Mexican farmworker's rights violated in Washington state shooting, lawyer says

By Eric M. Johnson SEATTLE (Reuters) - A lawyer for the family of a Mexican farmworker fatally shot by police in Washington state after he threw rocks at them and tried to flee said on Monday the man's constitutional rights had been violated in the incident. Antonio Zambrano-Montes, 35, an unemployed orchard worker from Mexico's Michoacan state, was killed earlier this month in the city of Pasco in Washington's agricultural heartland in a confrontation captured on video. His death sparked protests by demonstrators who accused Pasco police of overly aggressive tactics in dealing with the Hispanic community and who likened the shooting to two high-profile police killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and in New York City. "When they use excessive force in this case, causing the death of somebody, that is a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," family lawyer Charles Herrmann said in an interview. "At the moment they killed him, within the few seconds one way or another, did he represent a threat of grievous bodily harm to the officers? I think it's obvious from the video that he did not," Herrmann added. Police said Zambrano-Montes pelted the officers with rocks and ignored commands to surrender, and that a stun gun failed to subdue him. The three officers involved in the incident, including one who is Hispanic, were placed on administrative leave pending an internal probe. Herrmann said the family had withdrawn a $25 million claim against the city, filed on Feb. 13 by a previous attorney who Herrmann said filed suit prematurely and without the knowledge of Zambrano-Montes' widow. He added the family was considering its legal options as an investigation into the death continues. The Mexican government has condemned the shooting as a disproportionate use of lethal force. Herrmann and community residents will meet with U.S. Attorney Michael Ormsby in Pasco on Wednesday to push for a separate federal investigation, citing fears of an apparent conflict of interest at the local level. The results of a second, independent autopsy requested by the family and completed last week could come on Tuesday or Wednesday, Herrmann said. Zambrano-Montes' body has been delivered to a funeral home. Earlier, the county coroner ordered an inquest into the slaying. Prosecutors will then decide whether to pursue charges. (Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Peter Cooney)