The Thomas family’s quest for police accountability advances as a retired judge urges a review of their son’s 2013 death in a SWAT standoff.
PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — More than a decade after Leonard Thomas, a 30-year-old Black man and father, was shot and killed by a Lakewood police officer during a SWAT standoff, his family may be closer to seeing the case reopened.
The Washington State Office of Independent Investigations, created to examine police use of deadly force, recently brought in a third-party fact-finder—a retired judge—to review the Thomas’ case. The goal was to avoid any perception of conflict of interest, since his father, Fred
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