Pasadena Black Lives Matter Protests Demand Justice For Father

PASADENA, CA — Officials Thursday identified a father of three who was fatally shot by Pasadena police during a traffic stop over the weekend as a group called for justice, protesting Wednesday night.

The shooting occurred about 8 p.m. Saturday after officers stopped a vehicle near Raymond Avenue and Grandview Street, Pasadena police Lt. William Grisafe said.

Anthony McClain, 32, died that night at a hospital, the coroner's office reported. His city of residence was not known.

According to police, McClain, who was a passenger in the vehicle, ran off after preventing officers from searching him and removed a firearm from his waistband area.

Both officers noticed the man had a gun, and at least one officer fired, wounding McClain, who collapsed, according to police. A semiautomatic handgun was recovered from the scene.

The man who was driving the vehicle was taken into custody and cooperated with investigators, police said. His name was not released. The shooting remains under investigation.

After the shooting, a crowd formed in nearby La Pintoresca Park while police were processing the shooting scene, police said.

"The immediate area was secured and crime scene tape was used to establish the perimeter while officers were assigned to ensure there was no encroachment on the crime scene, which could potentially contaminate and alter the officer-involved shooting investigation," a police statement said.

"Due to the highly emotional circumstances, throughout the evening, officers were confronted by groups of individuals who entered the southern crime scene perimeter. These individuals tore down crime scene tape and directly confronted officers," police said.

"One individual threatened to assault a police officer, at which time a TASER was deployed in connection with his threats, and upon his arrest, a large crowd rushed towards the individual being detained," police said.

"Pepper spray was immediately deployed into the crowd to allow officers to safely detain the individual. Unfortunately, a minor who was present at the location, was indirectly exposed to the pepper spray. A police sergeant checking on the child was sprayed by the child's mother with pepper spray in the aftermath. The child was treated at the scene by paramedics. The child's mother was not immediately arrested so that she was able to care for her child," police said.

Nasissacou Kaba identified herself as the person who pepper-sprayed a cop after police pepper-sprayed a crowd with her son in it, Pasadena Star-News reports.

At a protest and car caravan with nearly 100 people led by Black Lives Matter Pasadena Wednesday night, she questioned why police released the video of her encounter with them before the video of the officer-involved shooting that left McClain dead.

The group marched from the park to Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek's home, calling on the mayor and officials for answers to what happened. They want police to release video of the shooting and they want justice for McClain.

“That is why we are here: because killer cops keep getting away with murder,” Black Lives Matter Pasadena member Jasmine Richards said while standing atop an SUV, speaking into a bullhorn. “My friend is dead, and his three children are without a father now.”

Nasissacou Kaba, who sprayed a police officer with pepper spray after police officers sprayed mace into a crowd with her son in it, questions why police released the video of her encounter before the actual shooting's video. pic.twitter.com/pQTkqbEafL
— Bradley Bermont (@bradleybermont) August 20, 2020

I'm in Pasadena at today's protest against police violence following the killing of Anthony McClain.

That's a leader of the Pasadena chapter of BLM, Jasmine Richards, on top of the car. pic.twitter.com/Nz62GgtV5K
— Bradley Bermont (@bradleybermont) August 20, 2020

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A post shared by #BLMPasadena #BLMdena (@blacklivesmatterpasadena) on Aug 19, 2020 at 8:41pm PDT

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All Out Call To Action for Anthony McClain! Today at 5pm! Meet tonight at 5pm at La pintoresca park in Pasadena with @blacklivesmatterpasadena to honor the life of Anthony McClain and fight for justice. . PASADENA PD has released body cam footage (slide 4) of the tasering and pepper spraying of Anthony’s neighbors shortly after he was killed. Residents were begging for more medical attention be given to Anthony. You can clearly see PPD was not allowing the community time and space to grieve, to be rightfully angry. When confronted with the raw emotions of a community under attack, they tasered a man, and pepper sprayed the community, including a 10-year old child. The child was sent to the hospital to be treated for the chemicals in the pepper spray. Even while releasing this footage, the police are still lying about this incident. Pasadena PD chief claimed they would release the body cam footage from the shooting by 6pm today, we’ll see if that happens… Today at 2pm Pasadena city council is meeting to discuss the new police budget of $85 billion. There is zero support from city officials to cut the budget at all. . DO NOT TRUST THE COPS. SUPPORT THE COMMUNITY FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE. NO JUSTICE/NO PEACE. . . . #pasadena #pasadenapd #blacktranslivesmatter #endpolicebrutality #losangeles #lacounty #laprotest #defundpolice
A post shared by In This Together Los Angeles (@inthistogether_la) on Aug 19, 2020 at 12:58pm PDT

- City News Service and Patch Editor Nicole Charky contributed to this report.

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