Calls grow for accountability, reform from LAPD after death of teacher who was shocked with Taser

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The family of Keenan Anderson, a 31-year-old Black teacher who died hours after he was repeatedly shocked with a Taser by Los Angeles police, gathered at City Hall Tuesday to demand LAPD be held accountable.

Anderson, the cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, died at a hospital on Jan. 3 about four and a half hours after he was shocked, police allege.

"If you continue to blame the victim and not hold officers accountable, why would they ever stop killing us?" said Dominique Anderson, the sister of Keenan Anderson.

His encounter with police was captured on bodycam footage and released last week.

Black Lives Matter has asked that the use of Taser's be restricted, that police no longer respond to traffic accidents and that L.A. Mayor Karen Bass not renew LAPD Chief Michel Moore's contract.

"People deserve to receive care, whether they're on the streets, whether they're in hospitals, whether they're in schools," Cullors said. "Police officers have shown time and time again that they aren't the professional agency to give care to human beings."

Anderson, a teacher in Washington D.C., was visiting Los Angeles when LAPD responded to a traffic crash near Venice and Lincoln. Police say Anderson caused the crash and when officers arrived, he was found running in the middle of the street acting erratically.

Police allege Anderson resisted arrested and a Taser was used to shock him. He was taken into custody and transported to a hospital, where he died.

LAPD reported cocaine and marijuana were found in Anderson's blood, however, the Los Angeles County Coroner has yet to rule on the cause of Anderson's death.

A coroner's investigation is underway to determine if it was the Taser, the drugs, or something else that caused him to die close to five hours after the struggle with police.

The LAPD is conducting its own investigation into the use of force and released some of the footage captured by the body camera.

Investigations are also underway into the LAPD shooting deaths of Takar Smith, 45, and Oscar Sanchez, 35. Bodycam footage of those incidents were released.

ABC News contributed to this report.