On January 30, 2023, family and friends of Anthony Rowe Jr. held a press conference outside the Huntington Park Police Department in Huntington Park, Calif., demanding an investigation into his death. He was on his knees and in a mental health crisis when he was shot dead by Huntington Park police on January 26, 2023. Credit – Patrick T. Fallon–AFP/Getty Images
The January 26 police shooting of a double amputee in southeast Los Angeles is the latest killing of a black man to spark protests against police brutality.
Activists and the family of Anthony Law Jr. went to Huntington Park Police Headquarters on Monday to condemn the killing. mother Dorothy said.
Last week, five police officers were charged with second-degree murder in Memphis for beating 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, leading to his death days later. After Nichols’ death, protests erupted across the United States.
What is the police explanation for Lowe’s shooting?
In a January 30 statement, Huntington Park Police Department said officers were responding to the stabbing on the afternoon of January 26.
A stabbed victim described the attacker as a man in a wheelchair. The attacker allegedly “getted out of his wheelchair, ran to the victim without provocation, and stabbed him in the side of his chest with his 12-inch butcher knife” before fleeing the scene in a wheelchair.
In a search for the assailant, they found a knife-wielding suspect, later identified as Lowe, several blocks away. Huntington police said officers tried to restrain the man, but officials said he ignored verbal orders and “threatened him to move forward or throw a knife at the officer.” They also said he tased the suspect twice.
“The suspect continued to threaten the officer with a meat cleaver, leading to a shooting involving the officer,” the statement said.
LA County Fire Department paramedics declared the suspect dead at the scene.
What about the police officers involved?
Huntington Police said the officers involved took paid administrative leave in accordance with protocol.
The Huntington Park Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Division, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the shooting.
What was your family’s reaction?
A grainy video of the incident, which Time could not independently verify, has circulated online, showing Lowe, out of a wheelchair, appearing to be staggering away from two police officers with what appears to be a large knife. A police car then blocks the view.
Los Angeles Times Lowe’s sister identified him in the video, reported Sunday.
Cliff Smith, the organizer of the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police, called on Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón to indict the police officers involved. “We want concrete justice,” he said at a news conference outside the local police headquarters on Monday.
Rowe’s mother Dorothy said, “This situation is worse than George Floyd. Everything is going to be bad when these videos come out.”
The family has not commented on Lowe’s alleged involvement in the stabbing incident.
