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Technorati'Unnecessary and Excessive': Brattleboro Receives Independent Report Calling July 24 Use of a Taser Unjustified
BRATTLEBORO - The town can expect another lawsuit to hit its attorney's desk soon.
"We will be naming all parties," said St. Johnsbury attorney David Sleigh, who is representing Jonathan Crowell and Samantha Kilmurray, two nonviolent protesters who were stunned with Tasers July 24, 2007, by Brattleboro police after they refused to leave private property.
Those parties include the town of Brattleboro, its police department and all the officers involved in the incident, said Sleigh.
On Tuesday, the town received a report on the July 24 use of Tasers from Gordon Black, an attorney from Bennington County. Black was hired by the town to conduct an investigation as to whether the use of force by the officers was justified within the department's old use of force policy, which has been revised since the incident.
The report (PDF format).
"The decision in this case to use the Tasers on otherwise peaceful protesters who were chained to an object was hastily made, and was unnecessary and excessive," wrote Black.
"Tasers are not meant to enforce compliance," said Sleigh.
Lt. Robert Kirkpatrick and Officer Peter DiMarino were named in the Black report as the officers who administered the shocks to Crowell and Kilmurray. Officer Michael Gorman and Department of Public Works employees Rick Looman and Robert Murray were also present at the time, according to the Black report.
Any and all disciplinary action against the officers is a personnel issue and will be handled internally, wrote Town Manager Barbara Sondag in a memo attached to the report.
Memorandum from the Selectboard regarding the Report
Crowell and Kilmurray were part of a small group of people protesting development on Putney Road. They had spent the night on a piece of private property on the corner of Black Mountain and Putney roads. When police arrived the morning of July 24 to evict them from the property, they found the pair had handcuffed themselves inside a device called a dragon, which is used to hinder police efforts to end a protest.
After Crowell and Kilmurray refused to unlock the cuffs, police used a Taser to get them to comply with their orders to leave the property. After being stunned several times, the pair unlocked the handcuffs and were arrested and charged with unlawful trespassing and disorderly conduct.
While the disorderly conduct charges were dropped, Kilmurray was entered into a diversion program for her charge of unlawful trespassing. Crowell is requesting a jury trial in the trespassing charges filed against him.
Tasers should only be used to end a dangerous situation quickly where the officer or another person is in physical danger, said Sleigh.
"(Police) figured this was a problem, reacted, didn't consider their options and went to the Taser," said Sleigh.
"(I) reviewed the situation with the question of whether I believed, as an 'independent reviewer,' that the use of the Taser was appropriate at the time it was used," wrote Black in an e-mail to the town manager and Bob Fisher, attorney for the town. "I came to the conclusion that it was not."
The e-mail was written after Sondag and Fisher questioned Black's methodology in reaching his conclusion.
Black reviewed reams of documents, including user manuals and suggested policies from the maker of the Taser device, sworn affidavits, arrest reports, supplemental statements from each officer involved, memoranda from supervising officers, e-mails, a sworn statement from a witness to the incident and "even a video of a portion of the incident circulating on YouTube."
See the video.
"I trust that none of us can imagine that it would have been acceptable for the officers to shoot the protesters with a gun," wrote Black in his e-mail. "It is also hard to imagine the policemen pulling out billy clubs and using them against the protesters chained to the barrels, or the policemen hitting the protesters with their fists ... If these options are almost unimaginable, how can the intentional infliction of what has been consistently been described by subjects ... with words like 'intense pain' and 'like getting hit with a sledge hammer,' be acceptable?"
When should a Taser be used, asked Black in his e-mail. "Only when the officers are using the device to protect themselves or others. That was not the case here."
"There is no evidence that they were either threatening to harm others or harm themselves," wrote Black. "They were not described by anyone involved as being engaged in any activity that could conceivably be described as aggressive or particularly disruptive."
Black rendered further comments that echoed sentiments that have been expressed by some Selectboard members and town residents during the town's review of its use of force policy.
"The protest was little more than a nuisance and there seemed to be little reason to escalate matters to involve the use of pain compliance devices," wrote Black. "The protesters were occupying a vacant commercial lot. There was no urgency to resolve the matter quickly, as the protesters were not obstructing traffic, impeding pedestrians or interfering with adjacent business."
Black wrote that the town's old use of force policy contributed to the inappropriate use. He also appeared to absolve former Police Chief John Martin - who was fired by the town last fall, in part because of the July 24 incident - of any wrongdoing in the event.
