Horace Lorenzo Anderson has yet to hear from Seattle officials two weeks after his son was killed in the autonomous protest zone, but he did hear from President Trump.
Horace Lorenzo Anderson Jr., 19, was shot and killed June 20 in the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, or CHOP, but his father said in a Wednesday interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity that no Seattle officials have contacted him about the shooting.
The next day, however, Mr. Anderson said he received a call from the president.
“I still ain’t heard from the mayor,” Mr. Anderson told Seattle’s Fox Q13. “Incredibly, Donald Trump called me. The President of the United States called me today and talked to me today. He gave his condolences.”
Mr. Anderson’s son was one of two Black teens killed in the autonomous zone during the three-week Black Lives Matter occupation, which was evacuated Monday by Seattle police and FBI.
Mr. Anderson said he didn’t pull punches in his conversation with the president.
“Me, I’m not a political guy, but I told him, ’Ain’t nobody like you.’ I’m real,” Mr. Anderson said, adding, “On this camera, I tell you right now: Donald Trump called me, and he didn’t have to call me, he didn’t have to do nothing.”
His comments came after a funeral service for his son in Kent, which was attended by an overflow crowd, the station reported.
Police attempted to enter the zone after gunfire erupted after midnight at Cal Anderson Park, but projectile-throwing protesters refused to allow authorities to enter the six-block zone.
Instead of receiving care from paramedics and being transported by an ambulance, Horace Anderson was dropped off at Harborview Medical Center by CHOP “medics,” along with another gunshot victim, according to police.
“He needed help. They shouldn’t be picking kids up and throwing them in their trunk and taking them to the hospital,” said Mr. Anderson. “The paramedics should have been there, the police should have been there.”
Mr. Anderson has called for Mayor Jenny Durkan and other officials to contact him and explain what happened to his son.
Mr. Trump has not commented publicly on his conversation with Mr. Anderson.
The father of 19-year-old Horace Lorenzo Anderson, who was shot and killed at the edge of the #CHOPseattle zone, says he still hasn’t received a call from the Mayor of Seattle @MayorJenny, but received a condolence call this morning from @realDonaldTrump. #Q13FOX pic.twitter.com/ugpEgAwg5f
— Matt Lorch (@MattLorchQ13Fox) July 2, 2020
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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