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.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Police taser unarmed, legless black man in a wheelchair


Yes, you read it --- California police in Merced California have used a taser on unarmed, leggless black man in wheelchair.

The Huffington Post, The
Raw Story, News One and other news outlets and bloggers are reporting on the Tasing of a black male amputee in wheelchair by 2 white officers. Victor A Patton of the Mercedes Sun Star reports that the man who was Tasered, Gregory Williams, 40, a double-leg amputee, spent six days in jail on suspicion of domestic violence and resisting arrest, but the Merced County District Attorney's office hasn't filed any charges. Watch the video of his tasering/arrest HERE

Merced Tasing
Photo Source: Lisa Jane Merced Sun Star

Williams is black, and the two main arresting officers are white, but it's unknown whether race played any role in the incident.

Williams, who was released from jail on Friday, said he was manhandled and Tasered by police, even though he said he was never physically aggressive toward the officers and didn't resist arrest.

Williams said he was humiliated after his pants fell down during the incident. The officers allegedly left him outdoors in broad daylight, handcuffed on the pavement, nude below the waist. Williams said the Sept. 11 arrest also left him with an injured shoulder, limiting his mobility in his wheelchair.

A handful of residents in Williams' apartment complex said they witnessed the incident and supported Williams' charges. A short video clip, shot by a neighbor and obtained by the Sun-Star, shows Williams sitting on the pavement with his pants down, his hands cuffed behind his back.

A Merced police report, written by the responding officers, says that police tried to reason with Williams before the arrest, to no avail. The officers wrote that Williams was uncooperative and refused to turn his 2-year-old daughter over to Merced County Child Protective Services, among other allegations.

In the report, police also say a hostile crowd gathered as the officers tried to perform their duties.

The Merced Police Department spokesman declined to comment on the matter, saying he can't discuss it because the investigation is internal. Both the officers remain on duty.
Read the excellent report on how this all happened HERE

Tasered While Black publigher says: "Let's see if President Barack Obama says anything about this! Our president was quick to support the black elite from police abuse, lets see if he is as quick to denounce this situation. by-the-way who is runnining the Civil Rights division at the justice department? It time for the U.S. Justice department to take the gloves off and stop the continued pre-trial electrocution of black folks in America.

The
NAACP has joined the fight against tasers abuse. Black Bloggers have called for 'Congressional Taser Torture Hearings. There are man bloggers who are concerned about the growing taser-happy police state we find ourselves in. It's great to know that some cities are saying 'No' to Taser Guns. Let's get the congressional hearings going.

As Rev. Kyev T. | Fort Worth, TX recently wrote:

The Fort Worth, Texas Police Department is out of control. There goal is to terrorize it citizens. It does not matter, Police are using tasers as a means to get citizens to comply with their orders. We believe tasers are lethal and should not be used by law enforcement. 50,000 volts of electricity discharged into a human body is inhumane. We request congeressional hearing on the use of the tasers. If water-boarding is torture, tasers should also be considered torture. The UN is ban them as well.
..
***

It would be great if you would sign the petition calling for Congressional Hearing on Taser use in our country.

Thank You,
TWB Publisher


Friday, September 18, 2009

NAACP Joins Fight For Federal Taser Standards

The Publisher of Tasered While Black says: Finally the National Office of the NAACP is discussing the issue of Black folks getting Tasered While Black. We salute the fact that Ben Jealous has joined in this fight. I hope that the National office of the NAACP's new involvement is sincere, and is not just another PR effort that they have been famous for in the past.

Let's see if the NAACP will join the already established effort of the Afrospear and
Tasered While Black to gain a Congressional Taser Hearings or will they go it alone, and establish a new effort for PR purposes... Only time will tell.

Benjamin Jealous

As reported on the NAACP Website and the Afro Newspaper in Baltimore Maryland, (September 17, 2009) - The NAACP is renewing a push for federal standards on police use of force after the shooting of an unarmed Black man by two White police officers inside a church while day care children watched, the Associated Press reported.

According to witnesses, the man was surrendering but officials in Rockford, Ill., deny this description of events, saying Mark Anthony Barmore attempted to grab an officer's gun after they cornered him in the church.

However, both sides agree Barmore ran when officers approached him in the church parking lot, highlighting the suspicion and fear that can poison relationships between police and minority communities across the country.

"There are no national standards for the use of force (or) training for use of force," Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, said Sept. 11.
 MORE HERE