(ConservativeSense.com) – A jury in Los Angeles awarded $3.75 million to a protester who was hit with foam projectiles by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd.
After Floyd was killed in Missouri, a series of protests and riots happened around the country, including in Los Angeles, where Shakir went out to livestream his involvement. While filming, he recognized his uncle, an LAPD officer, standing among the line of police in riot gear confronting protesters. Shakir allegedly shouted at his uncle that their “ancestors are turning over in their graves right now,” after which he was fired at by other officers. Shakir claims his uncle, Officer Eric Anderson, directed the cops to shoot at him with the foam projectiles.
Last Friday, Asim Jamal Shakir Jr. won a court battle against the LAPD. The award of $3.75 million may just be the largest ever in such lawsuits resulting from police responses to the protests and riots in 2020. Jurors debilitated for about thirteen hours on Wednesday before ruling that the police department was guilty of negligence when officers fired at Shakir at an intersection downtown during the civil unrest.
The civil rights attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Shakir, Carl Douglas, said “money talks” when commenting on the ruling and that he hopes the substantial award to Shakir will let other departments and city officials know that similar acts against citizens by police won’t be tolerated. He said they will hopefully… realize that the compensation is fair” and that Shakir is “deserving” of payment.
According to an internal investigation, 11 officers were near Shakir during the incident, within 20 feet. Each one denied knowing or seeing anything and denied shooting at anyone filming the unrest, let alone shooting at them twice.
The City of Los Angeles may still appeal the ruling. Many Americans view Shakir’s victory as a loss for law and order, believing that the police responded appropriately when dealing with a mob of rioters.
