Keenan Anderson's Death: Family Of Black Man Demands Police Reforms After LAPD Taser Incident

The family and friends of Keenan Anderson, a Black man who died after cops repeatedly used a Taser on him earlier this month, gathered in front of Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday calling for thorough police reforms.

Anderson, a 31-year-old high school teacher and the cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, suffered cardiac arrest at a hospital on Jan. 3, hours after the disturbing encounter at the site of a traffic collision in Los Angeles' Venice neighborhood.

An edited bodycam footage released last week showed Anderson begging for his life and yelling for help as cops continued to use a stun gun on him.

"They're trying to George Floyd me!" he shouted as one Los Angeles Police Department officer held his elbow on his neck and pinned him to the ground, Law and Crime reported.

He was eventually handcuffed and transported to a Santa Monica hospital. However, he was declared dead there.

Cullors, who watched the video with Anderson's family prior to its public release, told NPR that she shuddered at the thought of what her cousin must have gone through during the arrest.

"I don't know what my cousin was going through, emotionally and mentally. But what I do know is that he got in a car accident. That's scary. And when you get in a car accident, you need help," she said.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore, in a news conference last week, said others involved in the collision told cops that Anderson committed a felony hit-and-run and also tried to steal a car. Anderson was allegedly in an "altered mental state" and a preliminary drug test revealed he had cannabis in his system.

In a news briefing Tuesday, his family and local elected officials said police should no longer be primary responders for minor traffic collisions and demanded a curb on the frequent use of stun guns. They also sought the release of the unedited footage of the Jan. 3 encounter, an end to qualified immunity for officers and the removal of Moore, a 40-year veteran who requested a reappointment for the second term, NBC Los Angeles reported.

Anderson was the third person to die following police encounters this month in Los Angeles, after the shooting deaths of Takar Smith, 45, and Oscar Sanchez, 35.

"If you continue to blame the victim and not hold officers accountable, why would they ever stop killing us?" Dominique, Anderson's younger sister, said in the news briefing. "The police are supposed to be here to protect and serve the people, and yet they abuse their authority and have a lack of respect for human life."