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.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

17 Year Old Tasered For Running From Michigan State Trooper

Trooper uses Taser on fleeing teen

TRAVERSE CITY -- according to the record-eagle.com a Michigan State Police trooper used a Taser to stop a teen girl who ran away from a traffic stop.

Troopers from the Traverse City post attempted to stop a vehicle for erratic driving shortly after 2 a.m. Friday on Milliken Drive near Front Street in Traverse City. The driver refused to stop, and allegedly intentionally sideswiped a state police patrol vehicle that pulled up beside it, police said.

Troopers eventually used a patrol vehicle to force the suspect vehicle against the curb, causing it to stop. The female driver, 17, was arrested for fleeing and eluding and operating while intoxicated. A female passenger, also 17, ran away from police while they conducted sobriety tests on the driver.

A trooper chased, used a Taser on, and subdued the girl, post commander Lt. Bill Elliott said.

"She got a little bit of a head start, (the trooper) was able to close the gap on her but couldn't catch her," Elliott said. "He decided the best way to effect the arrest was to use the Taser."

Elliott said the girl, who is expected to be charged with resisting and obstructing a police officer, wasn't injured.

Elliott contends the officer made the right decision to use the Taser.

"He made the decision to use the Taser, and I support the decision," Elliott said. More HERE

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Join us on December 4th. “Stop Taser Torture, blogging for Justice.” as we raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

Contact us at: StopTaserTorture@gmail.com to register your blog.

Don’t forget to support the petition to the United States Congress calling for public hearings on the systemic human rights violations occurring with Federal funding for the use of Tasers® against American citizens. The United Nation’s Committee against Torture has declared that Taser use can constitute a form of torture, while USA: Amnesty International has an on-going concern about the use of tasers on American citizens. More HERE


Columbia Missouri - Ban Tasers - Coalition to Control Tasers wants to get the issue on next year's ballot.

Columbia Missouri - According to connect mid missouri.com A Columbia group is trying to end the use of Tasers by police.

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The Coalition to Control Tasers wants to get the issue on next year's ballot. They want to ban Columbia police officers from using Tasers by Jan. 1, 2011.

Tasers are "much more complexly dangerous weapons than people understand," said Catherine Parke, a Moberly professor and member of the Coalition to Control Tasers.

The group, which wants to take the Taser issue to the voters, says 500 people across the U.S. have been killed by Tasers.

Among those working toward a ban in Columbia is Athena Bashtel, the mother of Stanley Harlan. Harlan was killed in August 2008 when a Moberly police officer Tased him. More HERE

They should join us on December 4th to “Stop Taser Torture, blogging for Justice.” as we raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

Contact us at: StopTaserTorture@gmail.com to register your blog.


Sunday, October 25, 2009

Stop Taser Torture – Blogging For Justice Day” on Dec 4 2009.

http://www.seattlepi.com/dayart/20041201/TaserDeaths1201.gif


Source: correntewire.com

The stats only tell part of the story. I'm glad to note that there will be a annual December 4th blogging event called, Stop Taser Torture, blogging for Justice.”

The goal is to unite the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day – Taser Torture in America, Canada and throughout the world.

Amnesty International says that between 2001 and August 2008, 334 Americans died after Taser shocks. The stun gun was deemed to have caused or contributed to at least 50 of those deaths, Amnesty says, citing medical examiners and coroners. Most suspects were unarmed, and many were subjected to repeated or prolonged shocks, according to Amnesty. The human rights group has called for governments to limit the use of stun guns or suspend their use. In November 2007, the UN Committee Against Torture released a statement saying “use of Taser X26 weapons, provoking extreme pain, constituted a form of torture, and… in certain cases, it could also cause death.”

Join in on December 4th. “Stop Taser Torture, blogging for Justice.” as we raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

Contact us at: StopTaserTorture@gmail.com to register your blog.


Visit: Stop Taser Torture




Saturday, October 24, 2009

Tasers, Taser International and messages of the Heart

Well it looks like Taser International has said Uncle. The Makers of TASER devices say don't aim at chest. As reported by many bloggers, including the Electronic Village, news outlets and internet sources, Taser maker Taser International is advising police agencies across the nation to avoid aiming the devices at a suspect’s chest. The Arizona-based company says such action poses an “extremely low” risk of an “adverse cardiac event.” The Atlanta Journal reports that Law enforcement in Atlanta, Gwinnett and Clayton County said they are in the process of scheduling training for their officers who carry Tasers.

