Our plan, to track all incidents of taser torture against black folks....

Have you or a member of your family ever been tasered by the police? Was it reported in the newspaper, police report, or other news outlet? Write: TasedWhileBlack@gmail.com and tell us what happened. Want to make a donation to Tasered While Black? Write us at: TasedWhileBlack@gmail.com We will be glad to hear from you.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Deaf Handicapped Black Man Tasered for being in Bathroom too long

So President Barack Obama is meeting Cambridge Police Officer Crowley and Professor Louis Gates over for a beer tomorrow evening?

I have already talked about the fact that Professor Louis Gates was not Tasered While Black and as many other bloggers like Yobachi over a the Black Perspective.net have noted: "Black folks get harassed by cops everyday in racial profiling situations that result in much more dramatic consequences than Dr. Gates suffering the inconvenience of being taken down to the station for awhile. Folks who don’t have the money to scare the police off with expensively lawyers and don’t have the notoriety of Dr. Gates to get their charges dropped, and actually get caught up in all the fines, court cost, bail, and lawyers fees involved with having to go through the legal process; costing hundreds to thousands of dollars to people often living paycheck to paycheck or not even working regularly."

What We Think About Taser Abuse

Well here is just the case.

The Mobile Police Department's Internal Affairs Unit is investigating the tasing and pepper spraying of a deaf and mentally impaired man at a Dollar General store in Mobile.


Check out how Mobile, Alabama Police Tasered a deaf and mentally disabled black man for staying in the bathroom to long:




I don't know why black folks don't get it. Professor Gates didnot go through what the average black man goes through.

I wish he and Barack would address the real issues, and stop paying attention to Professor Gates ego.

What About the tasering of Antonio Love: by Alabama Police?

But then again why should we expect justice? We sure should not expect any justice from a majority of the police departments, like the Houston Police Department as an example. If you get tased in Houston and file a complaint nothing will be done other than a general paper pushing cover-up.



According to Roma Khanna of the Houston
Chronicle.com the Houston police investigated 69 complaints about officer Taser use between December 2004 and May 2008. Of the allegations:

5 were sustained.

0 involved using the weapon on people.

3 prompted officer counseling.

5 remain under investigation.

56 were closed with no wrongdoing found.

Source:— Houston Police Department

Get this folks, there is more, as reported by Chron.com The Houston Police Department has found no wrongdoing in some 1,700 incidents in which its officers intentionally fired a Taser, despite investigating about 70 complaints — including one officer who shocked his own stepson and another who discharged his stun gun on a 59-year-old woman during a dispute over laundry.

Over the last four years, only five officers have been disciplined for misusing their Tasers, although not one of the five actually shocked a suspect, according to records obtained by the Houston Chronicle. Instead, HPD reprimanded officers for threatening people with their stun guns, repeatedly discharging them while off duty and brandishing the weapon in a dispute in an elementary school carpool line.

"If that is how they deal with family problems, how are they dealing with the public?" asked Shirley Baker, whose grandson was shocked by his officer stepfather.

Use of Tasers, sold as an alternative to the deadly force of firearms, has been controversial since HPD first purchased hundreds of them late in 2004. The weapon quickly triggered public criticism with findings that officers often used them on unarmed people who committed no crime and that the vast majority were black.

Houston Mayor Bill White in November 2006 called for an independent analysis, overseen by Controller Annise Parker's office, which is expected to be made public Sept. 8. Parker has been publicly critical, saying last year that HPD's system for tracking Taser use is insufficient and despite claims that each deployment is reviewed, it "can't (be proven) with a paper trail."

Police officials maintain the Taser is a useful tool that has reduced injuries to both officers and suspects. Each incident, they say, is closely scrutinized.

"To have (69) complaints and only a few sustained — that is reflective of successful use," said Assistant Chief Brian Lumpkin, who oversees the HPD internal affairs division. "The numbers show that we have used Tasers responsibly."

HPD officers deployed their Tasers 1,724 times between December 2004 and May 2008, triggering 69 internal affairs investigations. More than half began after citizens filed complaints. Five probes remain open, but investigators found no wrongdoing in 56 others.

