Keenan Anderson died due to excessive use of force by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on Jan. 3, following a traffic accident.
LAPD officers who repeatedly tased this unarmed Black man caused his cardiac arrest. His violent death matters to us all. Keenan is the cousin of Patrisse Cullors, who graced our island community just over a year ago with a residency at Vashon Center for the Arts (VCA), in partnership with Vashon Island School District.
A powerful outcome of Patrisse’s time here is her art installation on the west side of the VCA building: “ABOLITION is…..”
For those unfamiliar with the activism, writing and dedication of Patrisse Cullors, read the April 13, 2022 Beachcomber article about her work on the island, or check out her most recent book “An Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and Changing the World.”
If you are tempted to find the “yeah, but” in her cousin’s story — such as he was “acting erratically” or his blood screen tested positive for some drug — please come back to the fact that, if the responders to this traffic accident had not been armed, Keenan would still be alive today.
Loss of life at the hands of police is unnecessary and horrific. In the footage of Keenan on Jan. 3, we see a human scared for his life, his brain in survival mode. An unarmed Black man facing armed police, with personal and collective history telling him that he is facing a life and death situation — rational thought or action is not accessible. Human beings have no choice in this kind of survival brain response. If the responders to this traffic accident had been an unarmed crisis response team, Keenan would still be alive.
Communities are already developing and funding crisis response teams for similar situations, where police stay back unless needed. One local example is Poulsbo CARES (Community Assistance Referral and Education Service.) Their response team has a firefighter/EMT with crisis intervention training, a social worker and a substance use disorder professional to respond to calls when someone is acting erratically but not presenting a danger. Moving to crisis response teams on a larger scale would not only save lives but also be a significant step in restoring our collective humanity.
This affects everyone. Increasing the safety of non-white people increases the safety of all of us.
If you are put off by the term “defund” the police, perhaps shift your focus to what needs to be supported, created and allocated resources in order to shift some of these aspects of community care to unarmed community organizations. In the short term, this shifts some of the burdens of our armed peace officers into the hands of people more deeply trained to respond to mental health crises.
One of the best responses to outrageous acts is substantive sustained action.
I encourage you to join me locally by taking legislative action related to justice in our criminal legal system here in Washington. Simply sign up to get the weekly electronic actions right now for this WA state legislative session. Email deionghb@gmail.com today — these actions are easy, satisfying and take less than five minutes a day.
Please share Keenan’s story if you use social media and demand No Cops At Traffic Stops, #JusticeforKeenen, #KeenanAnderson, and go to BLMlosangeles on Instagram to follow the conversation. Abolition is….. showing up together and staying engaged.
Cathy deSmet, an island healthcare provider and activist, wrote this commentary on behalf of Vashon-Maury SURJ Criminal Justice Action Group.
