SEATTLE — A federal lawsuit against the City of Seattle over the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man in the former Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone was dismissed.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour ruled the family of Horace Lorenzo Anderson didn't prove that the city's actions led to his death.
Anderson’s mother, Donnitta Sinclair, claimed the protest zone known as CHOP “invited lawlessness and created foreseeable danger” and that Seattle Police and Seattle Fire first responders in the area that night “failed to assist because of botched communication.” The lawsuit claimed the city violated the 14th Amendment and acted negligently.
Judge Coughenour ruled none of the city's actions, which included police abandoning the East Precinct, were specific to Anderson, nor was there "deliberate indifference" toward his welfare.
Sinclair's attorney said they plan to appeal. A state claim remains active.
"First, I’m confident we will prevail on appeal because this decision undermines government accountability and public safety," said Mark Lindquist with the Herrmann Law Group. "Secondly, Donnitta [Sinclair] still has state claims in addition to this federal claim. We will continue to pursue justice and accountability. Today’s decision was a small skirmish in a bigger battle."
Horace Lorenzo Anderson was shot and killed in the early morning hours of June 20 near Cal Anderson Park, inside the area of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood that was occupied by protestors for weeks, after Seattle police abandoned the department’s East Precinct.
Marcel Levon Long was arrested by U.S. marshals in July and charged with first-degree murder.
The CHOP — and its first name, CHAZ, which was short for the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone — popped up during the ongoing racial justice protests last summer. It remained for several weeks with barricades before police cleared the area at the start of July and reclaimed the East Precinct.
