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Mother Sues LAPD Officers|for Son’s Fatal Shooting

LOS ANGELES (CN) - The mother of an unarmed homeless man a policeman shot to death last year sued Los Angeles, two police officers and the police chief on Tuesday.

After LAPD Officer Clifford Proctor allegedly shot Brendon Glenn twice in the back on May 5, sparking public outrage, Police Chief Charlie Beck called for criminal charges against Proctor - the first time he has recommended a prosecution for a fatal on-duty police shooting.

Glenn's mother Sheryn Camprone says her son was standing on a sidewalk near the Townhouse Bar in Venice on the night of May 5 when a doorman told him he could not stand in front of the bar. Glenn was about to leave when he was approached by Proctor and his partner, defendant Officer Jonathan Kawahara, Camprone says.

"Officer Proctor and his partner Jonathan Kawahara decided to arrest Mr. Glenn, though he had committed no crime. The officers then grabbed Mr. Glenn without justification. Defendant Officer Proctor then shot Mr. Glenn at least two times in the back, killing him," according to the complaint.

Glenn was 29. His mother says the use of deadly force "excessive and objectively unreasonable under the circumstances, especially because Mr. Glenn did not pose an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury to anyone at the time of the shooting."

In addition, Glenn's mother says: "The city continues to hide from scrutiny by refusing to release the security camera videotape of the killing, despite persistent public demand."

The city rejected the family's claim for damages.

City Attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan said he could not comment on pending litigation. The LAPD did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The fatal shooting came as the nation was embroiled in protests over other police killings of black men, including, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Freddie Gray in Baltimore and Eric Garner in New York City.

"LAPD officers killed 21 people in 2015, a large percentage of them African-American men, like Mr. Glenn," his mother says in the lawsuit.

She accuses Chief Beck of failing to discipline officers for killings and use of excessive force and "creating a culture of impunity within the LAPD that encourages such violence and incidents of unreasonable force against the public."

After Beck's recommendation, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said she was reviewing the case.

"As the county's top prosecutor, it is my ethical obligation to remain impartial until a thorough and independent investigation is completed by my office," Lacey said in January. "Decisions on whether or not to file criminal charges will be based solely on the facts and the law - not on emotion, anger or external pressure."

Lacey's spokeswoman Jane Robison said Tuesday that the case remains under review.

Glenn's family also filed a lawsuit in Superior Court on Tuesday alleging wrongful death, assault and battery and violation of the Bane Civil Rights Act.

The federal complaint seeks punitive damages for unreasonable search and seizure, unreasonable use of deadly force, deprivation of life without due process, interference with parent-child relationship and municipal liability for unconstitutional custom, practice or policy. Camprone accused Kawahara of failing to intervene.

Camprone is represented by Marina Del Rey attorney V. James DeSimone.

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