Death of Keenan Anderson

About

The Death of Keenan Anderson occurred on January 3rd, 2023, when the 31-year-old Keenan Anderson (previously connected to the wider Black Lives Matter movement through his cousin Patrisse Cullors, one of the co-founders) died in Santa Monica, California after he suffered from cardiac arrest. His death is reported to have happened in a hospital roughly four hours after an altercation with the Los Angles Police Department (LAPD) in which he was tased multiple times. The incident took place after a vehicular accident involving Anderson in which he fled the scene. According to a toxicology report from the LAPD, blood samples from Anderson contained cocaine and marijuana. Anderson's death became a controversy and viral debate online in January 2023, particularly after the LAPD released bodycam footage, with some calling it police brutality while others disagreed.

Background

According to NBC, 31-year-old Keenan Darnell Anderson was a high school English teacher at Digital Pioneers Academy in Washington, D.C. and was visiting family during his winter break in LA. Anderson was also a father and was notably the cousin of Patrisse Cullors, who co-founded Black Lives Matter (BLM).^[5]

On January 3rd, 2023, an accident involving two vehicles occurred in Los Angeles and an LAPD officer responded around 3:35 p.m. PST. According to LAPD Police Chief Michel Moore, Anderson committed a felony hit-and-run and then tried to enter another person's car without their permission.^[6] Based on reports and the bodycam footage later released by police, Anderson was in the middle of the road when he stopped and asked an officer on a motorcycle for help. The officer followed Anderson (who appeared distressed) as others (presumably involved in the accident) pointed him out as the cause of the accident.^[7]

Anderson then told the officer that "somebody is trying to kill me" as they moved to the sidewalk. The officer then can be heard reporting that Anderson seemed to be under the influence. The conversation between the two continues with the officer asking him "who's trying to kill you?" and Anderson replying "I had a stunt today, sir. I need to. Like, no, no, no," also mentioning someone supposedly trying to "put stuff" in his vehicle. Several minutes then pass before Anderson said he wanted people to see him, which the officer complies with and allows him to sit on the sidewalk.

Shortly after, Anderson gets up against the officer's request and flees running into the street as more police arrive and he sits down on the road. Police then give him commands as they attempt to subdue him, with Anderson crying out that the police are trying to kill him and George Floyd him as a struggle ensues. Police then try to restrain and handcuff Anderson stating multiple times that he needs to calm down or they will taser him.^[8]

After continuing, an officer begins using the taser, with reports claiming one instance lasting 30 seconds and another around five seconds.^[6] During the struggle, Anderson can also be heard saying the police are "actors," "not police" and "they think I killed C Lo. They're trying to sedate me. I know too much. They sedated me." Anderson was then taken to a nearby hospital after the altercation and was pronounced dead roughly four hours later, with a police toxicology report stating that Anderson had cocaine and marijuana in his system.

On January 12th, 2023, the bodycam footage of the responding officer was released by the LAPD and subsequently posted online, showing what took place during the altercation before he was put in an ambulance and passed away at the hospital. The video was widely shared across social media by numerous users, the media and other accounts. For example, it was reposted by the Twitter account @xhoop^[1] that same day, receiving over 1 million views, 3,330 likes, 930 retweets and 600 quote tweets (shown below).

Here is body worn camera footage from LAPD’s interaction with Keenan Anderson who BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors claims is her cousin. pic.twitter.com/kUOKuIsmu2

— Hoop (@xhoop) January 12, 2023

Online Reactions

Following the release of the bodycam footage on January 12th, 2023, the death of Keenan Anderson sparked several different reactions online in relation to BLM and the founder's relation to Anderson, as well as the toxicology report and actions taken by both himself and police during the video.

Many of these notably varied in their takes depending on the context given with the initial posting, the replies and the comments on the death. For example, on January 12th, the Twitter account @raphouseTV2^[2] (shown below, top) and user AndyNgo^[3] (shown below, bottom) posted two viral videos from the event that showcased different perspectives of the incident, garnering noticeably different reactions and opinions.

NSFW:⚠️"BLM" Co-Founders Cousin & English teacher Keenan Anderson Murdered By LAPD "They're Trying To George Floyd Me"💔🙏🏾🕊️ pic.twitter.com/26SVMZNd5B

— Raphousetv (RHTV) (@raphousetv2) January 12, 2023

A "cousin" of #BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors (the one w/the multi-million dollar homes) died after committing a felony hit & run, trying to steal a car, resisting arrest & getting tased by LAPD. He tested positive for cocaine. Cullors is calling for the police chief to resign. pic.twitter.com/ZQYlWDaIub

— Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 13, 2023

Numerous videos discussing Keenan Anderson also appeared on social media platforms like TikTok in mid-January 2023 as word of his death spread online (examples shown below). By January 13th, 2023, the hashtag "#keenananderson" accumulated more than 3 million views on TikTok.^[9]

Toxicology Complications

As reported by BBC,^[6] NBC^[5] and others,^[8] the LAPD released a toxicology report on January 12th, 2023, that showed Anderson was reportedly under the influence of cannabis and cocaine at the time of his death in the hospital following the altercation. This combined with the reported car crashing, alleged attempting to hijack an Uber vehicle and running from the officer led to considerable debating and arguing online over the role these circumstances played in the death, as opposed to strictly being the fault of the LAPD.

One such example of this can be seen by the Twitter account @GrizzlyJoeShow^[4] on January 13th, which retweeted another tweet from user thesherylralph who captioned the video "There must be a respect for human life. This young English teacher was in a car accident and had an anxiety attack and somehow he ended up tased to death by LAPD" (shown below).

🤔“A preliminary toxicology-blood screen of Anderson’s blood samples tested positive for cocaine and marijuana…”🤨

Keenan Anderson, cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder, dies from cardiac arrest after being tased by Los Angeles police | CNN 1/13/23 https://t.co/kytuKMZeXJ https://t.co/7iBaEyWa2p

— Grizzly Joe 🇺🇸🇮🇱@CPAC 2023 March 1-3 IN D.C. (@GrizzlyJoeShow) January 13, 2023

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External References