The family of a man who was shot and killed by police in Washington state early this year is seeking nearly $4.8 million in damages, according to public records obtained by CNN. Authorities say that Antonio Zambrano-Montes, a Mexican national and migrant worker, was throwing rocks at police in Pasco, Washington, before he was fatally shot on February 10. Officers had used a Taser on him, but it wasn’t effective, police said.
Two officers were hit by the rocks, one of which police claim was as large as a softball, according to authorities. Zambrano-Montes did not have a gun. The toxicology report conducted by police said that his blood tested positive for methamphetamine.
In the series of free throws that is the American tort system, the family is taking a second bite at the golden apple of taxpayer money:
Zambrano-Montes’ family initially filed a $25 million claim against the city, which they then withdrew. Charles Herrmann, an attorney for Zambrano-Montes’ family, said at the time that the family wanted to do more investigating and would then file a renewed claim. According to the new claim, filed on Thursday, Zambrano-Montes “did not represent a threat of grievous bodily harm to anyone” at the time of his death, which it called “totally unjustified.” The claim repeatedly refers to his death as an “execution.”
The city of Pasco declined to comment to CNN, citing its policy not to comment on claims.
Some background on Pasco here. Watch the video on the next page…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-0uqFTBclo
It does look like Zambrano turned and pointed something at the cops, or least had something in his hand (which cops say was a rock), but as is always the case with these cell-phone videos, we’re only seeing the end of the story and not the inciting incident. And police say the autopsies show there were no shots to the back.
This country is getting uglier by the day.
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