Family of Anaheim Shooting Victim Files $50M Lawsuit

Manuel Diaz shot, killed in confrontation with police Saturday

The family of an unarmed man shot and killed following a foot chase with Anaheim police over the weekend is suing the city and police department for $50 million, an attorney announced Tuesday.

The civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit alleges that police shot Manuel Diaz, 25, in the back and again in the head on Saturday, wrote attorney Dana Douglas in a statement issued Tuesday.

"There is a racial and economic component to this shooting," Douglas said. "Police don't roust white kids in affluent neighborhoods who are just having a conversation. And those kids have no reason to fear police. But young men with brown skin in poor neighborhoods do."

After the shooting, police said Diaz was a known-gang member.

The incident led to a near-riot when residents set fire to a trash bin and threw objects at police. That prompted police to respond with tear gas and less-than-lethal projectiles fired from shotguns. A police dog also got loose -- police said it was an accident -- and bit at least two people.

The next day, 21-year-old Joel Mathew Acevedo -- also called a gang member by police -- was killed in another officer-involved shooting in Anaheim. He allegedly fired at officers before being fatally shot.

The unrelated incidents, the fifth and sixth Anaheim officer-involved shootings this year, have raised allegations of racial profiling and sparked daily protests.

Police planned to have plenty of officers on hand Tuesday to maintain the peace at a protest scheduled for 4 p.m. outside Anaheim City Hall.

In Tuesday's statement, Douglas acknowledged $50 million is a "substantial" sum.

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"It includes funeral and burial expenses, and enough money to compensate the family for the loss of their son and brother's financial support, as well as the loss of his love, companionship, comfort, affection, society, solace and moral support for what should have been long lives together. The lawsuit also seeks punitive damages against the shooter," Douglas said.

Mayor Tom Tait has called for an independent federal investigation into the shootings.

"I'm asking the city to come together, to be resilient, to get through this, like we can," Tait said. "And the way we do that, I believe, is through complete transparency."

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