A southern California police department is facing a national backlash after footage revealed officers fatally shot a double amputee and wheelchair user who appeared to be running around on the ground before he was killed.
Anthony Lowe, 36, was killed by officers in Huntington Park, a city in southern Los Angeles County, on Thursday. Cellphone footage captured part of the incident, showing Lowe on the sidewalk next to his wheelchair seemingly trying to flee as two officers approached him with guns drawn. Several police cars arrived as officers followed Lowe, who appeared to be limping, but the shooting was not captured on video.
Now, Lowe’s family is calling for the officers to be fired and face murder charges.
“I was devastated, and filled with anger and rage,” Tatiana Jackson, her younger sister, told the Guardian on Tuesday. “I just don’t understand why they would do that to someone in a wheelchair. I want someone to explain to me why you need to shoot a guy with no legs.
Lowe is a father of two and one of eight siblings in a family, and he recently struggled after he had to have both legs amputated, his family said.
The circumstances leading up to the killing are unclear, and officials are facing scrutiny as their account appears to be changing. The Huntington Park police department said in a statement that officers were responding to reports of a stabbing allegedly committed by a man in a wheelchair around 3:40 p.m. Thursday, and that they encountered Lowe, who was in a wheelchair and who they believed to be the suspect. .
The department admitted that officers tried to restrain him, saying he ignored orders and “threatened to attack or throw a knife at officers”, although limited witness footage did not capture this. The department added that officers “deployed two separate Tasers in an attempt to subdue the suspect”, but when “the Tasers were ineffective”, they shot him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The LA sheriff’s department, which is investigating the murder, said in an initial statement that Lowe tried to “throw the knife at the officers”, but a spokesman later told the LA Times that Lowe “did not throw the knife at the end, but he did. the movement several times over his head as he threw the knife”. The spokesman also said two officers fired about 10 rounds at Lowe, who was hit in the body. The Huntington Park department does not use body cameras.
The case comes amid national protests over police brutality in the US following the fatal beating of Tire Nichols, 29, in Memphis. In Los Angeles, there were also demonstrations this month about a series of killings by the LA police department, including the Tasing of Keenan Anderson, the cousin of a Black Lives Matter co-founder.
‘She’s scared’
Advocates and Lowe’s family said the Huntington Park case illustrates how quickly police can escalate situations and use lethal force.. The video does not show any civilians near Lowe as he tries to get away, and he is also seen moving away from the officers.
According to the police they found the stabbing victim who was taken to the hospital, but Lowe’s family said they doubt the story of the law enforcement officers.
“He fled from them as if he was afraid for his life,” said Ebonique Simon, the mother of Anthony’s son, who said he had a knife for protection. “It could have been handled any other way. But they chose gunfire as the solution to the problem. That’s crazy… The police should uphold the law, and we should trust them with our lives, but how can we, if they do something like this?
He said that it seems that the police are trying to present him as a violent and dangerous person in order to not be so angry: “They think that this man has no family and that they can sweep this story under the carpet. But I don’t It will be released until my son gets justice. Their son, who is 15, was devastated by the footage, Simon said: “How is a child going to feel about the police now that you have shot their father?”
Sylvester Ani, an LA activist who helps families of people killed by police, said the case is a reminder that officers can create danger instead of protecting people: “The way they are trained to do the job is to kill people. That’s not about safety. This man is a double amputee, but they felt the need to shoot him. They didn’t do it because they had to, they did it because they didn’t have care about his life. Anthony should be alive.”
A spokesperson for the LA sheriff’s agency, which has its own track record of police brutality and misconduct scandals, told the LA Times that the officers who fired at Lowe’s were on vacation “for a few days”, going through a psychological evaluation and assigned to administrative duties until they are approved to return to fieldwork.
Cliff Smith, an organizer supporting Lowe’s family, said the statement suggested the sheriff’s agency had already exonerated the officers: “There is no trust in the sheriff’s department investigating any other police agency. , because their own house is a mess.”
The sheriff’s department declined to comment, referring questions to the Huntington department, which did not respond to an inquiry Tuesday.
‘He brightens your day’
Jackson, the sister of Lowe, who is 34, said that even though they were separated for two years, they always felt like twins: “You can have the worst day ever, but when you see him, he will brighten your day. . He is a family man who takes care of all his family and treats his friends like family.
Jackson said her four-year-old daughter adored Lowe and didn’t understand that she was gone. Her daughter noticed that her mother was sick and suggested that she talk to Uncle Anthony to make her feel better: “He doesn’t understand why I’m crying. Anytime we have something going on, my brother and I will call. And my daughter kept saying, ‘Call Uncle Anthony.’ But he can’t solve it.”
The killing had a ripple effect in the community, he added: “If we were in danger, do you think these kids would call 911? They wouldn’t go, because they were scared.”
Lowe’s family said he was living in Texas when his legs were amputated, but they did not know the specific circumstances. He returned to California in recent months.
Simon said Lowe was proud of their son’s football success and helped him stay motivated, and that he was struggling to process that he wouldn’t be able to go to graduation. He said Lowe also loved to dance, and he believed she faced mental health challenges and depression because of the amputations. But he hopes that his life will soon improve.
She was recently approved for prosthetics, she said, and has an appointment scheduled for February.
