The family of Anthony Lowe, along with the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police, held a press conference on Monday (Jan. 30) to demand justice for his death. The group gathered in front of the Huntington Park Police Department in California to find out why the Black double amputee was fatally shot while reportedly fleeing from cops.
Last Thursday (Jan. 26), Lowe was involved in an altercation with another individual. According to a statement from the Huntington Park Police Department, officers responded to the scene where a victim was suffering from “a life-threatening stab wound resulting in a collapsed lung and internal bleeding.” The double amputee allegedly “dismounted [from his] wheelchair, ran to the victim without provocation and stabbed him in the side of the chest with a 12” butcher knife.” The victim was taken to a local hospital and listed in critical condition. Cops later found Lowe a few blocks away from the crime scene.
Police claim Lowe was still in possession of the weapon, and he ignored their commands. The double amputee supposedly threatened to “advance or throw the knife” and the responding officers tased him twice but claim they were still unable to restrain him. The department added, “The suspect continued to threaten officers with the butcher knife, resulting in an officer-involved shooting.” Lowe was struck by bullets in his upper torso and pronounced dead at the scene.
Lowe’s loved ones believe the double amputee was no threat to a trained team of police officers. “He’s out of his wheelchair, he’s amputated in both legs at the knee, and he’s moving away from the officers,” Cliff Smith, a member of the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police, shared during Monday’s conference. Lowe’s cousin, Jonathan Longmire, added, “We just don’t understand. The police are here to protect and serve and to help our community, and yet they’re hurting individuals in wheelchairs.”