The Los Angeles Police Department has reported that a 31-year-old individual called Keenan Anderson has died of cardiac arrest after being repeatedly tased by its officials.

Anderson, a cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, was an English teacher and a father. With his death, the LAPD has now been responsible for three such incidents within the span of a year.

Who was Keenan Anderson?

Keenan Anderson was a 31-year-old English teacher at Digital Pioneers Academy, a school in Washington DC, his cousin Cullors said to Guardian after his death. The family had “to get away from racism, to get away from the terrorizing of white supremacists and the structures that impact our communities”, and that is why they left their native state of Louisiana, according to Cullors.

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Cullors also said that Anderson was closely associated with the movement and had often helped organize events.

Anderson was visiting Los Angeles when the incident occurred. Michel Moore, the LAPD chief, said that cannabis and cocaine were found in his bloodstream according to a preliminary blood test.

In the bodycam footage released by the LAPD, Anderson can be seen saying “They want to George Floyd me!” Multiple officers were seen holding him down to the ground. While one officer pinned him with an elbow to the neck, another tased him for 30 seconds straight. 

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Dr Melina Abdullah, who co-founded the BLM alongside Cullors, said regarding Anderson’s death, “Keenan’s murder is absolutely horrific. LAPD is not calling it a ‘killing’, but calling it an ‘in-custody death’. But Keenan was Tased to death. We know LAPD caused Keenan’s death,” further adding, We know that a minor traffic accident shouldn’t result in the death of anyone, let alone the death of this Black man, who was clearly unarmed and wasn’t doing anything wrong.”