American society is still shocked for the death of Tire Nichols, the man whom five police officers from Memphis (Tennessee) stopped for a traffic violation and dealt a fatal beating. However, now another event has occurred that has only increased the shock, the anger, the indignation: the police in Huntington Park (a city south of Los Angeles, California) has shot dead Anthony Lowea black man from 36 years and what was wheelchair bound.
He murderas Californian citizens are describing the incident, took place around four in the afternoon last Thursday January 26The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
At that time, a police car came to 2400 Slauson Avenue in Huntington Park for the notice of a stabbing in the area. There they found the victim, who told them to look down the street for a black man in a wheelchair as responsible for the attack.
[La Policía de Memphis suspende a un sexto agente por la paliza mortal a Tyre Nichols]
A suspect fitting the description was found at 1900 Slauson Avenue. the man was Anthony Lowe, had both legs amputated, was in a wheelchair and carried a kitchen knife beside. The two officers cornered him, pointing their pistols at him. Lowe got out of the chair and tried to flee, moving with great difficulty, and being followed at a short distance by the officers.
It was at that moment that two other backup jeep trucks arrived. The agents opened fire just two meters from Lowe: in total they fired around 10 times. Lowe, who had two children and whose legs he had lost in another altercation with police, died on the spot.
To the complaints of the devastated Lowe family, who They assured that it was one more example of deadly police violencehas joined the appearance on Twitter of a video two days later where you can see the entire event.
The family’s complaint
Sunday mornings were sacred to Lowe’s family: the NFL —National Football League—was fulfilling the first mandate for which sports existed and was the excuse to promote an unavoidable meeting at the home of Dorothy Lowe, 53, family matriarch. There the Lowes, fans of the San Francisco 49ers, watched the games to exfoliate themselves from the troubles of the rest of the week.
This Sunday, however, was the first that Dorothy Lowe saw the chair where her son Anthony always sat empty. It doesn’t matter what happens, if the 49ers beat the Philadelphia Eagles or if the young quarterback Brock Purdy returns for another stellar performance. The only thing that ruminated in their heads was the video showing Anthony’s murder, and the feeling that they had to do something with it.
Anthony Lowe, the man killed by California police.
Thus, Dorothy Lowe decided to give a press conference: “They murdered my son, in a wheelchair and without legs. They have to do something about it,” she said, almost like a plea. Beside her, one of Lowe’s teenage girls held a sign calling for justice for her father: “No justice, no peace.” .
“This is the first Sunday that he is not watching the game with us, which is what he likes to do the most. He is the life of the family, he brings happiness, joy, loves to dance. He is a respectable man who loves his mother. Besides, he is the favorite uncle of all his nephews: the children adore him,” said his sister Yatoya Toy, like this, in the present, as if he couldn’t have passed until justice is done.
[Los policías de Memphis se turnaron para golpear a Tyre Nichols mientras le rociaban spray pimienta]
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department homicide unit is investigating the shooting, according to official sources. Nevertheless, the version of the Lowe family contradicts that of the authorities.
“A detective was at home on Saturday, interviewing us. Our response was to pepper him with questions, but his answers were vague and not at all convincing,” explained his other sister Tatiana Jackson. “Was a legless handicapped man with a knife so threatening that multiple officers needed to shoot him?”her mother wonders.
police statement
The death of Anthony Lowe comes at a time when, finally, and after terrible deaths of citizens —mainly black—at the hands of the police, the United States is placing police brutality and violent excesses under scrutiny. Without going any further, the death of Tire Nichols, 29stirred public debate and mobilization.
On Monday, January 30, perhaps in response to the raising of voices by the family of the deceased and the fear of an imminent national reactionthe Huntington Park Police Department released a statement presenting Lowe as a violent person whom the officers had virtually no choice but to shoot, in self-defense.
The statement reports that the person allegedly stabbed by Lowe is “in hospital, in critical condition” and says the following:
Officers attempted to detain the suspect, who armed himself with a 12-inch meat cleaver. The suspect ignored the officers’ verbal commands and threatened to move forward or throw the knife at the officers. The officers used two tasers to try to subdue the suspect, but the guns did not work (…).
The suspect continued to threaten officers with the butcher knife, which led to an officer-involved shooting. The suspect was fatally wounded and was pronounced deceased at the scene by Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics (…).
Procedurally, the officers involved were placed on paid administrative leave pending police investigations by the Huntington Park Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and the Los Angeles Homicide Bureau. (…).
These explanations have not convinced the family, who sees a clear contradiction between the message they want to launch and the images in the video. Even more so after the police have refused to publicly display the additional images from nearby surveillance cameras.
“Something is not right in this situation“said his sister Jackson. “My daughter is 4 years old and loves it. It’s going to break my heart to let him know. She does not understand. She was looking for him, like ‘is he hiding from me?’ I dare not tell him that he will never come back.”
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