Attorneys representing Brendelin Branch, the mother of Bennie Branch, have filed a claim of excessive force against the City of Tacoma and Tacoma Police Department Officer Ryan Bradley who fatally shot Branch on Sept. 8, 2019. Branch was 24.
The claim seeks monetary damages in excess of $1 million. Under Washington state law, a claim for damages must be submitted before bringing a lawsuit against a municipality or its employees for violations of state tort law. Sixty days after filing the claim, a lawsuit will be filed in federal court at the U.S. District Courthouse in Tacoma.
According to police reports, officers contacted Branch late at night when they were checking on a vehicle in an area known for drug use. Officers and Branch scuffled. At some point, Branch attempted to flee. He was shot and killed.
An Airsoft pistol, or BB gun, was recovered near Branch’s body. Police allege he was reaching for the toy pistol in his waistband when he was shot.
Brendelin Branch, who was present at the scene and witnessed the incident, reported officers had taken the BB gun from her son “and brushed it away” before the shooting.
Ten spent shell casings were recovered at the scene, indicating Officer Bradley fired ten rounds. Several shots hit Branch, including in his back.
Ben Crump, Dale K. Galipo and local attorneys Lara Herrmann and Crystal R. Lloyd represent Brendelin Branch. Crump, a nationally-known civil rights attorney, has represented many families in excessive force incidents, including the family of George Floyd in Minnesota and the family of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. Galipo, a California civil rights lawyer, has handled hundreds of police shooting cases. Herrmann and Lloyd of Herrmann Law Group recently partnered with Crump to secure a settlement in the fatal police shooting of farm worker Antonio Zambrano-Montes in Pasco, Washington.
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