Herrmann Law Group files wrongful death claim against city

The mother of a 19-year-old Seattle man fatally shot last month in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone filed a wrongful-death claim against the city of Seattle on Monday, alleging city officials created a dangerous environment by allowing protesters to occupy six city blocks and that police and fire officials failed to protect or medically assist her son.

The city has 60 days to respond to the claim before a federal lawsuit can be filed, according to attorneys representing Donnitta Sinclair Martin, the mother of Lorenzo Anderson. Anderson was shot multiple times early on June 20 at 10th Avenue and East Pine Street, near a boundary of the CHOP zone before it was cleared by police on July 1.

Anderson and a 33-year-old man, who was critically injured, were shot that Saturday and were transported in private vehicles to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center by volunteer medics. At the time, demonstrators had largely blocked off law enforcement access to the CHOP area amid demands for racial justice and calls to defund the Seattle Police Department (SPD).

Anderson, who had just graduated the day before from Seattle’s Interagency Academy, was pronounced dead at Harborview. A suspect has not been arrested.

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Herrmann Law Group alleges fatal Tacoma police shooting unjustified

Attorneys representing Brendelin Branch, the mother of Bennie Branch, have filed a claim of excessive force against the City of Tacoma and Tacoma Police Department Officer Ryan Bradley who fatally shot Branch on Sept. 8, 2019. Branch was 24.

The claim seeks monetary damages in excess of $1 million. Under Washington state law, a claim for damages must be submitted before bringing a lawsuit against a municipality or its employees for violations of state tort law. Sixty days after filing the claim, a lawsuit will be filed in federal court at the U.S. District Courthouse in Tacoma.

According to police reports, officers contacted Branch late at night when they were checking on a vehicle in an area known for drug use. Officers and Branch scuffled. At some point, Branch attempted to flee. He was shot and killed.

An Airsoft pistol, or BB gun, was recovered near Branch’s body. Police allege he was reaching for the toy pistol in his waistband when he was shot.

Brendelin Branch, who was present at the scene and witnessed the incident, reported officers had taken the BB gun from her son “and brushed it away” before the shooting.

Ten spent shell casings were recovered at the scene, indicating Officer Bradley fired ten rounds. Several shots hit Branch, including in his back.

Ben Crump, Dale K. Galipo and local attorneys Lara Herrmann and Crystal R. Lloyd represent Brendelin Branch. Crump, a nationally-known civil rights attorney, has represented many families in excessive force incidents, including the family of George Floyd in Minnesota and the family of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. Galipo, a California civil rights lawyer, has handled hundreds of police shooting cases. Herrmann and Lloyd of Herrmann Law Group recently partnered with Crump to secure a settlement in the fatal police shooting of farm worker Antonio Zambrano-Montes in Pasco, Washington.

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