President Trump offered a phone call in support of the family of Horace Lorenzo Anderson Jr., a teenager killed in Seattle’s “CHOP” zone, grieving family members told Fox News on Thursday.
Anderson was shot dead in the early hours of June 20 on the edge of the approximately six-block autonomous zone known as the Capitol Hill organized protest.
Trump telephoned the family for a seven-minute call after seeing Anderson’s father, also named Horace Lorenzo, during an emotional appearance on “Hannity” on Wednesday night, his friend and family spokesman Andre Taylor said, to Fox News.
“We just talked to the President of the United States,” said Taylor. “How are you going to get past that?”
Taylor said the president offered condolences and kind words for the family.
“He said he saw ‘Hannity’ last night and said to Horace, ‘Your son is looking at you and taking care of you,'” Taylor said. “She was incredibly kind, and gave Horace some extra help while she buried her son.”
Anderson Sr. said it had been 10 days before he heard from Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, who had called the family on Wednesday before Trump called on his own. The family is still awaiting details of the teenager’s death.
The tragedy was followed by a second fatal shooting near the area on June 29, when Antonio Mays Jr., 16, was shot dead. Two more victims were wounded in the shooting, too.
The shooting finally shocked Durkan on Wednesday to order police to dissolve the police-free space that had formed more than two weeks ago in protest of the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police.
“Enough is enough,” Durkan said Wednesday. “CHOP has become illegal and brutal. There have been four shootings, two fatalities, robberies, assaults, violence, and countless property crimes in this multi-block area. “
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