Local Residents Gather One Year After McClain Shooting

Local residents gathered on Sunday in La Pintoresca Park to mark the one-year anniversary of the death of Anthony McClain.

McClain, a passenger in a car pulled over by police, was fatally shot by a Pasadena police officer on Aug. 15, 2020 while fleeing from the scene.

Several federal civil rights lawsuits have been filed by lawyers representing family members.

“One year ago today, Anthony McClain was fatally shot in the back by Pasadena police. Anthony literally ran OUT of his shoes trying to run away. He was NOT a threat,” wrote attorney Ben Crump on Twitter. “We must get justice for #AnthonyMcClain.”

 McClain was a passenger in a car that was pulled over by police last August on North Raymond Avenue near La Pintoresca Park for failing to display a front license plate.

After the driver and McClain were asked to step out of the car, McClain ran from officers. Police say McClain removed a handgun from his waistband as he fled, prompting Officer Edwin  Dumaguindin to open fire. McClain continued running a short distance before tossing a handgun across the street and collapsing, according to police.

Some local residents say they don’t see a gun in body-worn camera footage of the incident.

McClain’s family members have argued that the shooting was unjustified.

McClain’s DNA was recovered from a pistol that police seized at the scene, police investigators said. But family attorneys have questioned the evidence.

The city has empaneled  an 11-member community police oversight commission.

Currently that panel is still undergoing training.

Calls for a civilian police oversight commission date back to the early 1990s after the acquittal of the four LAPD officers who beat up Altadena’s Rodney King in 1992 sparked the LA riots.

After the riots, local residents Meta McCullough and Karen Hooks Roon led the calls for a civilian oversight commission, but those calls fell on deaf ears at City Hall.

One year later, the officer-involved death of popular local barber Michael Bryant, who was killed following a police pursuit, reignited the debate.

The issue returned after the officer-involved deaths of Maurice Clark and LaMont Robinson, who died 10 days apart in officer-involved incidents in 2004.

The issue came roaring back to the surface in 2012 following the officer-involved shooting death of 19-year-old Kendrec McDade.

Ironically an incident outside of Pasadena proved to be a watershed moment.

Like the police beating of Rodney King, the death of Minnesota motorist George Floyd forced many white residents to acknowledge policing issues in the country and finally moved the City Council to approve a police oversight commission and an independent police auditor.

On Sunday activists and mourners expressed sorrow and concerns.

“The pain of Anthony McClain’s murder still stings one year later,” said local activist Patrice Marshall McKenzie. “We lift up his children, family, and friends who continue to struggle with the loss of their beloved father, son, brother, and nephew. We hope no other family has to endure a loss like this.”

On Sunday residents placed flowers at a memorial to McClain, others raised their fists in solidarity during prayers.