Among the people who filed complaints were Thoang Do, 59, a woman shocked during an altercation at her laundromat. Read More>

UPDATE: Ripa says: Well I'll be a "jungle monkey". Don't look now but a racist Boston cop gets fired.Up

Enjoy your Beer President Obama, Cambridge Police Officer Crowley and Professor Louis Gates.

H/T JWriter and My BlogTalkRadio Co-Host for the link.

Read more at the blog, Tasered While Black



DUELING COUCHES: Police Taser Mentally Disabled Deaf Man
By Dueling Couches
"Police in Mobile, Ala., used pepper spray and a Taser on a deaf, mentally disabled who they said wouldn't leave a store's bathroom. The family of 37-year-old Antonio Love has filed a formal complaint over the incident on Friday. ...
DUELING COUCHES - http://duelingcouches.blogspot.com/
Police: Taser use on disabled man justified because he had umbrella
By admin
Alabama police are apparently prepared if Batman's nemesis The Penguin and his weapon-umbrella army ever attack.
Alex Jones' Prison Planet.com - http://www.prisonplanet.com/
B.C. government tells police to 'severely restrict' Taser use ...
The British Columbia government has directed "all police, sheriffs and corrections officers in B.C." to immediately "severely restrict the use" of Tasers in response to recommendations by the Braidwood inquiry. ...
Democratic Underground Latest... - http://www.democraticunderground.com/
Electronic Village: Antonio Love: Alabama Police Taser Deaf and ...
By noreply@blogger.com (Villager)
Love was tased three times. He said police didn't realize he was deaf until they got him outside the store. That's when they looked in his wallet and found a card detailing his handicap. Love said an EMT was dispatched, and after he was ...
Electronic Village - http://electronicvillage.blogspot.com/
Police defend using pepper spray, Taser on mentally disabled deaf ...
By Bureau News
Ala. police: Taser use on disabled man justifiedMOBILE, Ala. — Officers who used pepper spray and a Taser to remove a man from a store bathroom found out only later he was deaf and mentally disabled and didn't understand they wanted him ...
Ala. police: Taser use on disabled man justified - Breaking News ...
Officers who used pepper spray and a Taser to remove a man from a store bathroom found out only later he was deaf and mentally disabled and didn't understand they wanted him to open the door, police said Tuesday.
Bradenton.com: Homepage - http://www.bradenton.com/homepage/index.rss
Disability News | PatriciaEBauer.com » News Archive » AL police ...
By Patricia Bauer
Police trying to get a man to come out of the bathroom in a store in Mobile, Alabama, used pepper spray and a taser on him, only to learn that he was deaf and had an intellectual disability. The officers tried to book 37-year-old ...
Disability News | PatriciaEBauer.com - http://www.patriciaebauer.com/
Police Taser, Pepper Spray Mentally Disabled Deaf Man | Akira ...
By admin
MOBILE, Ala. — Police in Mobile, Ala., used pepper spray and a Taser on a deaf, mentally disabled who they said wouldn't leave a store's bathroom. The.
Akira Daily News - http://www.akiranews.com/

Don't forget to make a donation, to keep this blog going.





Monday, July 20, 2009

Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Arrested



No, he was not Tasered While Black, but as reported by the Huffington Post he was harassed while black. Check out this booking photo released by the Cambridge, Mass., Police Dept., shows Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who was arrested while trying to force open the locked front door of his home near Harvard University Thursday, July 16, 2009. Gates, a pre-eminent African-American scholar, is accusing Cambridge police of racism after he was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after police said he "exhibited loud and tumultuous behavior." He was released later that day on his own recognizance and arraignment was scheduled for Aug. 26. (AP Photo/Cambridge Police Dept.)

There is more, the Huffington Post reports, police responding to a call about "two black males" breaking into a home near Harvard University ended up arresting the man who lives there – Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation's pre-eminent black scholar.

Gates had forced his way through the front door because it was jammed, his lawyer said. Colleagues call the arrest last Thursday afternoon a clear case of racial profiling.