While use of the Tasers "may theoretically comply with the broad language of the use of force policy, it clearly shows a lack of appropriate restraint, as had been encouraged the day before by Chief Martin," wrote Black. "The 'laid back,' 'take no action' approach suggested by Chief Martin ... seems, in retrospect, to have been the most appropriate under the circumstances."
Martin and Capt. Steve Rowell also allegedly told Kirkpatrick to not be "heavy handed" in his actions against the protesters, according to the report.
The report may find its way into court in a lawsuit filed by Martin against the town contesting his termination, said Burlington attorney Pietro Lynn, who is representing Martin in federal court.
"This (report) must have been a very unpleasant surprise for the town," said Lynn. "It's fair to say we will review the report and take it under consideration and choose whatever course of action that is appropriate."
Black's conclusions may also find their way into a report being written by Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, the result of an investigation into use of force policies around the state.
"We would hope to be done soon," said Assistant Attorney General John Treadwell, about the AG's report.
Black suggested the town revise its new use of force policy to prevent just such an incident from happening again.
"This policy is an excellent step forward in better defining use of force," wrote Black. "The justification of nondeadly force, however, appears to contain the same wide grant of discretion that may have contributed to the underlying incident."
Black recommended a use of force policy allows officers to use a Taser only on suspects exhibiting "active aggression" and who are deemed likely to harm themselves or others. He recommended "active aggression" be defined as an assault or imminent assault.
Sondag is in the process of making those changes to the current use of force policy.
While police organizations around the country rely on Tasers to subdue violent suspects, Amnesty International has claimed police agencies are using the devices inappropriately "as a routine force option to subdue noncompliant or disturbed individuals who do not pose a serious danger to themselves or others," wrote Black in his report.
The police officers' "quick action fails to show appropriate patience and restraint in attempting to resolve the situation."
The Putney Road incident is the perfect example of "where officers eschew perhaps other slower solutions to a problem because they have 50,000 volts in their back pocket," said Sleigh.
"Black points out how hastily the officers handled the situation," he said. "He suggested an alternative which should have been readily available, a flash citation."
The flash citation could have been used to order the pair into court that afternoon, wrote Black. Their failure to appear in court could have conceivably been used to justify the use of the Taser, he added.
The complete report is available on www.reformer.com or by calling the town manager's office at 802-251-8100.
Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com
© 2008 The Brattleboro Reformer
58 Comments so far
Show AllIt is my considered opinion that no person who WANTs to be a cop should be allowed to fill that position in our society. Indeed, there is much information that indicates a two year exposure to the job pretty much ruins an otherwise good person for anything else. After all, which of us would chose to socialise with a police department employee and as a result they generally keep to their own kind. Put a bunch of bullies in a group and the result is no suprise. Sure, there is a solution....a national draft for some kind of service for every citizen, no exceptions. Even those with a boil on their butts could find a way to serve their country.
Veteran '66-68
Can anyone give me a link explaining more about the "dragon", the device used by the protesters to prevent the police from removing the handcuffs the protesters (Crowell and Kilmurray) had on. I read the .pdf report linked in the Brattleboro article, and all I could find out was that it is a barrel filled with dirt and rebarred concrete. I'd like to know more about its specific construction and deployment, and how police could have possibly defeated it without having to torture Crowell and Kilmurray into submission by use of a taser. I would like to understand how Crowell and Kilmurray could unlock themselves, and yet the police were stymied.
Regardless, the use of the taser in this instance, even in "Drive Stun" mode, is use of excessive force, in my opinion. The police officers in question need to be administratively disciplined.
btw, Google was no help in finding anything about a "dragon" (handcuff barrel) in this context.
Gee amerikans are finally getting excited because a little bit of electricity has finally made it onto your filthy mean streets. Don't expect the rest of the planet to feel sorry for you people as long as your "our troops" are marauding around the planet.
Time for a tad revolution old chap?....if any of you ever grow the brains or the balls
If not then keep on lamenting the loss of the last of your pathetic amerikan "freedoms".
Thank god for the Bushians, the true face of an amerika that was built on the corpse of genocide and slavery, remember?
I live in Southern California. When the cops get lazy here, they don't taze, they go for the 9mm solution. And get away with it.
Mr Bramscher,
No one is "battling" the cops. Please refrain from writing about this issue until you have gotten up from your computer out in white suburbia and gotten involved in a protest action against the war or other vital issue such as racist police brutality that im sure is present in Minneapolis like any other US city. You are clearly clueless.
