Keenan Anderson's family wants LAPD to turn over reports connected to teacher's Taser death

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Relatives of Keenan Anderson, a Black man who went into cardiac arrest and died after being fired upon multiple times with a stun gun in a struggle with Los Angeles police in 2023 in Venice want a judge to order the department to turn over a number of related reports and witness statements.

Anderson, the father of a 5-year-old son, had been a teacher for more than eight years, most recently at Digital Pioneers Academy, a charter high school in Washington, D.C. Anderson also was a cousin of Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The 31-year-old Anderson had been in the Los Angeles area visiting relatives during the holidays when he got into the Jan. 3, 2023, confrontation with police after a minor traffic collision near Lincoln and Venice boulevards. An autopsy determined that Anderson died from the effects of an enlarged heart and cocaine use.

On Friday, the family's attorneys, who include Carl Douglas, filed court papers with Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis asking that they be given access to LAPD reports and civilian witness statements, including the Force Investigation Division report, digital and audio recordings, photos, body-worn camera and other videos, citizen complaints against the officers involved and police dispatcher recordings.

"This lawsuit concerns the outrageous, careless and unlawful use of deadly force by city officers, as well as their malicious effort to distort the true facts of their own misconduct," the plaintiffs' lawyers contend in their pleadings filed in advance of a scheduled Aug. 12 hearing. "Moreover, this case raises questions concerning the questionable training and use of force by the police officers that directly led to Mr. Anderson's death."

One officer "grabbed, compressed and shot Anderson in the back of his heart with a stun gun at least six times in rapid succession, with each charge sending 50,000 watts of electrical energy into his body while the other officers pressed Anderson's body against the street while struggling to pull his arms behind his back, according to the plaintiffs' attorneys' court papers.

Two officers put pressure on Anderson's neck, trachea and windpipe as he squirmed in resistance while struggling to breathe, the Anderson family lawyers further contend in their court papers, which further note that Anderson died 4 1/2 hours later.

"I believe defendants' choice to use excessive force ... was racially- motivated as he was a young Black men in a predominantly white area," plaintiffs' attorney Rachel P. Jacobs says in a sworn statement.

Earlier this year, the LAPD released some edited body-camera footage showing the encounter between Anderson and police. At one point, the video shows Anderson being held down on the ground, with Anderson crying out that officers were trying to "George Floyd" him, a reference to the man who died while being restrained by police in Minneapolis.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents LAPD officers, previously issued a statement saying Anderson escalated the confrontation with his behavior, which included running away from officers into traffic.

The lawsuit filed last June 22 alleges civil rights violations, assault and battery, false imprisonment and negligence.