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'Awful screaming' in Taser video to be made public

news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca — The mother of the man recently slain by security tasers at a Vancouver airport supoprt the release of the video to be released later today. "It's disgusting to watch but it's an example of how not to handle a situation," Pritchard said of his video. "We need to do something different -- different procedures. Something needs to change..."

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  • BrapAllgood, on 11/15/2007, -58/+21I have long thought about moving to Canada as the people seem to care about the other people there...not so sure anymore.

    "Welcome to Canada! Ah, but before we serve the poutine, you must pass this test:"

    BZZZZZZZ"AAAAGH!!!"ZZZZZZZT!

    Now I like The Netherlands better as a choice.
    • johndi, on 11/15/2007, -2/+57Don't count Canada out yet. From what I've read in articles that have comments most Canadians are not making excuses for the police. Many are outraged by this. I don't think it will become accepted in Canada.
      • ProfessorLX, on 11/15/2007, -3/+37i am from vancouver where this happened. people here are ***** disgusted. if these cops go unpunished prepare to see a riot. they had a 15 minute clip on the news last night of peoples reactions to the video, and people were hurt, disgusted, and disappointed with our police. it's no wonder people HATE cops. please dont view this as an example of canada or vancouver, we really are a good city and country, we just have to deal with ***** like this swiftly and strictly.
        • UCFartstudntJON, on 11/15/2007, -21/+5Your ass better not come to america with that attitude, your looking to get a taser in the nuts yourself ey.
          • btgoss, on 11/15/2007, -2/+10If you are going to patronize Canadians, and let's be honest who doesn't love a good America Jr. joke, at least get it right.
            EH?
            It's a question. Such as: " Would you like another beer. EH?"
          • romistrub, on 11/15/2007, -0/+15@ btgoss:

            I officially acknowledge that I'm being a douche by correcting you, but "EH" turns a statement into a question:

            "This beer is damn cold, eh?"
        • GiggleStick, on 11/15/2007, -6/+3A Canadian riot! That sounds really dangerous.
          • smacksaw, on 11/15/2007, -1/+4After the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup in 1994 they trashed downtown. It was a travesty, one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen was ruined. To this day I loathe Canucks fans for turning on their city like that.

            Where I used to live we had summer fireworks attended by hundreds of thousands of people and there were always troublemakers. The VPD keeps a good lid on it, but I think it could get pretty ugly. There's a lot of people there with an axe to grind...spoiled brats.
          • captric, on 11/15/2007, -5/+0Right - Canadian Riot is an OXYMORON
        • captric, on 11/15/2007, -10/+0I am from Vancouver as well, this guy was violent and uncontrollable and large! He was fighting everyone including the nice lady who tried to help him. The cops don't get paid to get hurt or killed by out of control maniacs throwing chairs and destroying computers at an International Airport. There will no no riot because Vancouverites are mostly artists and servers, cooks and candy asses, high on pot or alcohol or nicotine just about every day of their lives. If you want to see the REAL Vancouver, not the one presented to the public and visitors, go down to Columbia and East Hastings and stand around for awhile.
          • sgtbutterscotch, on 11/15/2007, -0/+5You're not from Vancouver are you?
    • SuperWinner, on 11/15/2007, -2/+11I wonder if media driven disease paranoia has anything to do with the police tazering everyone now? They want the guy near dead before they are close enough for him to get any 'restless leg syndrome' on them...
    • ninsei, on 11/15/2007, -0/+5How's your Dutch?
      • captric, on 11/15/2007, -4/+0You dont wanna got there, they have laws against using drugs in public and also - THEY HAVE POLICE! WITH GUNS! Eeeewwwwwww
    • realclark, on 11/15/2007, -1/+10As a Canadian, I am very much opposed to Tasers or any other form of police brutality. ***** Tasers, and anyone who uses them.
      • captric, on 11/15/2007, -8/+0Ya - just let them use guns - cause I guarantee you the guy is going down one way or the other when he starts threatening people and it doesnt matter wat the reason is. The cops dont get paid to be phychiatrists or physicians.
        • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -0/+10The cops get paid to serve and protect the public, including the people they arrest. Tasering an unarmed man is not justifiable and not calling for the paramedics when you have someone dying in your custody is even worse. There are plenty of other options including talking to the guy, bargaining, physical restraint (hand-to-hand), chemicals like mace that hurt but have a much lower potential to kill than tazers, beanbag rounds, etc. The growing use of tasers to incapacitate anyone who does not immediately do what the police say will only serve to increase the distrust the public has for the police and may even increase violence against the police. Cops are public servants, not cowboys.
          • captric, on 11/15/2007, -5/+0You are wrong as usuall you half educated nitwit. The guy was not UNARMED...he was armed with a chair and anything else he could get his hands on. The time for talk and barganing ended when the subject became violent. You cant use MACE in an airport full of people! It will get sucked into the airconditioning system and they would evacuate the airport. BEAN BAGS????????????????? Cops dont carry BEAN BAG GUNS you freaking illiterate moron! Cops are public servants paid to protect innocent people from maniacs like this so you wont have too!
          • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -0/+4Thanks for the load of ad hominem. Please feel free to come back when you actually feel like having a debate.
          • arbulus, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1Using a weapon on ANY unarmed person, no matter how angry or rowdy they may be is cruel and inhuman. An weapon should should NEVER be used on an unarmed person.

