Horace Lorenzo Anderson, Sr., whose son, a 19-year-old black man named Horace Lorenzo Anderson, Jr., was one of several young men killed...
Horace Lorenzo Anderson, Sr., whose son, a 19-year-old black man named Horace Lorenzo Anderson, Jr., was one of several young men killed on the borders of Seattle’s Capitol Hill Occupied Protest before authorities cleared out the “anti-racist” demonstration, is suing the city of Seattle and the state of Washington alleging that their negligence and tolerance for CHOP led directly to his son’s death.
Anderson, Sr., also says that Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and the Seattle Police Department have refused to provide him information on his son’s death, according to Fox News.
Anderson was one of two people shot in an incident in late June, according to the Seattle Times. He and another man, a 33-year-old, were both injured in an altercation inside the CHOP zone, and protesters prevented police and other first responders from assisting. Anderson was taken to the hospital by volunteer medics where he later died.
Anderson’s father was left devastated and, in an interview shortly after his son’s death, demanded that the Seattle city government bring in the National Guard to help quell the violence in and around CHOP if they were not willing to handle the issue themselves, per an earlier report from The Daily Wire.
Now, Anderson, Sr., says the city and state owe him more than just answers.
The complaint claims Anderson, Jr., “laid bleeding to death in the streets with no one to respond” and that the city should have cleared the CHOP zone because of the clear danger to both Seattle and CHOP residents.
“The claim alleged that the actions and ‘inactions’ by the local government are responsible for creating a ‘hazardous, and lawless situation’ that resulted in the man’s death, according to a statement released by the Oshan & Associates, P.C., the law firm representing Anderson,” Seattle’s NBC affiliate, KING, reported Saturday.
“It is important to hold our government leaders accountable so this will not happen again,” Anderson’s attorney added in a separate statement. “Those in positions of power must not be allowed to hide from their duty to act responsibly and protect citizens. With power and prestige comes responsibility!”
In later interviews, Anderson’s attorney added that it’s possible the police had “given up.”
“The thing that we really need to focus on is that there was a, an individual who lost his life unnecessarily and he, it was predictable, it was preventable, and this should have never happened,” he said. “I do know is that there was a police precinct that was given up. What I do know is that EMS did not come in and take care of Lorenzo as he lay bleeding. This was a totally lawless situation. It puts him in great danger and it was just wrong.”
Seattle’s city attorney has not responded to the complaint itself, but KING says that Seattle’s Fire Department claimed, at the time, that it was standing at the ready to assist in the situation but was waiting for Seattle police to escort their emergency medical team into the CHOP zone. Seattle police “reported that the crowd prevented them from getting inside the CHOP zone.”
The police do have a suspect in Anderson, Jr.’s, murder and there is a warrant out for his arrest.
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