ANNAPOLIS, Md. — On Friday morning Anton’s Law goes into effect.
The laws namesake was a 19-year-old aspiring model and actor who died while being arrested by police in front of his mother and his home in Greensboro.
“They threw him on the ground, they beat him and they choked him,” said Anton Black’s Father Anton Sr. “He’s crying for his mother. My son was George Floyd before George Floyd.”
An autopsy report from the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office about the 19-year-old’s death said a struggle with police likely contributed to his death.
The family has a pending lawsuit against the officers involved.
The officers filed to dismiss the case under qualified immunity.
“There is a fight right now in Congress particularly in the Senate trying to get the George Floyd legislation passed,” said Kenneth Ravenell, an attorney for the family. "One of the aims there is to try and rid us of this qualified immunity.”
Anton’s Law was passed during the last session in Annapolis and goes into effect on Friday.
The law makes investigations and allegations of police misconduct more transparent and accessible to the public.
One of the officers involved had a long list of use of force complaints before he was hired as a Greensboro Police Officer.
“With the public disclosure of police records agencies will be less inclined to ignore public complaints,” said Senator Jill Carter. “To downgrade them and fail to render discipline when they warrant it.”
His parents say their son would be alive today if the bill named after him existed three years ago.
“The whole town new him, it’s a small town, said Black Sr. They jumped him, ran after him, accused him of kidnapping a child. The young man was standing right there beside him when they called him over there.”