            Tasers should be destroyed. They do nothing but cause harm and make ***** arrogant cowboys out of cops.
          • Xondar, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1captric, did you even read the article or watch the video? He did NOT have any weapons, chairs or otherwise when the police went to him. He was clearly agitated, but not violent. There is NO excuse for this.
    • captric, on 11/15/2007, -3/+3Try Somalia - there are no police there!
    • danwallace, on 11/15/2007, -2/+4You're fine as long as you're not screaming in foreign languages and smashing ***** at the airport. We tend to frown upon that sort of behavior.
    • Pritchard, on 11/15/2007, -4/+2THIS ARTICLE LIES!!!
  • doublehead, on 11/15/2007, -37/+10ah the wonderful world of paranoia politics
    • Pritchard, on 11/15/2007, -1/+2I DID NOT SAY THAT ABOUT THIS VIDEO!!!!
  • Truzseeker, on 11/15/2007, -52/+12F... Canada. Put me somewhere else far from fascism and wrongdoing.
    • mightydavefish, on 11/15/2007, -1/+19So North America is right out for you.
      Sweden is nice, I hear.
      • SiNN4R, on 11/15/2007, -1/+6I've heard the same.
      • mlostracco, on 11/15/2007, -0/+2Sweden has the highest suicide rate in the world, so they jut take care of things themselves instead of letting the cops do it.
        • knomevol, on 11/15/2007, -0/+3that has been shown to be associated with the lack of sunlight in the winter months
        • topace3000, on 11/15/2007, -1/+1And the lack of sunlight the rest of the year.
    • SuperWinner, on 11/15/2007, -1/+11So you don't live in the US I take it?
    • danwallace, on 11/15/2007, -0/+5I think "fascism" ought to have a second definition in the dictionary that reads something like: A word used by dumb people who want to sound rebellious. The meaning here is irrelevant.
  • jeimus, on 11/15/2007, -2/+15Follow up story:
    http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNew ...
    • u2u2u2, on 11/15/2007, -1/+6http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?token=ce2_11951 ...
    • cawpin, on 11/15/2007, -16/+8I didn't see anything in the video that the police did wrong. Their presence may have made him nervous and angry but he attacked them first. It sucks that he was so freaked out and couldn't communicate with anybody but he had to know that they were the police and that you don't attack them.
      • wellyuk, on 11/15/2007, -5/+4The police SHOULD be skilled in self defense and not had to resort to tasering the poor ***** to death. No, he shouldn't have attacked them but he blatantly wouldn't have been in possession of a gun. What the police wrong did was taser the guy to death and not subdue him in a manner suitable for the situation.
      • smacksaw, on 11/15/2007, -3/+13How did he attack the police? By backing away in fear? You're hilarious. Please substantiate your ridiculous claim.
        • McMescalero, on 11/15/2007, -5/+1He did not back away, he faced them holding something in his right hand. He did not put his hands up, he did not act compliant, he acted irritated and unstable. I watched the clip at LiveLeak.
          • xtmno3, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3Good luck being compliant if you can't understand the police. The man did not speak English, the police did not speak Russian.
          • protogenxl, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1Russian Police are Stern. Stern but Fair.
      • wellyuk, on 11/15/2007, -2/+11@cawpin: You must have been watching an episode of miami vice or something. The guy did NOT ***** attack the police. At most he kicked something that was on the floor. He backed away and then they tasered him. I've just watched it. You're an idiot.
        • McMescalero, on 11/15/2007, -7/+2He did not back away. Anytime you do anything non-compliant, or violent, no matter how feeble it looks to you, when you are in the room with a man who kicks something in front of you, who had something in his right hand, who clearly is not caring that it's the police, you will be afraid that he will do something worse and flip out. He had already shown he was unstable with the barricading and throwing stuff around.
      • tehnico, on 11/15/2007, -1/+6Me thinks he's banking on getting votes from people who didn't watch the video/RTFA.
      • trstno1, on 11/15/2007, -2/+1You don't see anything wrong because they left out the part where a cop standing around to the right of the screen decided to get in on it and bludgeons the guy in a stabbing motion a few times with a baton or flashlight. That's when the guy stopped struggling...
        • McMescalero, on 11/15/2007, -0/+1He does not hit the man, he strikes at what the man was holding in his hand to get it away from him. If you listen to the sound the baton makes, it is striking the floor and/or something metallic. He is not hitting flesh and bone.
    • masamunecyrus, on 11/15/2007, -2/+16I'm getting rather weary of police offers, apparently in every country, now, using tasers as the first resort. Tasers are meant to be used when someone fails to cooperate and you cannot get them to comply in any other way. With more than 5 offers, they could have easily, EASILY subdued this man taserlessly. And, in fact, he wasn't even really "resisting" arrest until he was tasered.
      • iFrikkenR, on 11/15/2007, -1/+11Agreed. The taser should only be used where you would have otherwise used a bullet. a ***** bullet!

