Activists allege cops killed BLM co-founder’s cousin, then CCTV footage emerged

After a traffic accident on January 3 at a busy intersection in the Venice section of Los Angeles, according to witnesses, 31-year-old Keenan Anderson, who tried to hide from the police, caused it. According to witnesses, Anderson showed signs of drug intoxication, including extreme paranoia and agitation. The police repeatedly warned him that if he continued to resist, he would be beaten with electric shocks. He disobeyed after numerous requests from the officer, and ended up being electrocuted. Anderson was taken to an area hospital, where he later died after cardiac arrest.

Anderson was the cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrissa Cullors, who made the case the latest example of police brutality against black people. Cullors’ downfall came in April 2021 after The New York Post reported that she used BLM donations to purchase several luxury properties worth millions.

After Anderson’s death, Cullors posted a photo of him on Instagram with the following message: “This is my cousin Keenan Anderson. He was killed by LAPD in Venice on January 3, 2023. My cousin was an educator and worked with children of senior school age. He was an English teacher. The LAPD has killed three people this year. One of them is a member of my family. Keenan deserves to be alive right now, his child deserves to be raised by his father. Keenan, we will fight for you and for all our loved ones affected by state violence. I love you. #JusticeForKeenan#BlackLivesMatter”.

Despite Cullors’ depiction of the episode, the bodycam video released by the officers involved tells a very different story.

In the video below, LAPD Capt. Kelly Muñiz tells reporters that witnesses said Anderson was “running in the middle of the street and showing erratic behavior.”

The officer asked Anderson to sit down, and he complied “within minutes,” Muniz said. After reinforcements arrived, Anderson got up and ran outside. The officers ordered him to stop and “lie down on the ground”.

“As the police tried to take Anderson into custody, he became increasingly agitated, uncooperative and resisted the police,” she said.

The officer yells “Get off the street” to Anderson, who yells back, “Someone is trying to kill me, sir.”

Contrary to Cullors’ claims, the video shows the officer being extremely patient with Anderson.

Anderson tells him, “They’re trying to put things in my car.”

“Who’s trying to put things in your car?” the officer asks.

The message on the video stated that Anderson attempted to escape again seven minutes later. The officer continued to be patient and even kind to Anderson.

Still refusing to comply, Anderson attempts to flee again. Finally, the officer runs out of patience and yells at Anderson to lie on his stomach.

After being held by the police, he turns to passers-by for help. Anderson shouts out: “They are trying to equate me with George Floyd. … They are trying to kill me. …

The officer gives several warnings that if Anderson refuses to roll over on his stomach, he will be tasered.

Anderson continues to resist, and the officer repeatedly hits him with a taser.

Muniz plays footage from body cameras worn by other officers at the scene. In one of them, a passer-by can be heard saying to an officer: “That guy over there [Anderson]he caused the accident. He tried to steal my car. The police are doing the right job right now. Don’t think the police are insulting him. He tried to leave. … I’m an Uber driver and he was trying to steal my car while he, uh, crashed into other cars right there.”

The officer asks, “Was he in the car?

“Yes, he was in a BMW right there,” the Uber driver replies.

At one point, Anderson is heard repeating “C Lo”.

“Help! They think I killed Cee-Lo, they think I killed Cee-Lo, help me please! … They’re trying to calm me down, I know too much!” Anderson screams as the cops handcuff him and tie his legs together.

“While in the hospital and approximately four and a half hours after the use of force, Anderson required emergency medical attention, he did not respond to the efforts of medical personnel to save life and died,” Muniz told reporters.

She also said that police ran a “preliminary blood poison test” and determined that Anderson “tested positive for a cocaine metabolite and cannibinoids.” She added that the county medical examiner’s office will conduct its own independent toxicology testing.

Social media users have acknowledged Cullors’ insincere characterization of the incident for what it was: a pathetic attempt to make the cops look like murderers.

Freelance journalist Greg Price does a reality check in the short Twitter thread below.

BLM founder’s cousin Keenan Anderson was involved in an accident while under the influence of drugs after attempting to steal a car. The policeman treated him calmly and said that he would bring him water. He then encountered traffic and resisted. He was hit with a stun gun and 4 hours later he died of cardiac arrest.
pic.twitter.com/0iLwaBa0Ru

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 13, 2023

But that’s how activists on Twitter, in viral posts, outline the story of a cocaine-fueled carjacking attempt that caused an accident and resisted arrest. Because the truth doesn’t matter. pic.twitter.com/KxWTPqKXKr

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 13, 2023

He caused the accident after trying to steal a car.
The policeman approached him because the other people involved in the accident said he did it.
– There is a 15-minute video camera in which the police behave calmly with him until he resisted arrest.
– The police told him to stop 9 times, otherwise he would hit him with a stun gun. pic.twitter.com/2gG1gFADC0

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 13, 2023

Anderson’s death should not have happened. For him and many others, including George Floyd and Daunte Wright, who was accidentally shot dead by a Minneapolis police officer in April 2021 when she mistook her gun for a stun gun, problems began when they decided to resist police.

Although not all the facts about the case are known at this time, body camera footage from the officers at the scene does not support Cullors’ account. As the saying goes, the camera doesn’t lie.

Most of us are not lawyers and we can only base our opinions on what we see. And so far, we haven’t seen anything to lead us to believe that the officers involved were behaving inappropriately.

This article originally appeared in The Western Journal.

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