The Law Offices of Caree Annette Harper has been retained by the family of Anthony McClain, Sr., including two mothers of his children (SkiLynn McClain and Anthony McClain, Jr.), his grandmother and sister. Harper held a press conference in front of the Pasadena Police Department Thursday to update the status of the case where a Pasadena police officer killed Anthony McClain as he was running from police following a routine vehicle stop on Saturday, Aug. 15.
During the traffic stop, one of the passengers “became uncooperative, preventing a search of his person,” according to police. The passenger ran into the street and allegedly removed a firearm from the waistband of his pants. An officer fired his weapon twice, striking McClain at least once in the flank of his body. McClain continued running as he discarded his firearm into the street.
The ensuing hours saw officers trying to preserve the scene for the initial investigation when scores of individuals descended upon La Pintoresca Park where an officer’s body worn camera captured upset and angry citizens, and a threat to knock out a police officer.
Harper held the conference before the release of the video footage of the incident. Despite this, Harper maintains that McClain was shot in the back and did not have a weapon and that the shiny belt buckle was the object seen in the video, contrary to official police reports.
Pasadena Police Chief John Perez said Thursday that the police shooting of McClain, a northwest Pasadena resident, appears justified in his opinion. Perez asserted that McClain was armed at the time of the shooting following a traffic stop and that the police have recovered his weapon.
The Law Offices of Caree Harper have represented numerous high-profile police shootings and misconduct.
While not yet filing a formal lawsuit, an emotional Harper told local reporters, “We have questions, we have concerns, we want to listen, we want to be patient, but quite frankly, I’m fresh out of patience. I am tired of the Kendrec McDades, I am tired of the Reginald Thomases.”
Harper was referring to McDade – shot by Pasadena police in 2012, and Thomas who died while in police custody in 2016, Harper represented both cases.