        Cops are such pussies
        • arbulus, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3Taseres really shouldn't be used at all. The damned things should be destroyed,

          I understand that we live in a society with laws and those laws need to be enforced. but i have no respect for the police because I have NEVER met one who wasn't just a puffed up bully with a badge. They're just pissed off little ***** who were the bully ***** quarterbacks on the football team in highschool, but that was the pinnacle of their life and now they have nowhere to go but down and they know it. so they get a badge and decide to take all their anger and resentment at their failed life out on everyone else. And do so by getting people killed or injured who don't deserve it. All they want to do is beat people down and act like they run the ***** place. You know what? They don't. They don't rule us, they serve us. Tasering people because they won't sit down and shut up is inexcusable.

          Furthermore, cops talk about being "compliant" and "doing what your told" or "resisting arrest." You know what? If I'm being approached by police and accused of doing something I'm not doing or being wrongfully questioned, I'm going to resist. If you throw me up against a wall or on the floor, I'm going to fight back. That is just natural human response. Especially when it's an incorrect detainment. So what if I'm being wrongfully arrested I'm just supposed to shut up do what I'm told and deal with it later? Bull-*****-*****. Do you think that's the natural response anyone would give? If I'm not in the wrong and you try to arrest me, then damnit I'm going to protest and I'm going to resist being arrested because I shouldn't be arrested. Further, telling me to "be compliant" only makes me want to not be 'compliant" even more.

          As well, tasering someone is lethal. It's not a toy and it's not simply a device to "subdue" someone like mace or zip ties - it's a goddamned electrical charge being shot through someone's body. How many stories have been in the news lately of people being killed by tasers? It's not right and it needs to end. The police need to remember that they don't get to be dicks just because they have a badge. They need to be told that they SERVE us, not rule us or command us. Quotas for traffic tickets or arrests need to be abolished. There needs to be no "incentive" to make them cite people or arrest people. They need to do it only when it is actually necessary and warranted, not because they're having a bad day or because it's the end of the month and they have to make their quota.

          Our criminal justice and law enforcement system in the US is VERY ***** up. We need a complete overhaul of the entire thing. We need compassion and caring in our law enforcement, not bullies and money grubbing *****.
  • opticrime, on 11/15/2007, -0/+24None of the Canadian press outlets seem to be reporting a translation of what he is saying in the video. Any diggers speak Polish?
    • Seeker135, on 11/15/2007, -18/+53Don't Kill me, bro!
    • tanisek, on 11/15/2007, -3/+62Some swearing
      "I'm gonna smash this desk, I'm gonna smash this locker/glass" (unclear)
      "I'm gonna sue you, I'm gonna sue you all"
      "Go away from me"
      • t1m0j5, on 11/15/2007, -0/+12Tak :) and why do they assume its Russian...
        • btgoss, on 11/15/2007, -2/+13Well if you don't speak either does it really matter?
          The four guys just should have jumped him, and beat him up. He would most likely still be alive. But since the taser is considered more humane that is not what happened. Sometimes a good ass beating is all that is required. We need to step back a bit.
        • Lythium, on 11/15/2007, -0/+7Russian and Polish are pretty close, both lingustically and phonetically. If you don't know either, they're easy to mistake one for the other.
        • tehnico, on 11/15/2007, -0/+10And had they gotten a russian interpreter, they would have quickly discovered he was polish, gotten a polish interpreter, and by now he would be sitting in his mothers vancouver home beginning to enjoy his life in his new country.
      • PhillyMJS, on 11/15/2007, -0/+33"I'm gonna sue you, I'm gonna sue you all"

        For a Polish guy, he sure speaks like an American.
    • tehnico, on 11/15/2007, -2/+7CBC Radio one did a good job covering this story this morning. 99.1 around southern ontario.
    • captric, on 11/15/2007, -8/+9Dont taze me - Broski
    • ElectRONPAUL08, on 11/15/2007, -0/+10Early in the video
      (Dziekanski holds a small wooden table and waves it.) (in Polish): F---! I will not let you accuse [charge] me of anything.

      when the police show up
      Dziekanski screams in Polish: Police, police. (relieved that they are there)
  • DiscoStud, on 11/15/2007, -7/+41Longer, 10 minute Video can be found here: http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/bc/ondemand/video/YVRT ...
  • sockpuppets, on 11/15/2007, -2/+207Can we please stop tasing people just because they're agitated?
    • williamdyer, on 11/15/2007, -12/+30It won't happen until some taser-happy pig ends up being brutally killed in revenge.
      • TheG2, on 11/15/2007, -20/+7"pig"
        Seriously, are we really gonna go back to 1960's slang?
        • daxsymbiont, on 11/15/2007, -1/+12yeah, use trendy terms, found in popular magazines we read and tv shows.
        • UCFartstudntJON, on 11/15/2007, -17/+3Tasers, tasers, tasers. tasers. may have killed insane agitated freak, may have killed him, but picture this nut bag running up on someone like YOURSELF, or YOUR MOM, or ANYONE IN YOUR FAMILY. you may just want to pull out a taser yourself, IF your nice, cause I can think of other weapons I personaly might prefer. Police did the right thing. Freak dish dying, accident.
          • Otto, on 11/15/2007, -0/+14God, you're a wimp. Can't handle yourself in a fight, so you just tase everybody.

