Showing posts with label 15 Year Boy Tasered While Black. Show all posts

Friday, August 6, 2010

Pregnant Black Woman "Tasered While Black"

H/T to Villager of at Electronic Village for following the horror of the tasering of a Pregnant black Woman by the California Highway Patrol.

Did a California Highway Patrol officer violate the department's own policy on Taser use?

Tanisha Black was seven months pregnant. I don't imagine that she ever thought that she would feel 50,000 volts of electricity being shot through her body. Tanisha learned a lesson that was already taught to Valreca Redden.

Tanisha Black of Union City and her 3-year old son were pulled over by a CHP officer. [SOURCE]

"He says I am pulling you over because you were on your cell phone," Black recalled

.But that wasn't all. Unbeknownst to her she said her driver's license had been suspended because she missed a court appearance on traffic tickets. And so, Black said the officer told her, "I am going to tow the vehicle because your license is suspended as well and I need your keys." More HERE

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Black Bloggers urge Congressional U.S. Taser Torture Hearings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Tuesday April 28, 2009
Black bloggers call for "Congressional Taser Torture Hearings"

CONTACT:
Wayne Hicks, Electronic Village, blog@elecvillage.com
LN Rock, African American Political Pundit, AfricanAmericanPoliticalPundit@gmail.com
Eddie Griffin, Eddie Griffin-BASG, eddiegriffin_basg@yahoo.com

A group of bloggers called the afrospear, a 2 year old coalition of black bloggers from across America (and around the world) held a day of Blogging for Justice standing up against pre-trial capital punishment by electrocution event on Friday. More Here

The Afrospear also established a p etition to Congress calling on Senator leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the Congressional Black Caucus to speak out and organize public hearings on the systemic human rights violations occurring with Federal funding against black, Latino, Native American and other Americans.

Group member Eddie Griffin, of the blog, Eddie Griffin-BASG, said, "While there continues to be considerable media and congressional attention to torture in Guantanamo, there is comparatively little attention to the mounting evidence of human rights violations in the streets of America by a number of police departments across America, including torture and killings of black children, women and men through-out the United States through the use and abuse of Tasers."

LN Rock, a 2008 DNC Convention Blogger, who publishes the blogs, African American Political Pundit and Tasered While Black said, "We want Congress to stand up with us against the police pre-trial electrocution of black children, women and men - by taser. He went on to say, "We believe that few Americans support spending our tax dollars on torture, which violates our moral, religious and legal traditions. Most Americans expect an American policing policy that ensures the rights of all individuals regardless of race, greed, color, national origin, sex, disability or political or religious affiliation."

Wayne Hicks, publisher of the blog, Electronic Village, said, "We believe most Americans would favor Congressional hearings as to whether our own U.S. police, policing policies and actions violate Federal and International laws prohibiting human rights violators. Evidence of widespread police abuse of tasers is more than enough to warrant our concern and justify a congressional inquiry." He went on to say, " We propose that Congress undertake serious oversight into the extent to which our taxes are funding human rights violations and torture by tasing, and provide an alternative roadmap to the restoration of our democratic values. We want Congress to make sure that police pre-trial electrocution of black children, women and men by taser stops."

The bloggers are asking for:

1. The U.S. Attorney General and the Justice Department to aggressively fulfill its most basic mandate of enforcing the law. Torture by tasing is a crime, and the Justice Department is the right place to initiate an independent top-to-bottom investigation of the torturing of black children men, women and children by local police jurisdictions throughout the United States. It's important that the general public understand the 'use of force continuum' used by law enforcement officials, and how it is abused by many in the law enforcement community. (See the use-of-force-continuum provided by the blog Electronic Village) Note: Although there is a Justice Department Review of TASER-related Deaths the on-the-spot pre-trial electrocutions continues.

2. Congress should investigate whether US police tasing policies violate Federal or international civil and human right laws, including the U.N. Convention against Torture, and international covenants against cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of citizens even in cases of so-called "state emergencies".

3. Congress should require the effective regulation of Taser use and require police/citizen review panels by Federal, state and local police and security agencies, including strict adherence to international human rights standards, or act to defund all such Federal, State and local police and security agencies who violate taser use regulations that would be established by Congress. No Federal stimulus dollars should be used to purchase tasers.

The bloggers point out UN'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. With all the conversation about the Bush torture memos and torture in the United States, we the undersigned bring up the issue of torture of black Americans at the hands of police in the United States. We urge you to stand up against the police pre-trial electrocution of black children, women and men by taser.

Here is a sampling of what black bloggers are saying about the tasing of so many blacks in the United States.

“A day of blogging for Justice ... What bloggers are saying and thinking:

Asabagna - Afrospear Think Tank - http://afrospear.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/a-day-of-blogging-for-justice-standing-up-against-the-pre-trial-electrocution/

Wayne Hicks - Electronic Village - http://tinyurl.com/chedrx

Shawn Williams, Dallas South Blog.com - http://tinyurl.com/cx6h97

Nate, Nateo Blog - http://nateo.blogspot.com/2009/04/call-for-stopping-pre-trial.html

Antoinette - Antoinette's Point of View - http://aapov.blogspot.com/

Cherie S. - http://memoirofcherieamour.blogspot.com/
Mr. E-D - Excited-delirium.com

LN Rock, African American Opinion - http://africanamericanopinion.ning.com

Francis Holland - Francis L. Holland Blog - http://francislholland.blogspot.com/2009/04/police-pre-trail-execution-pigs-on.html

Kathy - Daily Kos Blogger - Do White People Care About Tasing? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/24/724113/-Do-White-People-Care-About-Tasing

Zhana - Ancestral Energies - http://ancestralenergies.blogspot.com/2009/04/no-to-pre-trial-electrocutions.html

The Kid - Pirate satellite: A Day of Blogging for Justice - http://kid-kidfunkadelic.blogspot.com/

Wayne Bennett, The Field Negro, Major side bar and link highlighting the importance of this day.

http://field-negro.blogspot.com/

Friday, April 17, 2009

15 Year old Detroit boy with asthma dies after being Tasered While Black

Francis Holland at the blog Electrocuted While Black is reporting on how a 15-year-old Detroit boy died after being Tasered by police.

