The family of a
West Hollywood, Calif., man who was shot and killed
by San Diego Harbor police July 19 filed a lawsuit this
week, seeking $20 million in damages from the police
department and the officer who killed him, according
to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Steven Paul
Hirschfield, 37, a gay dancer, was working on board a San
Diego Gay Pride weekend party boat on July 19 but jumped off
the boat around 11 p.m. into the San Diego Harbor.
Police officers Clyde Williams and Wayne Schmidt were
sent to retrieve Hirschfield in a rescue boat just
minutes later. According to police, Hirschfield argued with
the officers and grabbed one of the officers' taser
guns, hitting him in the face with it, and in
attempting to then take possession of Williams's gun,
was fatally shot.
Hirschfield's parents claim in their suit that their
son was killed without legal justification but make no
mention of the possibility that antigay sentiment on
the part of the officers might have been at the root
of the shooting. The Hirschfields' Los
Angeles-based attorney, Brian Claypool,
however, will suggest that possibility during
arguments.
"We are
working to validate that the chief is antigay,"
Claypool said. "We are investigating complaints
that he is endorsing and propagating antigay
sentiments."
At this point,
the two officers most closely involved, Williams and
Schmidt, have been put on "routine paid
administrative leave pending the results of a San
Diego police investigation," according to the
Union-Tribune. (The Advocate)