            If this man wanted to kick somebody's ass, well, perhaps he was justified. After 10 hours in customs, I'd be pretty pissed off myself.
          • rspeed, on 11/15/2007, -1/+10The guy wasn't threatening anyone, he was just angry and smashing stuff. He wasn't a nut or insane, he was angry after being stuck in customs for ten hours. When the cops arrived he calmed down and had his hands in the air. They could have told him to get on the ground or tackled him.

            Like they said in the article, there were many things that they didn't even try before using a weapon.
          • Double0Doug, on 11/15/2007, -0/+4“picture this nut bag running up on someone like YOURSELF, or YOUR MOM, or ANYONE IN YOUR FAMILY”
            Ok… Maybe I should, oh I don’t know, try and communicate with him?
            This could just be a new air port policy to tase anyone who is making a scene. Mothers watch your children children.
          • smacksaw, on 11/15/2007, -6/+2I'm guessing you don't live in Canada, nor know anything about societal attitudes there.

            In the US, we see someone acting up and we get bloodthirsty and think "oh, what sort of criminal behaviour is he up to? He's possessed by pure evil, maybe even Satan!" and we want him PUNISHED. Instantly. For making us feel fear.

            Canadians, not being pussies who are ruled by fear think to themselves "gee, this poor guy. He's agitated. I wonder what's bothering him? We need to find him some help."

            It never occurs to them to be afraid or naturally assume he's a criminal because THEY HAVE LESS VIOLENT CRIME. They don't treat each other like violent criminals so it's harder to perpetrate. I'm not saying there isn't violent crime or violent people in Canada, but these are not the people RESPONDING TO THE CALL! It's the frickin' police! You, Joe Average might respond violently if you're a coward. But the police not only should not do that, in Canada they normally know better and Canadians demand better from their police.

            If you are Canadian, please trade places with me so I can go back and you can have my place in the US.
          • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -2/+3Actually, I don't have to picture people threatening me or my loved ones because I can just remember the multiple times it has happened. I took karate for 6 years and since I stopped ten years ago I have been threatened at least half a dozen times. I have never had to throw a punch in order to defend myself. If you don't have the discipline necessary to take a hit in order to disarm a violent situation before it becomes a lethal situation, then you have no business carrying a gun for a living.
    • IADTatami, on 11/15/2007, -7/+45It won't happen until some taser-happy pig tases someone with politically powerful relatives to death.
      • aposter, on 11/15/2007, -1/+6Bingo. Although I don't expect the rules to be changed much, even then.
    • blakeage, on 11/15/2007, -2/+26Agreed, they could have easily pushed him against a wall and put him in cuffs for christ sake. Sick bastards man.
      • nogami, on 11/16/2007, -0/+2It's not so much "sick bastards" as "lazy bastards". The taser has become a lazy cop's "people remote control". Do what they say, or they tase you.

        They were reporting in the news today that the tasing may not have been the actual cause of death, it may have been the cop kneeling on the guy's back as he was fighting for his life because he couldn't breath. That concerns me even more than the use of the taser.
    • milliamp, on 11/15/2007, -14/+5I am a bit middle of the road on this. His actions, considering they were in an airport, are at least nearly tazer-worthy.
      • aposter, on 11/15/2007, -2/+11What in the ***** does being in an airport have a damn thing to do with it? Acting up in an airport should have no more consequence than anywhere else. It's not like he had a bomb or was trying to kill people. He was having a fit and being an ass, and that shouldn't be a capital offence, even at an airport you moral coward.
        • milliamp, on 11/15/2007, -9/+5He was yelling, barricaded himself in a room, smashed a laptop, tried to throw a chair through the window, and was being a total ass. They did not give him a chance to resist arrest, but he was clearly uncooperative and it was apparent he was not going to be arrested without a fight. The vid does show him resisting after being tazed. It matter that they were in an airport because airports have stricter security policy than most public places.

          I'll go out on a limb and say if you tried this ***** at most airports it would more often than not end with you on the business end of a tazer. I am not sure about in Canada, but in the US police are typically required to be shot by a tazer before they are allowed to carry one.