As far as cops having the same class intrests as the worker; well, so did most Gerrman SS officers.
Police officers don't need much intelligence today. Weapons of all sorts for all situations.
That's not surprising given the way government in so-called "democratic" countries settle international affairs.
BTW,, that video sucked. can't hold a camera still..?? obviously this guys spacing out. anyway that wont stop me from visiting..bottom line is most cops suck & have attitudes & challenge individuals,citizens whatever,,& they are too well protected unlike ordinary citizen. its their word against ours.lawyers wont even do anything, other than take the money & run.whatever.
Id say Brattleboro, VT, would be a good place to avoid.
As for being tasered, I would never confront a police officer with any kind of threat or violence. If I am tasered without cause then that officer better figuratively watch over his shoulder from then on out because I will find a way to legally end his career and put him behind bars. I've already been the victim of a cop committing perjury in court under oath. And when I find a legal way to remedy that occurrence you can bet the cop is going to have some explaining to do in front of a judge. Let's just say the cop is being watched by several people and a case is being built. Hopefully we'll get one more dirty cop off the beat and behind bars where he belongs.
Brattleboro is a beautiful /awesome town. I LOVE VERMONT!! this is REALLY sad. These cops need to realize & represent what kind of community they are serving. such a disappointment..shameshameshame tsktsktsk make an example out of the police for once..remind them it is brattleboro, VT where they are privileged to be officers there should be no taser incidents whatsoever
Pretty soon they'll be tasering the eldering for not crossing the street fast enough -- or the children in school who are too slow at learning. "What's the answer to the question, Billy? Don't know?" ZAPPPP
They say that many people who become cops would be criminals if they hadn't gotten into the police force because they have aggressive impulsive personalities. As a cop, their aggression is defended. If not a cop, they'd be in jail.
These are the kinds of people who use tasers freely whenever they feel the urge for a 'fix'.
(BTW, I'm referencing Klein's article here, since she seems least willing to frame this issue correctly. This article is marginally better, but likewise avoided mentioning constitutionally guaranteed rights of speech and assembly.)
USAn,
You're perpetuating a couple problems.
Again, you don't distinguish between two very important issues:
A) Protocol of the justification of the use of force. This is INDEPENDENT OF TECHNOLOGY. This is not a problem we can blame on tasers, mace, tear gas or billy clubs. Klein is obfuscating this issue deliberately, trying to bury it evidently. Free speech, freedom of assembly, etc. ARE CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES. If you are arguing that tasers, batons, mace, tear gas, etc. are used inappropriately, the issue is legal, constitutional, national, ethical. Klein clearly has some other motive.
B) The biology of taser usage. Assuming that protocol has been worked out (i.e. we have gotten PAST the issue above, we are now in the realm of "yes, quick and non-lethal physical arrest is needed in this particular case -- the guy is drunk, high, about to injure someone, etc.". What are the options? Taser, mace, billy-club, etc?
The second point you miss, and I'm unsure why, is that protesters battling cops is a situational response -- among two groups who have identical class interests -- rather than a structural/cultural/legal/decisive response. Cops are better armed than protesters, they don't make the laws, they don't write policy. Tangling with cops is the biggest waste of time any provacateur has yet come up with.
Until the progressive movement has cops, progressive thinkers and soldiers at the same table -- facing crooked and arraigned politicians on the other side -- little else matters.
Isn't this something? Cops hooked on tasers and pro-actively looking for their next fix.
It's about time someone took the "taser torturing team" to task. Good deal.
ndersdl February 11th, 2008 11:43 am
In addition to police use of Tasers, personal Taser ownership is also growing. Soon we will not only have to deal with the problems resulting from Tasers being used by police, but also Tasers being used and abused by the public.
------------------------------------
The devices available to the general public are quite a bit different from those in use by law enforcement. You could use any search engine to quickly see that those available to the general public are quite a bit less powerful, do not shoot out a wire and must be touched to the body to be used.
It really makes me sad to see so very many sophomoric posts condemning all police forces for the actions of a relative few. If we wish to effect change in this nation, and heaven knows we need such, and drastic change as well, then it behooves those who consider themselves activists for that change to behave in such fashion as to elicit support for a position instead of behaving like imbecilic little kids, dontcha think?
As victims of police misconduct, and abuse we are strongly against tasers. They did not use them on us, YET, but as a family with a history of heart trouble, we feel this weapon could be just as fatal as a gun. How can we as Americans get the judicial system to outlaw them? We need to stand up strongly against this abuse, go to policewatch.com and sign in to help. Indiana advocates for police accountability.
