Man Sues City, LAPD Uncle Over Projectile Wounds During George Floyd Protest

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LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A 23-year-old filmmaker is suing the city of Los Angeles and his uncle, a Los Angeles Police Department officer, alleging he ordered his nephew be shot with projectiles during a protest days after the death of George Floyd.

A. Jamal Shakir, Jr. says he was inspired to protest for the first time ever, but it ended with him being shot twice with rubber bullets.

"To be able to do such a thing despite it being your family your blood or your own people it's something that is tremendously affecting the entire community," Shakir said.

The 23-year-old filmmaker's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against the city and LAPD Officer Eric Anderson alleges civil rights violations, assault and battery, false imprisonment and negligence.

He is seeking unspecified compensatory damages against the city and punitive damages against Anderson.

Shakir was among hundreds of people who peacefully protested Floyd's death on May 29, 2020, near Fourth and Spring streets when he saw officers forming a skirmish line extending across Spring Street, the suit states.

According to the suit, Shakir walked between the officers and the protestors, encouraging the LAPD members "to drop down their arms and join the protesters," including a man who he recognized as his uncle.

Anderson was directing other officers to fire projectiles at specific protestors, prompting the plaintiff to tell him "that one of their ancestors would be 'turning over in her grave' were she to see him at that moment," the suit states.

Suddenly, Anderson motioned his hand in Shakir's direction and told another police officer to shoot the plaintiff, the suit alleges.

"Mr. Shakir screams out in agony as the projectile damages his right hand," the suit states.

The suit claims while Shakir was picking up his cellphone off the ground, he was shot in his buttocks with another projectile.

"Terrified and fearful of further attacks, Mr. Shakir picks up his phone and begins running away from the officers, zigzagging as he runs hoping to avoid being shot again," the suit states.

Shakir then went to his apartment and was taken to the hospital by a friend, according to the suit.

Shakir, who is Black, believes that police had an unwarranted fear that he "presented a serious threat to someone's safety," according to the suit.

"This lawsuit demonstrates the heart-rending extent to which the current warrior mentality permeates the Los Angeles Police Department, threatening to destroy a Black family to its core from within," the suit says.

A representative for the City Attorney's Office could not be immediately reached.

LAPD did not respond to a request for comment, citing its policy not to comment on pending investigations.

KCAL 9