The family of Ezell Ford, a mentally ill man who police officers shot and killed more than a month ago in South Los Angeles, filed a federal lawsuit against the city on Wednesday for $75 million, alleging civil rights violations for their son's death. 

"The $75 million claim against the city of Los Angeles should send a resonating message that we cannot tolerate or stand for the continued conduct of abuse, discrimination and racial profiling that allowed this poor man to be shot dead," said the family's attorney, Steven A. Lerman. Lerman has also previously represented Rodney King, whose documented beating by LAPD officers in 1991 sparked the public outrage that led to the LA riots.

Community members interviewed by the intersection of W. 65th St. and Broadway, where officers confronted Ford in August, said they supported the lawsuit.

“His family lived over here for over 30-something years. The officers knew his family,” Dashawn Carr, 36, said. “They shot him in the back. We want justice.”

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Another neighborhood man who wished to remain anonymous said that the lawsuit does not go far enough. “The city should pay the family without even having them file a lawsuit,” he said. “Some of us still have kids on the block. Cops are doing the same [stuff]. What is the community’s recourse?”

Carr agreed police brutality was not uncommon, adding, "There are other people who officers have shot here and put in jail. People then have to fight their cases and they have wounds."

Ford’s lawyers hope that this civil suit will result in criminal charges for the two officers in Ford's case. “I would also like to see the district attorney for the county of Los Angeles become aggressive and determine when and if they can file murder charges against these two officers,” said Lerman.

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Asked for comment, the city attorney said that they don’t comment on pending litigation and that they had not yet read the complaint. The LAPD also declined to comment. Previously, the LAPD said that Ford had tackled one of the officers who tried to talk to him on the night of his death, causing him and his partner to open fire. 

Watch Lerman's statement to reporters outside the courthouse Wednesday below (video sourced from Neon Tommy partner ATVN):

Reach Staff Reporter Phoenix Tso here. Follow her on Twitter here.