“It won’t be a huge change. It’s a difference of a few inches,” said Sgt. Tony Kessler, a training officer for the Clayton County Sheriff. “We still have the back and other parts of the body.”

Gwinnett Police spokesman Cpl. David Schiralli said the Taser manufacturer only “recommended aiming lower towards the abdominal region,” but said the 279 officers who have Tasers will be retrained.

Cobb County Police are already ahead of the game, spokesman Officer Joe Hernandez said. Cobb’s 100 Tasers are carried by only veteran patrol officers, the Tactical Team, Burglary Apprehension Team and robbery interdiction squad. More HERE

The advisory, issued in an Oct. 12 training bulletin, marks the first time that Taser has suggested any risk of ill effects on the heart from the use of its 50,000-volt stun guns. More HERE

Electronic Village reports, Taser International, the maker of taser guns is advising police officers to avoid shooting suspects in the chest with the 50,000-volt weapon, saying that it could pose an extremely low risk of an "adverse cardiac event."


The advisory, issued in an Oct. 12 training bulletin, marks the first time that Taser has suggested any risk of ill effects on the heart from the use of its 50,000-volt taser guns.

Electronic Village goes on to report that critics, including civil-rights lawyers and human-rights advocates, called the training bulletin an admission by Taser that its guns could cause cardiac arrest. For years, Taser officials have said in interviews, court cases and government hearings that the stun gun is incapable of inducing ventricular fibrillation, the chaotic heart rhythm characteristic of a heart attack. More HERE There have been more than 400 deaths in the U.S. and 26 in Canada since 2001, according to a study by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Tasers have contributed to more than 30 of those deaths, according to medical examiners.

Three of those occurred in the Gwinnett County jail after deputies used a Taser on combative inmates. Autopsies showed two of those deaths were the result of heart attacks, but did not cite what caused the cardiac arrest. The other death was ruled the result of “excited delirium” – a combination of cocaine, alcohol and physical exertion that excited his heart too much, according to the medical examiner.

A spokeswoman for the Gwinnett sheriff said Taser International's training bulletin has already been sent out to all of the deputies who carry Tasers. More HERE

"All future training will have it incorporated too," sheriff's spokeswoman Stacey Bourbonnais said Thursday.

Tasered While Black Publisher: Well it looks like this announcement by Taser International is having major impact on law enforcement standard operating procedures. Let's see if it make any difference on the streets of Amderica, or will cops actually aim at the chest in the future, as a way of killing people?

Boulder, Colorado ACLU wants Tasers holstered

New Guidelines For APD On Taser Gun Use - Albuquerque News Story

Metro Police Change Taser Policy

Police rethink stun-gun policy

Read more on tasering at the following blogs.

What We Think About Taser Abuse

Tasered While Black

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

NYPD Orders Cops Not to Aim Tasers At Chest

Yes, NYPD Orders Cops Not to Aim Tasers At the Chest.

Get this, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne tells the Daily News, "Until the NYPD can more fully evaluate the implications of the manufacturer's newly advanced recommendation, we are temporarily adopting Taser International's suggestion." Last year an NYPD officer fired his Taser at an emotionally disturbed man waving a long florescent light bulb atop a first story awning; the man fell to his death and the officer who gave the order to Tase subsequently committed suicide.

A source also tells the News that Taser International did not actually notify the NYPD about the warning. The company has been vigorously defending their product despite repeated deaths and controversy, and some communities have banned officers from using them entirely. Earlier this month, a Florida teenager died after being Tased and falling off bicycle, and at Coachella in April, a naked wizard was Tased multiple times

101809taser.jpg

H/T to Gothamist.com
for the report.