Blaming these particular officers, or cops in general, is lazy and shortsighted. They operate according to the culture that we create or let others create.
Debating which skills would be best to inflict pain on peaceful protesters is accepting a flawed logic of violence.
USAn wrote:
"And that's exactly the point of tazering the nonviolent! By making nonviolent protest intolerable to it's participants, they hope to provoke violent protest, thuss giving them the justification for escalating to brutal, perhaps deadly, crackdowns. This is exactly the diabolical tactic Israel has used on the Palestinians."
The violent don't need provocation to attack. However, you are right to point out that this increase in unnecessary violence has a structural component - it is both a response and a creation of a more militarized society.
Edward1793 February 11th, 2008 12:17 pm wrote:
"IMHO marital arts would not be effective to convince someone to unlock handcuffs without causing serious injury. What would you do, a couple of spinning back kicks to the head or a karate chop somewhere until they unlock the cuffs?"
In the various martial arts, they teach the use of manipulating pressure points (as my black-belt brother has demonstrated for me). This would achieve the desired results without causing lasting harm (hurts like hell though). The catch is that the officer would have to have the good judgment to use the appropriate method and know when to say when.
Tasers don't kill people
Pigs kill people
TASERS are TORTURE.
In a truly free, open, fair, democratic society, every individual, without exception, who doesn't do what they are told, would have the inalienable right to choose whether they want to be tazed or billy clubbed.
Law enforcement people can and will abuse their power even if tasers are banned.
There needs to be a serious conversation in this country about the efficacy and the limits of the use of force. But in an atmosphere poisoned by the Bushbots terror-mongering, it isn't about to happen.
Still, there is no doubt that tasers should be banned. They are dangerous, sometimes lethal, and they can have lasting effects. Talk to any EMT or ER doc/nurse.
As always, the question must be: who benefit$ from tasers being allowed?
Paul B,
It appears that it is you are confusing issues.
If you have ever faced police at a nonviolent protest (and I dearly hope that most CD contributors have - what HAVE you all been doing for the past 5 years?); then, you would know that neither billy club, nor pepper spray, nor dog bite, nor tazer nor any form of harm or severe pain infliction is acceptable to a protestor practicing nonviolent CD. They are not resisting handcuffing or arrest, but the principles of nonviolent CD dictate that they won't actively cooperate with their arrest either. This means that, at very worst, they may have to simply to carry or drag the protestor by the sholders to the paddy wagon - and this is largely what thet did before Seattle 1999.
However, what we now see at protests is the police seem to be using their tazers, in spite of their possible lethality and the torture-level of pain they inflict, in a manner completely different than the other deveces - they are using the tazer far more frequently than the other devices, and they are using it largely as a donut-calorie saving device.
this is what we get for hiring from the shallow end of the gene pool; at both the high end and the low end
Pussy
Officers
Learning
Intensive
Citation
Enforcement
Friend of mine in college got arrested by the SFPD who handcuffed him, shoved a smelling salt deep up one of his nostrils, then smashed his nose with a billy club, breaking everything, inlcluding part of this guy's mind, for life. His crime? He had 'mouthed' off to these thugs.
Sadists gravitate to this work.
Psychological intimidation is not a legitimate part of law enforcement. Physical coercion is sometimes necessary when voluntary compliance with the law isn't forthcoming, but the coercion has to be the minimum that is necessary to achieve compliance. The law officer's self defense is about the only legitimate use of such an electrical shock device. And the extremely narrow range of exceptions should be publicized by the media. These are just common sense conclusions readily arrived at by any free thinker. The question is why does the media fail to elevate the obvious? It's part of the dumbing down of America, to manipulate and confuse the people, to preserve the hierarchy.
I'm not as worried about getting tasered for spitting on the sidewalk as I am against the "INFRAGUARD" www.infraguard.net
Maybe a study should be done about when in the officer's shift the incident occurs.
My bet is that the likelihood of taser use increases toward the end of the workday.
Getting your kneecaps smashed with clubs is torture, as well. And there are many other methods of reducing a person to a quivering mass of jelly. Given the rather unpleasant choice, I guess I'd elect to be stunned rather than risk permanent brain damage from blows to the head. The issue isn't the mechanism: it's the mentality of the aggressors. Too many law enforcers haven't the basic judgemental ability to determine when this sort of force is needed. Perhaps some of them really are sadists. Certainly the trade attracts bullies. The problem is that there seems no effective mechanism for discipling or purging the system of these thugs who seem to inhabit the rectum of our legal system.