          It is unfortunate that the man died, and while the officers actions were a bit cavalier it certainly is not a cut and dry case of abuse.
          • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -0/+5It doesn't matter if the person is in an airport or the house of parliament, you can't justify using a potentially lethal weapon against an unarmed person who poses no risk of serious harm to the officers.
          • jimbobuk, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3Nonsense!
            It was his first flight EVER; he turns up in the country to meet his mother, and they hold him for over an hour, which results in his mother going back home! So, this poor bloke is stuck in an airport, in a country that doesn't speak his language and probably has no idea how he's going to get in contact with anyone! Not to mention, up to that point he's probably met nothing but harsh people asking him questions he probably cant understand!
            Id be pretty pissed off eventually! I think its safe to say he couldn't have been holding any explosives, so why use a tazer??? Those 4 policemen could have easily handled him!! Chucking a few things around doesn't constitute using such aggressive action. They need to be brought to justice!!
          • Xondar, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1jimbobuk, he was actually held up for over 10 hours.
    • captric, on 11/15/2007, -9/+6Do you throw chairs and threaten peopl with tables when you are "just agitated"?
      • williamdyer, on 11/15/2007, -1/+7Steve Ballmer does.
      • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -1/+6No but I also don't tase people who do. If you carry a gun for a living, then I have a higher standard of restraint for you than I do for the general public.
      • samcrut, on 11/15/2007, -2/+4We don't have all the facts. He didn't speak english. He could have had a reason for being agitated. What if he knew of a plot to blow up a plane and he was trying to get them to get a translator so he could tell them. There's all sorts of possibilities. Maybe the guy was just being a dick and throwing stuff, not at people mind you! Not grounds for an execution! He didn't attack anybody.
        • dBLiSS, on 11/15/2007, -0/+7He was agitated because he had been in the airport terminal for 10 hours waiting for his mother to pick him up. He was inside a secure area, and could not read or speak English. His mother had tried to get him but the security would not let her in the secure area. She told them who he was, what he looked like and that he didn't speak English. The airport personnel said there was nobody like that there, so she left the airport. The next she heard was from the police because they had killed him.
    • Spudster, on 11/15/2007, -0/+12Funny how the Taser was supposed to only be used as a substitute to lethal force. Those who feared a slippery slope with the Taser were clearly right.
    • Pritchard, on 11/15/2007, -8/+2WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT - DIFFERENT PROCEDURES. I RECOMMEND CALLING f(x) OVER taser(y)!!! IN WORST CASE SCENARIO, CALL matrix(z)!!!!
      • SquigglyP, on 11/16/2007, -2/+1This just in: New studies have shown that abuse of the Caps Lock key can have adverse affects on mental health.
        Film at eleven.
    • ryan6608, on 11/16/2007, -1/+1No doubt. This guy was in an airport. Are they going to claim they thought he was armed? Tasers are supposed to be a replacement for lethal force. If they didn't have tasers, would they have just shot him? If you or I go to work and ignores guidelines and safety rules and someone dies as a result, what happens? We get charged with something like negligent homicide. It the job of the police to appease the situation. When they're responsible for escalating the situation to the point of instigating violence, they need to be charged and thrown in jail just like anyone else would.
    • LastSight, on 11/16/2007, -1/+1Yea go back to good old fashion guns, the American way. Not caring of the consequences, wasting resources, and blowing ***** up. Yeah.....good old America
      Also being shot at is a lot less painful then being tazered cause being tazered ***** burns like hell and its through out your entire body....sure as hell gonna feel that in the morning...
    • shotgunefx, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1I think they probably went a little too soon with the taser, but most people have to know better to not act nuts in an airport these days.

      Perhaps before everyone jumps to conclusions, it would be nice to wait for an autopsy to see what he actually died of. Maybe it was that, maybe the compression, maybe a weak heart or drugs, who knows?

      What more concerns me is that it doesn't seem like anyone knew CPR (or abstained) after calling a code red. Though maybe it's after the end of the video.
  • victrola, on 11/15/2007, -33/+9I've heard so many awful stories about the border patrol in Canada- about time someone actually gets caught. Canada enjoys a peaceful reputation mainly because stories of wrongdoing in Canada don't get much international attention. In reality, Canada is pretty dangerous.
    • SleepingOrange, on 11/15/2007, -0/+19you obviously don't live here.
      • captric, on 11/15/2007, -5/+1I live there and its true, it doesnt get overage because Canadians dont want to ruin their false reputation.
    • ProfessorLX, on 11/15/2007, -0/+11wrong
    • leejae, on 11/15/2007, -4/+11I dunno... I feel a lot safer where I am in London, Ontario than in US where there are school shootings and terrorist attacks.
    • biochem, on 11/15/2007, -1/+7thats complete BS.
      i hope u get interrogated the next time u come to Canada for spreading such nonsense
    • BinaryFragger, on 11/15/2007, -1/+5You think America is safer?
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_ ...

      And America's border guards aren't any better. America is so anal about 'national security' that emergency workers now have a hard time entering the country during an emergency:
      http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM ...
    • Fozefy, on 11/15/2007, -0/+4So you hear the one and only story about border patrol wrong doing and assume that just because there is one there must be many? And international attention...about what? I live in Windsor, Ontario, border town by Detroit, if there were stories like this I would have heard about them, this is the first time I've ever heard of anything like this.
    • j83com, on 11/16/2007, -0/+4are you retarded?
      No seriously, are you?
    • Xondar, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1I assume you're American. Since when do Americans give a damn about news from Canada? Since when do Americans know ANYTHING about Canada?

