US police have again been accused of excessive use of force after an amputated African American man was killed by Huntington Park officials during a knife attack intervention in California.
• Also read: Emotion and anger at police violence at Tire Nichols funeral
Various videos of Anthony Lowe’s attempted arrest sparked controversy on Wednesday. Pictures taken by passers-by show the 36-year-old man exiting his wheelchair to walk on his tree stumps as several police officers point their guns at him.
Police officers in Huntington Park, California, shoot dead Anthony Lowe Jr., a double amputee man, who tried to walk away from them on his stumps. Police said they were afraid Lowe would throw the knife he was carrying at them. pic.twitter.com/y4FjqED4Hy
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 31, 2023
No angle clearly shows what happens next, but what is clear is that officers shot the African-American man, causing his death.
The attempted arrest took place last Thursday and the videos only recently surfaced amid controversy after another African American man, Tire Nichols, was brutally beaten by Memphis police in the southern United States in early January.
Mr Nichols, 29, died on January 10, three days after being beaten by several officers. Five police officers were fired in the case and charged with murder.
Police in Huntington Park, a small town on the outskirts of Los Angeles, said officers responded to a stabbing by a man in a wheelchair.
The suspect, who was in possession of a 12-inch knife, ignored orders from officers to drop it and threatened to “throw the knife,” according to a police statement quoted by multiple American media outlets.
Officers fired a taser twice without maintaining control, police said.
“The suspect continued to threaten officers with the butcher knife, which resulted in a shootout in which the officers were involved,” police said in their statement, without specifying how many officers opened fire.
Available videos show Anthony Lowe holding what appears to be a knife. In the pictures he is walking away from the police and not towards them.
According to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department responsible for the investigation, two officers opened fire about 10 times on Mr. Lowe, who was shot in the chest and died instantly.
At a press conference on Monday, Mr Lowe’s family said he was suffering from a mental illness. His relatives have not responded to allegations that he stabbed someone else.
“They killed my son, they killed him while he was in a wheelchair with no legs,” said his mother, Dorothy Lowe. “So they have to do something because I want justice for my son. »