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Movements May 19, 2021
Ben Crump was on hand for Monday’s rally. | Photo by Terry Miller / Hey SoCal
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City Council canceled scheduled meeting due to rally
In an unusual development Monday, Pasadena City Council cancelled the regularly scheduled Monday evening meeting due to a large rally planned at City Hall in the memory of Anthony McClain who was shot and killed in August 2020 by Pasadena police.
McClain, a 32-year-old Black man, was in the passenger seat of a vehicle stopped for a missing front license plate. Police officer Edwin Dumaguindin shot McClain twice while he ran away from the scene, back turned to officers. He died later from his injuries. The family wants Dumaguindin fired and legal action taken against all involved.
Police contend McClain grabbed a gun from his waistband and turned toward the officer. The police videos do not show the weapon. McClain’s family said he was actually reaching toward his belt buckle. They strongly dispute that a gun, later recovered across the street according to police, was McClain’s.
Rodney and Philonise Floyd, brothers of the late George Floyd, flew to California for the protest and spoke along with local activists at the Pasadena rally.
Philonise told the rally-goers: “He [McClain] didn’t die of natural causes. He was killed by a police officer that should be locked up.” A jury last month found ex-cop Derek Chauvin of guilty of murdering of George Floyd.
Along with celebrated attorneys Ben Crump and Caree Harper, the families stood in solidarity demanding justice for McClain’s death.
“We’re here because, Caree Harper [McClain attorney] told me there is a pattern and practice, a history, in Pasadena, California, where they just kill Black people and sweep it under the rug as if their lives didn’t matter,” noted civil rights attorney Crump told the audience.
An estimated 350 people attended the rally with signs and banners asking to defund the police and justice for the slain Black men in this country.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honoree George Clinton also spoke at the event.
“We are a nation under one groove, we cannot let him down,” Clinton stated emphatically.
Demanding police accountability for the death of McClain, protesters chanted “Say his name, Anthony McClain” repeatedly as the speeches continued.
Crump said of the city not willing to listen to their appeals, “We’ll be back.”