      Our homicide and violent crime rate is far lower than in the U.S., in fact crime rates are at a 30 year low here. I live in Canada and this is the very first customs/border horror story I've ever hear from this country. I know the Canadian people and the political authorities here will not stand for actions like this from our police officers. I think this incident will cause a full scale review of tasering policies within the RCMP and other police forces here.

      I guess one customs horror story makes Canada just as bad as the nation that deports foreign nationals to other countries to be tortured. Or who's police force regularly tasers the elderly, pregnant women, and innocent students.
  • wonderchemist, on 11/15/2007, -51/+10If people would act their age and stop throwing temper tantrums maybe the police wouldn't even need to consider using the taser.
    • kgorczyn, on 11/15/2007, -3/+37If airport officials would do their job this would not have happened in the first place. You must not understand the details of the story. He was not allowed out for so long that his mother who came to pick him up was told he never arrived at the airport (by airport officials) and she went home. To top it off he knew no English. Do you think a man who throws a chair and a computer that is so frustrated he is sweating all over the place and breathing heavily about to have an anxiety or panic attack, or even worse a heart attack, is a candidate for a taser?
      • ninsei, on 11/15/2007, -2/+16Actually he wasn't being "held", he was just sitting by baggage claim waiting for his mother who didn't realize she had told him to wait in a secure area she couldn't access.

        The real tragedy is that when she went to the info desk to ask for help (3 times over a couple of hours) the people working couldn't be bothered to walk 20 metres in to the secure area to look for him.
        • kgorczyn, on 11/15/2007, -0/+7That's even worse..... thanks for the clarification. What a terrible situation.
    • mranderson86, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3He had a fkn anxiety attack you heartless moron!
    • loconet, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1Have you even read what happened here to make such a retarded comment?

      I've been hearing about this all day on the news here. This is a disgusting case of police brutality, combined with ignorance and stupidity from the part of the RCMP. The guy had come from Poland, his mom didn't find him at the airport where he waited for 6+hours exactly where she told him to wait. He had never traveled in his life and could not speak English. After 6+ hours of waiting, airport security go and attempt to kick him out but he refuses to leave in fear of not being found. Why airport security didn't look for an interpreter is beyond me. The heartless idiots instead assumed he was speaking Russian and called RCMP after the guy got agitated. Once police got there he was calm and relieved, not 15 seconds passed and the ***** police tasted him TWICE while putting their knees on his neck. They didn't bother to figure out what was wrong, nothing. These are supposed to be professional law enforcement officers. They surely must have half a brain and be able to use common sense before they are given that ***** badge. They the hell didn't they get someone to translate! *****, even without speaking the language there are ways to let the person know that nobody is trying to hurt him, but no. These ***** animals bring him down. The man dies a few seconds after.

      The use of these tasers is getting out of control. These ***** pigs need to be held responsible for their actions. Enough is enough.
  • jarjarjanks, on 11/15/2007, -27/+21***** the ***** police
    • leejae, on 11/15/2007, -10/+8My cousin is a RCMP and it hurts me to see people like you not giving a rat's ass for those women and men that serve to protect us. There is no doubt those two RCMP officers had good intentions. The people there at the airport were getting assaulted and the officers even asked a bystander if they would mind witnessing a taser. Just very very unfortunate what happened to the poor guy.
      • jimmiss, on 11/15/2007, -0/+2Everybody has good intentions.
      • Frostman3D, on 11/16/2007, -0/+2The cop stabbed him in the head 3 times with a baton after he'd been cuffed and subdued. That's what killed him.
    • martian, on 11/15/2007, -10/+5lol @ "Protect us"

      Tell your cousin to get a real job.
      • KrustyTClown, on 11/15/2007, -5/+6Yeah it's cool to hate the police, until you need them.
        • SydBarrett420, on 11/15/2007, -6/+2Buy a gun, save yourself a quarter phone call.
  • Nikonian, on 08/17/2008, -45/+7Alright since noone has said it yet. DONT TASE ME BRO
  • empirefalling, on 11/15/2007, -25/+4A point to ponder....Why do most of these types of strange behavior occur when entering North American airspace? Why do some people seem to go mad? What is in the air that these persons are breathing? What types of surveillance equipment does the North American Command have? Do the Americans have some sort of electronics device that is doing this? These are serious questions. I do not believe in UFO’s nor paranormal oddities. Could there be some sort of US Military connection with these outbursts?…
    • marksism, on 11/15/2007, -0/+13Short answer: No.
    • aposter, on 11/15/2007, -0/+1It has more to do with police procedures in those areas than the behavior of those visiting North America.
    • ChoosyMother, on 11/15/2007, -1/+1I figured someone would figure out a way they could use this video to bash America. Just didn't think it would be so soon, and from such an idiotic angle. Good work!
  • centracore, on 11/15/2007, -12/+2The full video can be found here: http://digg.com/world_news/Video_of_man_tasered_to ...
  • tehnico, on 11/15/2007, -1/+143When the police came he said "Police, Police" in relief. He felt that the police will finally be able to help him and was glad to see them. Clearly he was willing to co-operate when the police finally showed up.

