After receiving new legal representation, the widow of Antonio Zambrano-Montes, the man slain by police officers in Pasco weeks ago, has withdrawn her $25 million wrongful death claim against the city of Pasco. MyNorthwest.com reports this withdrawal isn’t a concession though. The new legal counsel Charles Herrmann is convinced that the police officers used excessive force, but wants more time to decide what exactly Antonio’s widow, Teresa de Jesus Meraz-Ruiz, should do.
“Antonio posed no threat or grievous harm to these policemen at the moment they took his life,” Herrmann wrote in an email. "The mere fact that he may have thrown rocks before, or even if he possibly had a small pebble hidden in his hand, it cannot possibly justify police resorting to deadly force." Herrmann’s firm is conducting an independent investigation, and he says they plan to file a new claim when they have all the information.
Meanwhile demonstrations protesting the Pasco shooting continued largely without incident, though bridge traffic between Kennewick and Pasco was temporarily shut down Saturday morning by the protestors.
