City Reacts to Complaint filed
By Terry Miller
On Wednesday, Sept. 2 the Law Offices of James “Jaime” Segall-Gutierrez announced they a complaint filed against the city of Pasadena on behalf of a family that allege they were pepper sprayed in a melee in a local park after police officers killed Anthony McClain on August 15.
Anthony McClain was shot by white police officers on N. Raymond Ave., in Pasadena, across from La Pintoresca Park. He died at the scene. The shooting prompted a quick and angry response from residents of the area and threats were made against at least one police officer, who responded in kind with pepper spray.
Nafissatou and Natori began an impromptu protest for the killing of Anthony McClain. At approximately 9 p.m., protesters began questioning the police. During one incident, cited above, a Pasadena police officer tasered a Black male. According to the attorney, Segall-Guitierrez, “within a split second, another officer sprayed mace into the large crowd of protesters. One of those hit by the mace was Natori. Both were traumatized and injured by the actions of the Pasadena Police Department,” he said.
The firm has filed a claim for damages against the City of Pasadena and the Pasadena Police Department for this “violation of Nafissatou and Natori’s First Amendment Right to Speech, as well as the abuse they experience,” according to a written statement.
The city of Pasadena responded to the latest complaint with a brief statement earlier this week:
“The crowd that gathered after the officer involved shooting was understandably emotional, and additional officers were called to assist with securing the shooting scene to prevent contamination of the evidence. There were a few individuals in the crowd who became increasingly aggressive towards officers and as the situation escalated, officers used a Taser on one of these individuals after threats of violence were made and pepper spray was also used to disperse the encroaching crowd.
Video of this incident was released by the Pasadena Police Department https://www.cityofpasadena.net/police/news/taser-deployment-la-pintoresca-park-aug-15-2020/ When it was learned the child had been exposed, paramedics were called. The child’s mother took the opportunity to spray officers with her own pepper spray as the officers were calling for paramedics. The child would later tell treating paramedics that he was exposed when he ran towards the crowd of people who were sprayed with the pepper spray, to look for his mother who he believed to be involved in the altercation with officers. It is truly unfortunate that a young child was involved in this incident at all.”
