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It happened again. And again. And again. A 55th Floridian has died as a result of police hitting him with what is officially deemed to be a non-lethal weapon -- a taser. Then 56th and 57th. It is the 55th death, however, that sparked a debate on whether to keep tasers out of the hands of those who swear "to serve and protect" and, yet, end up killing so many unarmed people. The Consumerist (27/04/10) reports on number 55: Derrick Humbert, 38, became the 55th Floridian to die from a Taser. He was riding his bicycle and officers asked him to stop. Instead, he rode around the corner and fled through a yard. The officers in pursuit tased him as he tried to scramble over a fence, shooting 50,000 volts of electricity into his body. 28 minutes later, he was in a coma in the ambulance, and was pronounced dead at the hospital. It wasn't clear why Derrick fled, although he may have been worried about some unpaid fines. The Indiana Gazette provides more details: Derrick Humbert...rode a bike around town because seizures from a head injury prevented him from driving. He worked odd jobs as a short-order cook and gardener. He took care of his three kids, 2, 8 and 11, while their mother worked the evening shift at a 7-Eleven. On this Monday in late September, he was riding home from a convenience store just after midnight when police told him to stop....Police later said that they wanted to stop him because it was a high-crime area, though Humbert was not wanted in connection with any crime. Again the police attacked someone with an electrocution device when the situation did not warrant its use. It is commonplace to read about hefty, specially-trained officers tasing people at routine traffic stops, tasing school children who throw tantrums and the elderly who do not comply. The official police line on Humbert's death is also commonplace. A police official begins by slandering and blaming the dead corpse; in this case, Humbert is called a "doper." Given that some of his fines were for marijuana use and a very low level of cocaine was found in Humbert's system from a post-mortem analysis, it is difficult to refute this statement. But it is also difficult to believe -- even if true -- that being a "doper" is being used to justify why the absolutely peaceful Humbert was killed-by-cop. Nevertheless, had the "doper" issue not arisen, Humbert's death would have blamed on his dead body because he "resisted arrest," "obstructed justice," "appeared impaired"...slap on the one of several vague, all-purpose labels. Then, the out-right lies by police begin. Deputy Chief William Tokajer told Humbert's family that he was "in such good shape after being shot with the Taser that he walked to the ambulance." Tokajer claimed he up and talking at 12:45 a.m., about 26 minutes after being tased. Witnesses, "none of whom were interviewed by police, tell a different story. (Source Indiana Gazette) --the bedroom window of Dequan Siplin, (11, an honor roll student) is about 20 feet from where Humbert was shot. He claims Humbert was "gasping and groaning...from the time he was tased till they picked him up and put him on a stretcher." --Horatio Papillon, 40, whose yard Humbert ran through, stated that Humber told police, "I'm dying. I can't breathe....He wasn't walking around..." --Melinda Corona, 23, watched from a window across the street. She claims, "Humbert was wheezing and begging for help. .He couldn't stand. He was bad. They lifted him onto a stretcher and put him in an ambulance." Reports from Emergency Medical Services support what the neighbors say, as do the videotaped interviews of four police officers. "But the report from police, which the medical examiner read before determining the cause of death, excluded these details from the rescue workers and the police." In the case of tasers, corporate greed is added to police cowardice (officers who fire tasers at the unarmed) and police corruption (police officials who lie, lie, lie.) Last year, Taser International's website stays the company took in $104 million in revenue, with more than 15,000 public safety agencies in 40 countries using the Taser. No wonder one of their marketing slogans to law enforcement is "taser early, taser often." If the target dies, then it's his own damned fault. Besides which, the department will always call it a justified kill. I mean...what was that 8-year-old thinking when she misbehaved in class? | |
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