Cambridge police say they responded to the well-maintained two-story home after a woman reported seeing "two black males with backpacks on the porch," with one "wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry."

By the time police arrived, Gates was already inside. Police say he refused to come outside to speak with an officer, who told him he was investigating a report of a break-in.

"Why, because I'm a black man in America?" Gates said, according to a police report written by Sgt. James Crowley. The Cambridge police refused to comment on the arrest Monday.

Gates – the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research – initially refused to show the officer his identification, but then gave him a Harvard University ID card, according to police.

"Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him," the officer wrote.

Gates said he turned over his driver's license and Harvard ID – both with his photos – and repeatedly asked for the name and badge number of the officer, who refused. He said he then followed the officer as he left his house onto his front porch, where he was handcuffed in front of other officers, Gates said in a statement released by his attorney, fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, on a Web site Gates oversees, TheRoot.com

Check out what grass roots folks have to say on my blogtalkradio program about Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation's pre-eminent black scholar at: http://tobtr.com/s/590154.

Statement on Behalf of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. -- by Charles Ogletree

This brief statement is being submitted on behalf of my client, friend, and colleague, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. This is a statement concerning the arrest of Professor Gates. On July 16, 2009, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 58, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor of Harvard University, was headed from Logan airport to his home [in] Cambridge after spending a week in China, where he was filming his new PBS documentary entitled “Faces of America.” Professor Gates was driven to his home by a driver for a local car company. Professor Gates attempted to enter his front door, but the door was damaged. Professor Gates then entered his rear door with his key, turned off his alarm, and again attempted to open the front door. With the help of his driver they were able to force the front door open, and then the driver carried Professor Gates’ luggage into his home.

Professor Gates immediately called the Harvard Real Estate office to report the damage to his door and requested that it be repaired immediately. As he was talking to the Harvard Real Estate office on his portable phone in his house, he observed a uniformed officer on his front porch. When Professor Gates opened the door, the officer immediately asked him to step outside. Professor Gates remained inside his home and asked the officer why he was there. The officer indicated that he was responding to a 911 call about a breaking and entering in progress at this address. Professor Gates informed the officer that he lived there and was a faculty member at Harvard University. The officer then asked Professor Gates whether he could prove that he lived there and taught at Harvard. Professor Gates said that he could, and turned to walk into his kitchen, where he had left his wallet. The officer followed him. Professor Gates handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver’s license to the officer. Both include Professor Gates’ photograph, and the license includes his address.

Professor Gates then asked the police officer if he would give him his name and his badge number. He made this request several times. The officer did not produce any identification nor did he respond to Professor Gates’ request for this information. After an additional request by Professor Gates for the officer’s name and badge number, the officer then turned and left the kitchen of Professor Gates’ home without ever acknowledging who he was or if there were charges against Professor Gates. As Professor Gates followed the officer to his own front door, he was astonished to see several police officers gathered on his front porch. Professor Gates asked the officer’s colleagues for his name and badge number. As Professor Gates stepped onto his front porch, the officer who had been inside and who had examined his identification, said to him, “Thank you for accommodating my earlier request,” and then placed Professor Gates under arrest. He was handcuffed on his own front porch.

Professor Gates was taken to the Cambridge Police Station where he remained for approximately 4 hours before being released that evening. Professor Gates’ counsel has been cooperating with the Middlesex District Attorneys Office, and the City of Cambridge, and is hopeful that this matter will be resolved promptly. Professor Gates will not be making any other statements concerning this matter at this time.

Read the police report here. Check out the blog African American Political Pundit for more information. African American Political Pundit is regular contributor to Antoinette's Point of View

AAPP: I'm surprised he was not Tasered While Black!



Saturday, July 11, 2009

2.4 Million Dollar Settlement For Tasing to Death of Stanley Harlan

As reported by About Lawsuits.com A Missouri municipality has agreed to pay $2.4 million to the family of a man who died after police shocked him several times with a Taser. The local police police department also agreed to suspend use of the controversial stun guns, which have been linked to hundreds of deaths nationwide by Amnesty International.