The U.S. police's electrocution spree continues unabated, with a child shocked to death after driving with expired license plates, says the Washington Post.

The Associated Press
Friday, April 10, 2009; 6:06 PM
DETROIT -- A 15-year-old has died after he was Tasered by police following a traffic stop and short foot chase that began just north of Detroit.
Warren Deputy Police Commissioner Jere Green says the teen was Tasered Friday while struggling with officers inside an abandoned Detroit house. He later was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The house was about a half-mile from where Warren police stopped a vehicle for having an expired license plate. The teen was one of three people in the vehicle. The other two were taken into custody.
The death is under investigation. An autopsy is scheduled Saturday.

There is more about this story. As reported by Mitch Hotts, a staff writer with the Macomb Daily, The mother of the teenager who died last week after he was struck by a Taser said on Monday she is trying to find forgiveness in her heart for the Warren officers involved.

Cora Mitchell said her 16-year-old son, Robert Mitchell, was a special education student who probably panicked when police pulled over a car driven by his friend Friday and he jumped out of the car and ran.

"These police officers have just flipped the tables on not only me and my family, but their wives and children as well," she said while standing on the porch of her home in northeast Detroit as a steady stream of friends and relatives stopped by.

"I am a Christian" woman and in my heart I'm trying to find forgiveness for them because they're going to have to live with this for the rest of their lives — forever," she said.

Robert Mitchell was a front-seat passenger in a 1996 Dodge Stratus that was stopped by police Friday morning on Eight Mile, near Schoenherr, for an expired license plate.

When the driver pulled over, Mitchell bolted from the vehicle and ran across all four lanes of Eight Mile into Detroit. He was eventually confronted at a vacant house on Pelkey in Detroit where pursuing Warren officers fired a Taser at him once.

Mitchell fell to the ground and became unconscious. He was treated at the scene by emergency personnel and later died at Henry Ford Hospital, Warren Campus.

It's not known why Mitchell ran from the officers. He did not have a warrant out for his arrest and was not carrying any contraband, according to investigators.

"We spoke with the driver and he said Robert admitted he was going to exit and flee," said Detective Lt. Michael Torey of the Warren police. "The driver inquired why he was going to run and there was no response." Mother of Teen Boy Wants Answers

As reported by sky.com the 15-year-old boy died in America after being Tasered by police trying to break up a fight. Over 300 people have died in US after being Tasered The teenager from Bay City, Michigan, was involved in an argument at an apartment in the city in the early hours of Sunday morning. After police arrived the boy allegedly tried to fight the officers before the Taser gun was used on him. Police immediately called for emergency medical help after the boy's violent reaction to being Tasered. He was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after. One officer involved in the incident has been placed on administrative leave as a result of the boy's death. An Amnesty International report claims that more than 300 people have been killed after being Tasered since 2001 in the US. The report claims many of the deaths involved... [read full story]

UPDATE: The Michigan State Police will probe Taser death of boy, 15 - Examiner.com

Note, Afrospear bloggers, African American Political Pundit through the blog, Tasered While Black, Villager at Electronic Village, Francis Holland at the blog Electrocuted While Black, Sylvia at Problem Chylde, Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend, Kevin at Slant Truth, Brandon Q at SuperSpade, along with Jack and Jill Politics have been following the Tasering of black folks over the past few years. Afrospear members like The Black Snob and many others have been involved in a number of educational efforts, including A Day of Blogging For Justice - Blogging Against Extra-Judicial Electrocution (Tasers).

Cross posted on African American Political Pundit and Tasered While Black

What We Think About Taser Abuse

Two differing views

TWB publisher says: Now that the maker of the TASER 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." There will probably be more Taser Torture victims being shot in the back and in the head."

- TWB Publisher Email me: TasedWhileBlack@gmail.com

The blue highlighted area in the adjacent target man represents the preferred target area. TASER has lowered the recommended point of aim from center of mass to lower-center of mass for front shots. (TASER Photo) TASER's New Training Targets More on TASER's new aiming guidelines

Factoid About Tasers

What's In A Name

The name stands for the Thomas A Swift Electric Rifle, an allusion to the weapon carried by the hero of early 20th century science fiction young adult novels.

Tasers fire two barbs (with quarter-inch fishhooks on the end) capable of producing 50,000-volt pulses into the targets' central nervous system.

The shock frazzles the body's electric signals, contracting muscles and incapacitating the target.

Each individual shock lasts up to five seconds, at the discretion of the shooter, allowing police to gain control of chaotic situations.

Aimed by a laser sight, the two probes have a range of 21 feet and are tethered to the gun by lightly insulated wire. Both need to strike skin or clothing to be effective.

Fabric two inches thick or more, though, can render the jolt ineffective.

Tasers can also be used without the probes, by placing the guns end directly onto a suspect's skin, and firing.

The weapons also have small microprocessors inside them that record every time an office shoots them, and how long the shocks lasted.

As the manufacturer has produced lighter and smaller pistol-shaped stun guns in recent years, police departments have purchased Tasers with increased frequency.

--H/T Bill D'Agostino

Tased While Black

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