And no, I'm not branding all law enforcement personnel as thugs. But you'd need to be brain-dead not to recognize the presence of this sort of individual in law enforcement work.
Cops with tasers = high voltage pigs
What can we expect when the leaders of the country are criminals, perpetrate violence, and get away with it? It is only going to get worse before it gets better, or until we have someone moral leading the country And, the only two candidates who fall into that category have been marginalized and ignored. Does anyone really think that after January 2009 the country will be in any better hands? Even if the tyrant in office doesn't declare martial law and prevent an election in November we still only have the choice of voting for candidates who are part of a system that is broken and needs a very extensive overhaul. It doesn't matter if Hilary, Barack or John is the next president. We will all be in very big trouble. Because nothing will change, in fact it may get much worse.
Jonathan Crowell and Samantha Kilmurray are lucky they were not executed by those cops with a short round each to the back of the head. The cops could drop a throwaway and claim they were dealing with "Terrorists" (forget that their arms were restrained. Oh, I didn't look at the picture, that's what they do if you're black or brown.
This is America. Marginally literate high school graduates with badges and guns have a license to kill you. You are Meat. They are the Machine. Get over it or change it. If you wish to change America make sure your life insurance is current and you have no family members who can be grabbed tortured and killed as a threat. Cops suborn witnesses too and they are good at it. They practice a lot.
"We escalated the situation and responded with overwhelming force." SOP.
Pieces of 8.
Have police ever considered that people are going to start to become aware of how to dodge a taser attack (not really that difficult), and/or that people can possibly put on armor to neuralize the shock. Thus leaving the policeman completely vulnerable to a counterattack?
It's not just that the cops nowadays have lowered their recruiting standards the point where they have no communication skills whatsoever, quite frankly they don't think about the consequences of their actions, and how it will adversly affect themselves in the not so distant future. (we all know they don't think nor care about how their actions affect other people).
Does police protocol include the option to leave the handcuffed protesters where they are until they go hungry?
Tasers are indeed worse than batons.
Electrical jolts to the torso induce fibrillation of the heart. (Heart attacks)
This can be sometimes be undone by prompt use of a defibrillator, a device often seen used with extremely exaggerated success in films.
One simple method would be for any police department to treat taser use as the equivalent of shooting with a gun.
After all, the reason given for buying the taser is that they would be used as a non-lethal alternative to shooting with a gun.
Any police officer that uses a taser should have to fill out the same amount of paperwork reporting the incident and explaining the reasons why the taser was used. In most jurisdictions, if an officer uses a gun they are automatically removed from street duty until a review concludes the use was justified. The same should occur for taser use.
The review should use the same standards. Ie, taser use should only be justified in a case where it also would have been justifiable to shoot someone.
All of this would put a deterernt on officers using a taser because they wouldn't want the paperwork and the hassle and the investigation and the being pulled from normal duty. And it would back up the original contention that these were only purchased to provide a non-lethal alternative to shooting someone.
Of course, this will never happen because the real use of tasers is to give police officers an easy way to inflict pain and to intimidate people. The fact that no police jurisdiction will do the above just illustrates the lie that was given to justify the orignial purchase of these torture devices.
Frank1469: You forgot to mention, or maybe didn't know, that the Thor Shield anti-Taser fabric is only sold to the Military, Law Enforcment, and to companies manufacturing clothing for these same groups. In other words, it's not for protesters; it's only to protect the police from a Taser counter-attack.
Here we go again -- the whole meme of articles which cannot separate the two essential issues:
1. Protocol. To ensure that police use non-lethal (and lethal) force only under stringent conditions. This is an issue regardless of the technology. You can suffer permanent brain damage if struck with a baton. The issue isn't the baton. The issue is whether the striking was justified or not.
2. If the situation did indeed warrant the application of non-lethal force, how do tasers match up against other non-lethal methods?
If the situation did not warrant application of non-lethal force, go to #1 above.
If tasers are indeed worse than batons, tear gas, etc. then go to #2 above.
What's up with these articles? They seem to be confusing several issues together. Is it deliberate? There is no sensible solution forthcoming if we can't very, very, carefully lay out the problems (plural) properly.
Well you didn't expect them to wait for that donut, did you?
There are stories like this in every town.
In my town, dogs and pepper spray from gallon-sized bottles is popular. They siked a dog one on a 65 yr old woman and tazered another woman at an antiwar protest I was at about 2 years ago.
