Two Torrance police officers have pleaded not guilty to intentional homicide in a fatal 2018 shooting of a black man found sitting inside an allegedly stolen car.
Matthew Concannon, 37, and Anthony Chavez, 34, made their allegations through their attorneys in downtown Los Angeles.
Judge Ricardo R. Ocampo ordered the two men to return to Downtown Los Angeles El Tribunal on May 15 for a preliminary hearing.
The indictment of the two officers was made public on Monday. It was a dramatic turn of fortune for the officers, coming three years after-
District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s office declined to press charges against the two officers, finding they were justified in using lethal force against 23-year-old Christopher DeAndre Mitchell on December 9, 2018.
Mitchell was seen in a supermarket parking lot inside a black Honda Civic that had been reported stolen.
District Attorney George Gascón, who promised during his campaign to take a closer look at cases of force by law enforcement, reopened the investigation when he took office.
Nearly 300 vendors at a Swap Meet in Torrance are living in limbo fearing eviction after the venue may be permanently closed.
“It’s been four and a half years, you know, and I’m still counting the days, that my family (and I) have been fighting for justice for my nephew,” Mitchell’s uncle, Terrell, Traylor told reporters outside the court.
“So today is just a step forward for my sister. But the fight continues.”
He said he believed an air rifle recovered from the vehicle “may have been placed there (in the vehicle).”
Sheila Bates, organizer of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, said: “We at Black Lives Matter Los Angeles are relieved to learn that Matthew Concannon and Anthony Chavez have been indicted by a grand jury, but we are disappointed that the charges are simply intentional homicide. This case is clearly a murder case.”
“We’re seeing a semblance of accountability. We know it’s important to ensure that Anthony Chavez and Matthew Concannon are not just charged, not just convicted, but we have to get these people off the streets,” he said. said fellow Black Lives Matter organizer Melina Abdullah. .
The shooting has been repeatedly criticized by Black Lives Matter activists who staged protests at Torrance City Council meetings months after Mitchell’s death. He was also cited in several protests targeting Lacey, who has been criticized for her reluctance to sue law enforcement.
According to the District Attorney’s Office review of the 2019 case, a man called Torrance police around 8 p.m. on Dec. 9, 2018, near 220th Street and Western Avenue, saying his Honda Civic black.
Shortly after, surveillance video captured the vehicle parked in a Ralphs parking lot on West Carson Street.
Chavez and Concannon pulled into the parking lot and used their patrol vehicle to block the Honda.
Officers exited their vehicle, walked over to the Honda, and saw Mitchell in the driver’s seat, the report said. Officers yelled “police” and told Mitchell to put his hands on the wheel, which he did – after momentary hesitation. Concannon opened the door, notes the 2019 report.
Mitchell, according to the report, dropped his hands in his lap and Concannon, following Mitchell’s movement, saw what he thought was a gun, but what actually turned out to be a BB gun, according to the report.
Concannon pulled out his gun and told Mitchell not to move. Mitchell, who police said was suspected of being a gang member, put his hands back on the wheel, apologized twice, then put his hands down.
Concannon, according to the report, grabbed his gun with both hands. But, based on body camera footage later released, it’s unclear whether Mitchell dropped his hands a second time because Concannon blocked his body camera view while holding the gun. The district attorney’s report also acknowledged this.
“Mitchell was not visible in body camera footage for three seconds before the first shot was fired,” according to the report, which said Concannon ordered Mitchell out of the car. “About a second after repeating that order, the first shot was fired. ‘Three shots were fired in total, one by Concannon and two by Chavez, according to the report.
Concannon and Chavez waited for reinforcements, and after it became clear there were no more threats, officers attempted action to save Mitchell’s life. But he died of his injuries.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Concannon and Chavez were among 15 officers linked to a racist texting scandal at the Torrance Police Department over messages sent between 2018 and 2020. The newspaper’s court found the messages included racist comments on black, Latin, Jewish people. and the LGBTQ community.