    15 seconds after the police arrived they struck him with the tasers, shortly after that while unconcious/dead, they had one shin on his throat with all the weight of the officer, and another on his forehead. Once this officer released his leg choke submission hold, it was clear he was dead. While in the leg choak submission, other officers are reported as saying "hit him again" It's unclear if they did or didn't.
    • HeyBob, on 11/15/2007, -4/+48And why didn't start CPR?

      The guy was no threat to himself or others - they could have brought food and drink and waited for an interpreter. The cops just showed up and used deadly force (because Taser's can kill). They didn't ask anyone about the situation.
      • HonestAbe, on 11/15/2007, -15/+4Physical force is more dangerous than Tasers.
        • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -0/+9Not true. A person properly trained in hand to hand combat, as all police should be, will know that there are many pressure points in the limbs that can disable just about anyone but hold virtually no potential of being lethal. For example, if I was to get a hold of your forearm, there are at least four ways that I could put you on the ground and keep you there and the worst thing that could happen would be a broken bone or torn ligament.
      • acidbass, on 11/16/2007, -2/+3They didnt start cpr b/c he could be a terroist , why risk bringing a terrorist back to life, better to safe than sorry in the NWO.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Order_%28co ...
        • deaddoll00, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1Only he wasn't. It's people like you that breed this sort of violence, that you would rather assume an agitated man is a terrorist and kill him than do your ***** job as a cop and subdue him. He was just a confused, tired, probably hungry man who gave the stupid cops no grounds to hurt, much less kill him. He considerably calmed down and they didn't even appear to try to talk or reason with him.
    • romistrub, on 11/15/2007, -2/+19Yeesh. I didn't watch the video but your comment put a knot in my stomach.
    • tehnico, on 11/15/2007, -0/+10Well that's the witness account of the events, they had an extensive coverage of this on the radio this morning with the man who shot the video.
    • neoform, on 11/15/2007, -14/+2I'm all against unnecessary taser use and all, but after watching the video.. the guy was acting completely inappropriately and more importantly, violently. When police confronted him he was not cooperating, instead he tried walking away from them, it's not really shocking that they would then try to take him down to the ground, especially given the way he was acting.
      • crimson117, on 11/15/2007, -1/+6No, it's not shocking that they tried to subdue him.

        But it is shocking that they used a high-voltage electricity weapon when a simple pair of handcuffs would have done the trick.
        • McMescalero, on 11/15/2007, -4/+1If you had watched the video at LiveLeak which shows his behaviour before the police arrived, you'd see he was violent and destructive already. The taser is still much safer than a gun. Try handcuffing anyone who doesn't want you to handcuff them. Think about it.
      • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -0/+5Perhaps he tried to back away because there were four police confronting him in a language that he doesn't speak. It is not surprising or wrong for them to physically restrain him if necessary. It is wrong to use a potentially deadly weapon to do so when he posed no serious threat to the police.
      • McMescalero, on 11/15/2007, -3/+2You're absolutely right neoform.
    • gmarsch, on 11/15/2007, -2/+6Completely and utterly disgusting. Definitely not something I want to see.
    • sporg, on 11/15/2007, -2/+6He was acting childish with that table and chair tantrum but clearly the police used excessive force in subduing him.
    • McMescalero, on 11/16/2007, -2/+2Which tape have you seen where you can hear him say "police, police" out loud in English? I've watched the video of the other passenger in the area which runs about 9 minutes and I never hear him do that. As soon as the police enter the area, he does NOT act like he'll be cooperative. They speak to him for a few seconds and he makes a motion with both arms as if to say 'enough, done, finished' and walks around the counter. Then he does seem to kick something toward the officers and raises his hands to about chest level, and then there seems to be something in his right hand, which I can't make out. It sort of looks like he's holding a curling wand. I know that doesn't make sense, but maybe it was something from his suitcase or from the desk of the counter.
      Anyway, he then flails and screams but never goes stiff, like many people do, or fall down and roll around in place, like many people have; he flops around so hard, he moves himself out of the holding area.
      I never saw any choke hold put on him or did I see the police press down on his throat/trachea. The back of his neck, yes. A grown man of his size and age would normally survive such a tasing without more than sore muscles and an unpleasant memory.
      Something someone said to me tonight that I didn't think of, and neither has anyone else here: why didn't the man and/or the airline call the ticket desk at the airport in Poland where they likely had agents who speak some English and lots of Polish? And why was he there 10 hours? He arrived at 1am, so his mother was asleep in bed. So where was he supposed to sleep once he left the airport? Why didn't he learn at least how to say "Please call Polish airline ticket agent" or "Wake up my mother, call ---." Why? Especially since he had never traveled by plane in his life?
      Tragedies like this only happen because of a pile up of a lot of little mistakes, by all parties involved - him, his mom, customs, the airport, the police. It is very sad, but it was not the fault of the police alone.
      • tehnico, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1"Police Police" and his demenour towards them was recorded in eye witness testimony. I noted that my account was from interviews with witnesses on the morning radio, as I mentioned above. I was listening for it too, and could not hear him say that myself.
  • RRunner316, on 11/15/2007, -18/+5Blame Canada!
  • edrift101, on 11/15/2007, -7/+128Can't we just take the Tasers away? or at least stop referring to them as non-lethal weapons...
    • wicketr, on 11/15/2007, -2/+10So are you saying they should get their billyclubs back?
      • aposter, on 11/15/2007, -0/+8The police I know still have their nightsticks along with their tasers. It's not the tools, but the practices and uses that are a problem.
    • ElAssoWipo, on 11/15/2007, -5/+11Exactly, take the taser away and you get rubber bullets and clubs in the ribs.

