Justice For Anthony Lowe! Outraged Family, Activists Ask Why Cops Needed To Shoot Double Amputee
Family and friends of Anthony Lowe hold a news conference to demand an investigation into his death outside of the Huntington Park Police Department in Huntington Park, California, on January 30, 2023. | Source: PATRICK T. FALLON / Getty
We often hear from “back the blue” advocates that police officers are brave and heroic, but it appears that many cops will resort to using lethal force rather than take even the most minuscule chance that their safety might be in danger—and there’s just nothing brave or heroic about that.
Earlier this week, we reported that while Black people are still grappling with the violent and traumatic death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, another story of egregious police brutality came out of Los Angeles, where 36-year-old Anthony Lowe, a Black man who had both of his legs amputated, was shot to death by LAPD officers who, apparently, feared for their lives because Nichols was wielding a knife.
Video footage of the shooting understandably outraged many people in L.A. and around the nation, but that didn’t stop police officials from defending the shooting by noting that police tried deploying a taser to subdue the man—who is unable to walk, let alone run away—and when the tasers were “ineffective” they decided lethal force was their only recourse. After all, Lowe looked like he might throw the knife at them, so why not shoot him to death rather than risk the possibility that he’s an expert knife thrower with ninja-like precision aim, amirite?
Police in California’s Huntington Park say they were fearful for their lives, killing Anthony Lowe Jr with 8 bullets.
Lowe was a double amputee fleeing away from them, without his wheelchair.
He lost both his legs after a previous attack by Texas cops.
He was 36. A father of 2 pic.twitter.com/EjyvAWJrWA
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) February 1, 2023
As someone who is acutely aware of the fact that police kill someone everyday in this country, not much stuns me, but the killing of Anthony Lowe Jr. has truly floored me. This is a truly evil institution. He was a double amputee, he was trying to get away from them. Just why
— Olayemi Olurin (@msolurin) February 1, 2023
Two Huntington Park police officers fired 10 rounds at Anthony Lowe, who’s a double amputee, and killed him. The Huntington Park department doesn’t use body cameras. If we didn’t have footage of Anthony Lowe trying to get away, this may never have become news. Always record cops.
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) February 1, 2023
Tyre Nichols and Anthony Lowe Jr. are devastating proof that disabled black futures are being denied every single day.#RestInPower #BlackLivesMatter#BlackLivesStillMatter #BlackDisabledLivesMatter #JusticeForTyreNichols #JusticeForAnthonyLoweJr pic.twitter.com/Yzt1BCriZf
— andraealavant (@andraealavant) February 1, 2023
Lowe’s family members as well as local activists are challenging the idea that the officers, who have all been placed on administrative leave pending an ongoing investigation into the shooting, had no other choice but to shoot a disabled person to death.
“How do you need to put into words the limitations on his physical mobility?” Cliff Smith, an organizer with the Los Angeles-based Coalition for Community Control Over the Police, asked, according to the Washington Post. “The officers are in their full capacity. It’s beyond absurd to say that the officers are in any risk.”
“He can’t do anything or go anywhere,” Smith continued. “It’s frustrating to even try to capture this in words. I mean, it’s so evident. What kind of mind-set do these officers have to determine that this is the correct course of action?”
Rickiesha Branch, girlfriend of Anthony Lowe, along with family demands answers about Huntington Park police shooting of double amputee, Anthony Lowe, holds a press conference in front of the Huntington Park Police Department on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023, in Huntington Park, California. | Source: Gary Coronado / Getty
Still, Huntington Park police continue to insist that Lowe “threatened to advance or throw the knife at the officers,” and that the “threat” justifies lethal force.
Meanwhile, Lowe’s sister, Yatoya Toy, questioned why the officers weren’t wearing body cameras, according to the Post, and she talked about how her brother’s killing caused her to fear for her own son.
From the Post:
Lowe had been slowly rehabilitating after losing both lower legs in an injury several months ago, Toy said. A few weeks before his death, he had gotten sized for prosthetic legs, which he would have received Monday, she said.
“When I see the mothers crying, I don’t feel like, ‘Oh, that could never be me,’” Toy said. “To be honest with you, the more I see it, the closer to home it was getting for me … I got a 22-year-old son of my own. I’m terrified for him. And I saw my brother. He looked like he was terrified when he was running.”
Maybe—just maybe Black people run from cops because we’re terrified of them. And maybe they keep proving why our fear is legitimate.
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