SEATTLE (AP) — A small Washington state city will appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a $15.1 million verdict against police who shot and killed an unarmed black man. The Seattle Times reports in a story on Thursday that the city filed the notice of appeal not long after a federal judge in a blistering ruling on Jan. 11 upheld the award in the police wrongful-death lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein found that the jury had plenty of reasons to conclude that the shooting of Leonard Thomas during a 2013 SWAT operation in the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood was outrageous. Thomas was unarmed, hadn’t threatened anyone and was standing on his porch with his 4-year-old son, whom he had agreed to release, when a sniper killed him.
Lakewood will appeal $15.1 million judgment
