Jamal Shakir Jr., a filmmaker who was struck by rubber bullets when Black Lives Matter protesters faced off with LAPD officers in 2020, has been awarded $3.75 million following a jury trial.
Shakir, 25, filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the city of Los Angeles and his uncle, LAPD Officer Eric Anderson, alleging civil rights violations, assault and battery, false imprisonment and negligence.
The suit accused Anderson of ordering his nephew shot with a non-lethal weapon after spotting him in a crowd of BLM protesters in downtown L.A.
On Tuesday, Aug. 22, jurors found the city of Los Angeles and a police sergeant liable for negligence. Anderson was absolved of violating his nephew’s civil rights.
Related Story: Filmmaker Sues LAPD Officer Uncle After Getting Shot With Projectiles at BLM Protest
Attorney Carl E. Douglas of Douglas Hicks Law represented Shakir in the case.
“That Anderson would direct that his own nephew be shot twice even with rubber bullets, though he was peacefully protesting, should send chills through us all,” Douglas said in a statement Wednesday.
The attorney claimed this was one of the most egregious brutality cases he has seen in decades of practicing law.
“Never in my 40 years as a civil rights lawyer have I ever encountered so stark a tragedy as a police officer using excessive force against his own blood,” Douglas stated.
When contacted by Urban Hollywood 411, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office declined comment Wednesday afternoon.
The office previously said the police response was “necessitated by the actions of plaintiff and was reasonable and necessary for self-defense.”
The protest took place after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers in May 2020.
As previously reported, the lawsuit said Shakir was shot in his right hand and then in the buttocks by a second projectile while out protesting on May 29, 2020.
He streamed the encounter on Instagram Live. The footage showed he recognized his uncle on the police skirmish line.
“The ancestors is turning over in their graves right now,” Shakir said in the video.
He then told someone nearby, “Look, he’s telling them who to shoot.”
Shakir called out to his uncle.
“Eric, look at me in my eyes,” he said. “You know how your daddy feeling right now? That could have been you.”
Officers were heard in the footage giving protesters commands to disperse. Projectiles were then fired and Shakir’s camera wobbled.
The filmmaker held a news conference outside LAPD headquarters in downtown L.A. in May 2021. He was joined by his attorneys and Black Lives Matter Los Angeles co-founder Dr. Melina Abdullah.
“I’ve spent my entire life doing everything to prevent being a statistic of the criminal justice system or being a victim of the police brutality force just due to the fact of my circumstances of my mother and father being incarcerated at an early age,” Shakir told reporters at the time.
Jamal Shakir is shown in the image above from Douglas Hicks Law. Watch video of the 2020 encounter below:
Discover more from Urban Hollywood 411
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.