Family Of Man Who Died In LAPD Custody Files $50M Claim Against City

VENICE, CA — The family of Keenan Anderson, a man who died while in Los Angeles Police Department custody after being Tased in the back six times, filed a $50 million damages claim against the city on Friday.

Anderson, a 31-year-old high school English teacher and cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, died on Jan. 3 after LAPD officers responded to a minor traffic collision in Venice. About four hours later Anderson died in the hospital after going into cardiac arrest, according to LAPD.

The claim argued the level of force used in Anderson's final moments was unlawful and contributed to his death. In the LAPD body camera footage of Anderson's arrest, he could be heard yelling for help and saying, "They’re trying to George Floyd me.”

SEE RELATED: 'Trying To George Floyd Me': LAPD Releases Video From In-Custody Death

"We can only wonder what Keenan Anderson meant when he said 'they're trying to George Floyd me," said attorney Ben Crump, who represented Floyd's family after his death in 2020. "If he meant that he would end up dead at the end of the encounter at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department, then Keenan Anderson was correct."

LAPD policy does not mention how frequently an officer can use a taser, but a 2021 directive urged them to avoid repeated use to avoid possible injury. Other police departments in the country limit officers from discharging a Taser more than three times or for a total duration of 15 seconds, according to the L.A. Times.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore expressed concern about the number of times Anderson was Tased and promised a thorough investigation into his death.

"In my preliminary review of this incident, it's unclear what the role of that Taser was," Moore said. "To be clear, it's dependent on the totality of our investigative resources, but also on medical records from the hospital as well as a coroner's report and their formal and forensic level examination. As this investigation continues, however, I will pay close attention to the use of the Taser."

Preliminary toxicology reports from the Los Angeles Police Department Forensic Science Division indicated that samples of Anderson's blood tested positive for Cocaine Metabolite and Cannabinoids, according to LAPD. Attorney Carl Douglas, representing Anderson's family, said they plan to have an independent pathologist analyze the cause of death. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner's office will also conduct its own toxicology testing according to LAPD.

Anderson is survived by his 5-year-old son Syncere and his partner Gabrielle Hansell. At a news conference to announce the claim Friday, Hansell said she will never get over watching Anderson cry for help and was worried about the day her son will watch the police footage.

Hansell said she will not know how to answer Syncere's questions about the video when that time comes.

"All I do know is that we are here to get justice for Keenan and, in the process, we hope to evoke change so that moving forward my son doesn't have to live his life in fear of one day what happened to his dad may one day happen to him," Hansell said.