After 6th shooting by Anchorage police in 3 months, advocates call for push targeting mayor, ask for federal investigation

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - After a 16-year-old girl was shot and killed by Anchorage police Tuesday night, advocates for Anchorage families that have lost loved ones in police shootings are pushing for a citizen review board using a combination of old school protests and high tech tactics aimed at City Hall and the attention of the mayor.

Michael Patterson, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation–Anchorage, or PSL, says a large protest will be held Friday afternoon after the death of teenager Easter Leafa.

On Thursday, people are being asked to participate in an email zap — essentially a large-scale effort to send a unified message — aimed at Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance.

The suggested email script says, “I am an Anchorage resident and I am demanding that as mayor you support the creation of an independent police review board in Anchorage.”

Patterson says his group has also reached out to the Alaska delegation and the FBI requesting an investigation by the Department of Justice into the shootings.

“I don’t believe the LaFrance administration is serious about civilian oversight,” Patterson said. “I believe what they’re trying to do is hide behind Chief Case and prop him up as some kind of great white savior that’s going to get the city out of this problem, but ultimately Mayor LaFrance — she’s CEO, she’s in charge, she appointed him, and she needs to publicly start doing more.”

According to APD, the shooting happened around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, when police were called to the Greenbriar Apartments off Tudor Road.

The caller said her sister, Easter, was threatening her and had a knife.

According to Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case, when officers arrived at the apartment, they commanded Leafa to drop the knife, which she didn’t.

Case said around this point, one officer fired multiple times at Leafa and another officer fired a “less lethal projectile.”

There have been six officer-involved shootings in Anchorage this year — four of them fatal.

“My heart goes out to the family that is grieving as a result of last night’s incident,” Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said in a statement. “The loss of a child is devastating and 16 is too young to leave this world. Last night we lost a member of our community, and we grieve together with the family.”

“We all have a right — and a need — to understand what happened last night,” LaFrance wrote. “Everyone deserves to feel safe in our community and transparency and trust in law enforcement are paramount to that.”

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