I wrote before that even Gandhi might not have has the fortitude to continue nonviolense if he was getting tazered. And that's exactly the point of tazering the nonviolent! By making nonviolent protest intolerable to it's participants, they hope to provoke violent protest, thuss giving them the justification for escalating to brutal, perhaps deadly, crackdowns. This is exactly the diabolical tactic Israel has used on the Palestinians.
"Thor Shield is basically an anti-Taser fabric. G2 Consulting, which makes the new anti-Taser tech fabric, claims that ThorShield "provides the ultimate defense available today for non-lethal [a.k.a. less-lethal) energy weapons", i.e. any kind of stun gun or Taser-like weapon that relies on electricity to incapacitate. G2 states that Thor Shield Energy Weapon Protection Fabric is 100% effective against all non-lethal/less-lethal energy weapons currently in use. There are two versions of it: Heavy Protection and Light Protection."
No connection to the company - just a suggestion for the next wave of Protest Wear...
I imagine that parents will be using these on their children soon. A "safer" alternative to using prescription drugs to control normal childhood behaviors.
Of course the use of tasers on nonviolent protestors is unnecessary and excessive. That is exactly why the police use them.
What next? Tazering people in the DMV lineup?
"Hey, no talking in line..ZAAAAP!"
Further evidence of the slow and steady decline of the USA into a police state...
Edward1793 February 11th, 2008 12:17 pm:
If someone won't unlock handcuffs, a non-violent protest, a sane society doesn't torture or injure them in any way to force results.
It seems that the taser mentality is already affecting society at large, with people having to argue against increasingly lower barrier-to-entry arguments for use of these devices, even from the public.
Torture and police abuse are being openly defended and publicized for a reason. The purpose is to intimidate those who might oppose the powerful. It's the stick, and fattening foods and SUVs are the carrot. They're not amateurs at all, as the acceptance of the majority of Americans is evidence that it's working almost perfectly.
Police officers used to communicate with people. Now they just taser them. When tasers were first trotted out and marketed to law enforcement agencies, they were presented as an alternative to shooting someone. That is just pure BS. I have not read of a single tasering case in which the use of a taser is credited with saving the life of the person being confronted by law enforcement.
Pretty soon, when our government signs into law a piece of legislation called the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, private paramilitary forces such as Blackwater Worldwide will have the authority to squelch our freedoms of speech and assembly, thus effectively stopping dissent, all in the name of national security. And they will be using tasers to achieve this goal.
Tasers have to go
Haven't you ever asked yourself why 4 "professionals", trained to deal with violent criminals are unable to subdue an unarmed man? Have you not noticed that policemen seem incapable of physically mastering their enemy? They do not seem to me to be well trained in martial arts. They appear like amateurs to me. That's why they use tasers. Brawn over skill, just like the army in Iraq. PATHETIC!
What? If somebody refuses to appear in court, THEN it's ok to torture them?
Hail victory!
In addition to police use of Tasers, personal Taser ownership is also growing. Soon we will not only have to deal with the problems resulting from Tasers being used by police, but also Tasers being used and abused by the public.
Most departments have a book of rule and regs., included in the book is use of force progression, where tasers fall into that progression is usually left up to the departments and their legal advisors.
Usually tasers are not used on non-violent people, and if they are, then the cops are in the wrong.
IMHO marital arts would not be effective to convince someone to unlock handcuffs without causing serious injury. What would you do, a couple of spinning back kicks to the head or a karate chop somewhere until they unlock the cuffs?
Tasers: the modern coward's weapon of choice.
The police are our friends....
There is an online petition asking the DNC to choose the candidate with the most votes and delegates rather than take the chance on a secret backroom deal.
Please sign the petition and pass it on to your friends.
http://www.petitiononline.com/Superdel/petition.html
It's time that protesters got Tasers themselves and started using them on these lazy, fat, slob, pigs posing as law enforcement officers. If I had been there to witness this outrage, I would have been sorely tempted to take a blunt instrument to these bastard's thick skulls. We are on the raw edge of brown shirt territory folks. It's going to be interesting to see what happens to protesters this Summer in Denver and Minneapolis at the political conventions.
Come on people.
How can we deny the police from having a little fun!
Back in the 60's they use to beat protesters with a billy club, now they Taser them.
No big deal, it is just a high tech billy club.
We lost our Constitutional rights when this president came into power.
It remains to be seen if we will get them back once bush is gone.
If I was a betting man, I'd say that we have lost them forever.