ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Anti Police-Terror Project issued a statement expressing outrage and heartbreak over the killing of 40-year-old Anthony Anderson, an unarmed East Bay musician, by Alameda County sheriff’s deputies in the Fairmont Terrace neighborhood between San Leandro and Hayward.
The Anti Police-Terror Project is a Black-led, multiracial, intergenerational coalition that works to eradicate police terror in communities of color. The organization supports families surviving police violence while fighting for justice, documenting police abuses, and connecting impacted families with resources, legal referrals and opportunities for healing.
It originally began as a project of the ONYX Organizing Committee and continues to build a replicable, sustainable model for true community safety. The group works on initiatives such as sending mental health professionals instead of armed officers, community education and political advocacy in order to increase accountability and reduce and prevent harm caused by law enforcement.
According to public reports, deputies responded to a call early Monday morning and opened fire, claiming that Mr. Anderson posed an “immediate threat.” The Attorney General’s Office confirmed that the Department of Justice is investigating the shooting. Assembly Bill 1506 applies when a person killed by law enforcement is not armed.
In its statement, the Anti Police-Terror Project said Anthony Anderson was not a statistic. He was a son, a member of the East Bay music community and a gifted trumpet player known for bringing people together through his music and spirit.
Kristina Anderson, his mother, shared that her son had been struggling with depression and had been reaching out for help. Instead of receiving the care he had been seeking, he was met with lethal force by the sheriffs.
The Anti Police-Terror Project said this is what happens when a system built on force responds to a mental health crisis. Instead of trained, community-based crisis responders, the organization said, authorities are trained to show up with guns, resulting in a life taken and a family devastated.
“Immediate expansion of non-police community crisis response systems in Alameda County is not optional, it is urgent. Anthony Anderson was unarmed. He was a human being in crisis. And he was murdered. We reject the routine use of vague phrases like ‘immediate threat’ to justify deadly force,” said Cat Brooks, co-founder and executive director of the Anti Police-Terror Project.
According to the statement, the Sheriff’s Office waited more than 12 hours to publicly acknowledge the killing and has refused to release key details, such as the names and histories of the deputies involved and a clear explanation of what occurred. The organization said this deepens the harm and reinforces a culture of impunity.
The statement concluded that Anthony Anderson’s life mattered. His artistry, humanity and impact on the Oakland community mattered, and the Anti Police-Terror Project said it stands in solidarity with his family, the East Bay music community and all those demanding truth and accountability, and will continue to fight for a future in which people in crisis are met with care, not state violence.
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Categories: Breaking News Everyday Injustice Tags: Alameda County Sheriff Anthony Anderson Anti Police-Terror Project assembly bill 1506 Cat Brooks mental health crisis response Police Shooting