The Taser lawsuit settlement resolves a complaint filed against the city of Moberly over the death of Stanley Harlan, who was struck with a Taser three times for resisting attempts to handcuff him following a stop for suspected drunk driving. Harlan lost consciousness after being jolted with the stun gun and died a short time later.

Insurance coverage for the city will pay $2.4 million to Harlan’s family, including his infant son, as a result of the alleged police brutality and excessive use of force. City officials also agreed to enforce a moratorium on Taser use by the Moberly Police Department. In addition, Moberly police will be trained to recognize and respond to medical distress situations, and the city will provide at least one on-duty patrol unit with an automatic external defibrillator.

Taser guns are designed to incapacitate neuromuscular functions by delivering an electrical shock. Many law enforcement agencies use the weapons as an alternative to lethal force in situations where suspects pose a threat.

The city did not admit fault as part of the settlement, and no criminal charges have been filed against police officers. An investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the FBI found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Last year, Amnesty International called for a police departments throughout the United States to stop using Taser guns or strictly limit their use to life-threatening situations. A report released last December by the human rights group linked 334 deaths to the use of Taser guns between 2001 and August 2008. Amnesty noted that 90% of the Taser deaths examined involved people who were unarmed and did not appear to present a serious threat to the officers. A large number of the fatalities involved misuse of the weapons, including multiple Taser shocks or exposing suspects to prolonged shocks. More HERE

Tasered While Black says: "It's time for black victims to file law suit as the Harlan family did."

Good Job Harlan Family!



Sunday, July 5, 2009

Assault of Black Women - Tasered While Black After toddler son Murdered

What We Think About Taser Abuse

The Blog Tasering While Black has been following the Tasering of Black folks in America and Canada for some time. This blog and bloggers like Villager at Electronic Village, and Francis Holland at Electrocuted While Black have been been tracking the tasing of black folks for some time as well.

But the tasering of a black teen-aged mother, after she learned her toddler son and a 6-year-old boy were killed inside an apartment at 945 East Monterey Court in Terrytown early this year goes beyond abuse of auhority and power. This particular post about the Tasering of a black Woman after she discovered her child was murdered is particularly disgusting. Yes a black mother of a 6-year-old boy killed in a triple murder in Terrytown, LA who was subdued with a Taser gun by Jefferson Parish deputies at the murder scene is just another in the continuerd attack on black women in America.

One has to wonder if this would happen in a middle class community and the women was of another color?

Robert Claiborne, Jr,


Get this, as reported by ther newspaper
NOLA, back in April 2009, The mother of Four Overstreet grew irate with authorities when she arrived at the Monterey Court apartment where the rampage happened before 4 a.m. Saturday. When she got physical, deputies stunned her to bring the situation under control, Col. John Fortunato said.

There is more:

Meanwhile, the Sheriff's Office released the names of two other people killed in the brazen shooting, a teenage mother and her toddler son. An 11-year-old girl who was critically wounded hasn't yet been identified.

The dead mother was 19-year-old Domonique Sterling, Fortunato said. Her 23-month-old son was named Robert Claiborne Jr.

Sterling is said to have been babysitting Four Overstreet and the girl who survived the attack.

The incident happened around 3:43 a.m. in the 900 block of East Monterey Court, Fortunato said.

Authorities believe two unidentified men entered an apartment in the area and "executed" Sterling and baby Robert, he said. Wielding handguns, the men also shot young Four and the 11-year old girl in the home.

Four died at the hospital from a gunshot wound to the head.

Robert was also shot in the head. Sterling was shot in the back, and the 11-year-old suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the body, Fortunato said.

Fortunato said witnesses told authorities that two men dressed in dark clothing kicked in the door and began firing. The teenager was found lying on the floor in the living room, while the two deceased children were found in a rear bedroom. Authorities also located crack cocaine and marijuana in the apartment.

One of the suspects, said to be in his 20s, wore a red bandana over his face, a black baseball cap and a dark hooded sweatshirt. MORE HERE

It's time to have Congressional Taser Hearings into Taser Torture in America. Sign the petition HERE.

Place a Congressional Taser Hearings Widget on your blog.