Sunday, October 4, 2009

Another black man killed By TASERING

One of my favorite bloggers, Villager, Publisher of the Blog "Electronic Village" has been tracking the tasering issue for some time. His blog has documented 42 taser-related deaths in the United States since the beginning of the year:
  1. Jan 9, 2009: Derrick Jones, 17, Black, Martinsville, Virginia

  2. Jan 11, 2009: Rodolfo Lepe, 31, Hispanic, Bakersfield, California

  3. Jan 22, 2009: Roger Redden, 52, Caucasian, Soddy Daisy, Tennessee

  4. Feb 2, 2009: Garrett Jones, 45, Caucasian, Stockton, California

  5. Feb 11, 2009: Richard Lua, 28, Hispanic, San Jose, California

  6. Feb 13, 2009: Rudolph Byrd, 37, Black, Thomasville, Georgia

  7. Feb 13, 2009: Michael Jones, 43, Black, Iberia, Louisiana

  8. Feb 14, 2009: Chenard Kierre Winfield, 32, Black, Los Angeles, California

  9. Feb 28, 2009: Robert Lee Welch, 40, Caucasian, Conroe, Texas

  10. Mar 22, 2009: Brett Elder, 15, Caucasian, Bay City, Michigan

  11. Mar 26, 2009: Marcus D. Moore, 40, Black, Freeport, Illinois

  12. Apr 1, 2009: John J. Meier Jr., 48, Caucasian, Tamarac, Florida

  13. Apr 6, 2009: Ricardo Varela, 41, Hispanic, Fresno, California

  14. Apr 10, 2009: Robert Mitchell, 16, Black, Detroit, Michigan

  15. Apr 13, 2009: Craig Prescott, 38, Black, Modesto, California

  16. Apr 16, 2009: Gary A. Decker, 50, Black, Tuscon, Arizona

  17. Apr 18, 2009: Michael Jacobs Jr., 24, Black, Fort Worth, Texas

  18. Apr 30, 2009: Kevin LaDay, 35, Black, Lumberton, Texas

  19. May 4, 2009: Gilbert Tafoya, 53, Caucasian, Holbrook, Arizona

  20. May 17, 2009: Jamaal Valentine, 27, Black, La Marque, Texas

  21. May 23, 2009: Gregory Rold, 37, Black, Salem, Oregon

  22. Jun 9, 2009: Brian Cardall, 32, Caucasian, Hurricane, Utah

  23. Jun 13, 2009: Dwight Madison, 48, Black, Bel Air, Maryland

  24. Jun 20, 2009 Derrek Kairney, 36, Race: Unknown, South Windsor, Connecticut

  25. Jun 30, 2009, Shawn Iinuma, 37, Race: Unknown, Fontana, California

  26. Jul 2, 2009, Rory McKenzie, 25, Black, Bakersfield, California

  27. Jul 20, 2009, Charles Anthony Torrence, 35, Caucasion, Simi Valley, California

  28. Jul 30, 2009, Johnathan Michael Nelson, 27, Caucasion, Riverside County, California

  29. Aug 9, 2009, Terrace Clifton Smith, 52, Race: Unknown, Moreno Valley, California

  30. Aug 12, 2009, Ernest Ridlehuber, 53, Race: Unknown, Greenville, South Carolina

  31. Aug 14, 2009, Hakim Jackson, 31, Black, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  32. Aug 18, 2009, Ronald Eugene Cobbs, 38, Black, Greensboro, North Carolina

  33. Aug 20, 2009, Francisco Sesate, 36, Hispanic, Mesa, Arizona

  34. Aug 22, 2009, T.J. Nance, 37, Race: Unknown, Arizona City, Arizona

  35. Aug 26, 2009, Miguel Molina, 27, Hispanic, Los Angeles, California

  36. Aug 27, 2009, Manuel Dante Dent, 27, Hispanic, Modesto, California

  37. Sep 3, 2009, Shane Ledbetter, 38, Caucasian, Aurora, Colorado

  38. Sep 16, 2009, Alton Warren Ham, 45, Caucasian, Modesto, California

  39. Sep 19, 2009, Yuceff W. Young II, 21, Black, Brooklyn, Ohio

  40. Sep 21, 2009, Richard Battistata, 44, Hispanic, Laredo, Texas

  41. Sep 28, 2009, Derrick Humbert, 38, Black, Bradenton, Florida

  42. Oct 2, 2009, Name Not Released, Age: Unknown, Black, Panama City, Florida

One of the greatest bloggers on the planet, Pam of Pam's House Blend has also been leading the fight against taser abuse. I and many other bloggers want congressional hearings on the issue. It's time to stop this 21st century Klan Justice.



Check out what you can do to stop the maddness.

As many black men have been saying... This nothing more than 21st Century Lynching.