Lawsuit: Bipolar Man Beaten and Choked to Death by Anaheim Police
Updated: Aug 13, 2020
Mike Perkins stepped up to a podium outside the Madison Park apartments in Anaheim this morning to recount haunting memories from another morning he wished never happened. During a press conference announcing a wrongful death federal lawsuit against Anaheim police in the killing of Justin Perkins last October, Mike recalls a commotion that roused him from sleep. “I was laying there in bed and that’s when I’m hearing ‘No, it wasn’t me!'” he says of his nephew. “I looked out the front door and that’s when I saw the beating was happening.” On that morning, Mike ran towards his nephew to protect him, not knowing that it was Anaheim police officers who wrestled with him on the ground. He got within a few feet when one cop allegedly told him to keep his distance. “I see badges, I see guns,” Mike said. “I’m taught not to attack the police.” What he did do was tell them that his nephew suffered from a mental illness and to stop hitting him. “He’s got the mindset of a 12-year-old but they didn’t want to hear it,” he added. “I say this now, they need to be retrained.”
Mike threw his weathered Lakers cap to the ground in frustration after recounting ending all life support for Justin just two days after his 38th birthday.
Read more on my latest OC Weekly Navel Gazing Blog post:
https://ocweekly.com/lawsuit-bipolar-man-beaten-and-choked-to-death-by-anaheim-police/