Household of pupil killed in Austin-East officer-involved capturing hires Civil Rights legal professional Ben Crump

By Last updated Apr 19, 2021

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – The family of 17-year-old Anthony Thompson Jr., who was killed in a shooting at Austin-East High School, has hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

Crump announced that he would represent the 17-year-old family and “stand up for justice”. Crump has previously focused on cases like Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and George Floyd.

According to TBI, Knoxville Police located Thompson in a school toilet on Monday, April 12, after receiving reports of a possibly armed student. TBI officials said officials ordered the students out of the house but he refused to comply. According to TBI, there was a fight between officers and Thompson Jr. in which the student’s gun was fired. Law enforcement responded by firing their guns twice.

Officials with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation originally reported that Thompson fired shots that hit the officer. During their investigation, TBI preliminary investigation revealed that the bullet that struck Officer Willson was not fired from the student’s pistol.

Crump made the following statement:

“Again, when a black person is killed, in this case a black child, the police are quick to form a narrative to justify the death. The world has been told that Anthony shot an officer and that is why the police fatally shot him. Then the facts revealed that the only shots fired by law enforcement agencies and the injured policeman may have been hit by his own bullet or that of another officer.

Why are black lives treated as available by the police on a case-by-case basis? It is shocking to me that the police manage to get suspects who are white, even shooters who have taken multiple lives, like Kyle Rittenhouse and Nikolas Cruz alive into custody. But when a suspect is a black person, there is no attempt to de-escalate the situation. The police shoot first and keep asking questions later because black lives are worth less. We will seek answers and justice for Anthony’s family. “

NEWS ALERT: 17-year-old Anthony Thompson was fatally shot in a bathroom on his HS. Police claimed Thompson shot an officer, but @TBinvestigation noted that the bullet was NOT fired by Thompson. Thompson’s family kept @AttorneyCrump to represent them and work for justice. pic.twitter.com/bqQSAhMlp1

– Ben Crump Law, PLLC (@BenCrumpLaw) April 19, 2021