Nephew of founder Black Lives Matter movement dies after ‘taser’ arrest

LAPD

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 15:30

The 31-year-old cousin of a Black Lives Matter co-founder has died after being repeatedly tasered and detained by Los Angeles police earlier this month in the street.

Keenan Anderson taught at a high school and died in a hospital in Santa Monica.

According to police, Anderson had caused a traffic accident and attempted to flee by attempting to “get into someone else’s car without their permission”.

‘They’re trying to get along with George Floyden’

On the CCTV footage, Anderson appears confused when he tells an officer that someone is “trying to kill me” when there is no apparent danger.

At first, Anderson sits down as he is told, but when more officers arrive, he gets up and runs off. When caught up, he initially appears to be listening when officers try to apprehend him. But then he shouts “please” and “help” and “they’re trying to georgefloy with” – a reference to George Floyd, the black man who was killed by a police officer in 2020.

You can see more about George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement in this video:

After being warned several times by an officer not to resist anymore, Anderson is tasered. The taser gun is first aimed at him continuously for about 30 seconds. It takes 5 seconds a second time.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Anderson was taken to a hospital in an ambulance about five minutes after he was tasered. He went into cardiac arrest a few hours later and died, police said.

Death by taser

Anderson’s death is one in a series of deadly incidents in which police used tasers, writes The Washington Post. In 2021, two former Oklahoma police officers were convicted of murder for tasering an unarmed man more than 50 times.

Anderson is the cousin of Patrisse Cullors, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. Cullors told The Washington Post that she is joining local residents and activists in calling for the resignation of the Los Angeles Police Chief.

Cannabis into cocaine

She also noted how devastating it was to hear her cousin refer to Floyd’s name before his own death. “He yelled, ‘They’re trying to George Floy me!’ and that’s what they did,” she said. “That’s very hard to digest.”

Anderson’s cause of death is still under investigation. Los Angeles police say Anderson had cannabis and cocaine in his blood. The Los Angeles County Coroner is issuing a separate toxicology study.

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