taser can be used in a particular situation, however, officers should generally avoid repeated or simultaneous activations to avoid potential injury.”

It’s almost as if the whole damn system of policing needs to be thrown TF away.