      One way or the other, if you act like a jackass and don't cooperate, you're going to get your ass beat. The police is there to stop you and to restrain you. That involves physical force.

      People think it's bad now... They used to punch people square in the face only 20 years ago instead of ganging up on them. That's another thing, people complain that it takes like 10 cops to arrest a single person. But that's also to protect citizens. 10 on 1: arrest in 5 seconds. 1 on 1: beating the suspect until he stops fighting.
      • juniorb, on 11/15/2007, -1/+13I'd rather be tackled by three officers and have my ass beat than be tasered. There's no consideration for people who possibly have a weak heart, or a neurological disorder when these officers fire off their tasers everytime someone makes a sudden move or gets a agitated. I'll recover from a dislocated shoulder or broken nose a lot faster than I will if I go into an epileptic seizure or have a heart attack from a reckless tasering.

        The real problem, as I see it, is that there is too much emphasis put on "non-lethal." These are NOT non-lethal weapons. They are less-than-lethal, meaning you're less likely to die from a taser than a bullet. But you're still more likely to die from a taser than from a police officer who's been properly-trained in forceful submission techniques.

        Tasering should be a last resort to prevent the imminent death of a police officer or civilian. This, as the video clearly shows, was not one of those situations. You don't taser a man who's walking away from you just so you don't have to break a sweat.
        • aposter, on 11/15/2007, -1/+6And all of those are more lethal than trying to talk the person into compliance. Before someone comments that in this instance the victim didn't speak english I will point out that it wouldn't have been too hard for the officers to go "Hey, does anyone understand what he's saying, eh? Can we get an interpreter in here please?"
      • terath, on 11/15/2007, -0/+6Alive with bruises vs dead? I know which I'd choose. Besides, there was far more wrong with this than just the tasering. Why not try to take the guy in without violence first? If they just took him away he may not have even resisted at all. They didn't even try.
      • McMescalero, on 11/15/2007, -2/+1He wasn't just walking away, he was facing them with an object in his right hand, still acting upset and unstable. Why should they risk being hit with whatever it was or him grabbing a gun when the taser usually works so well? One shot with a taser usually makes people docile or at least non-combative. In this case, he was not one of the vast majority of the people. And he probably had an unknown pre-existing condition. There is no way to customize every possible police tool or weapon so it can be used safely no matter what and no matter who. We're not that smart yet.
      • UnstableMind, on 11/15/2007, -0/+3Funny, I thought he police are here to _protect and serve_.
        • ElAssoWipo, on 11/16/2007, -1/+2They are. Protect and serve honest citizens from criminals.
      • McMescalero, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1Can you imagine the public outcry if they watched the police duke it out, mano a mano, with teeth getting knocked out, lips being split open, ribs cracking?! Trust me, all of the people just here would be calling for the police to be lynched immediately if they saw a video of that happening!
    • Kwasny, on 11/16/2007, -1/+3I don't think it's the taser that killed the man, I think it was because one of the officers had his knee of the guys neck, not to mention I think I saw a baton come out...

      The first thing you're supposed to do after you taze somebody is to get them sitting up because a lot of people have trouble breathing afterwards, and this guy was visibly short of breath before they tazed him.

      If these morons had any idea what they would doing they would have never tazed him in the first place, come on, you're telling me all those (4?) officers couldn't apprehend one man without tazering him?
    • acidbass, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1How about regulating the ***** voltage? a-DUH!
  • centracore, on 11/15/2007, -11/+16The full video can be found here: http://digg.com/world_news/Video_of_man_tasered_to ...

    Sorry the above link didn't work.
  • Jem7vwh, on 11/15/2007, -28/+1We should taser more morons like the people posting on this thread!
  • MerryMortician, on 11/15/2007, -12/+3seems like the video has mysteriously disappeared from the interwebs.
    • McMescalero, on 11/15/2007, -2/+1I just played it using the below link provided above by u2u2u2 in a reply to a reply:
      http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?token=ce2_11951 ...

      The man clearly was violent before security and the police arrived. Just because someone speaks a foreign language doesn't mean someone who doesn't speak that language would be able to identify it-- but the airport security officer WAS saying to get an interpreter so while they were trying to scare one up, the police arrived.
      I love it when people think interpreters for every language are standing around any place they go. What budget would that come out of, baby milk for crack babies? No, I didn't think so.
      The man also had something in his hand and was clearly acting in a threatening and unstable manner, which is why he was tased so soon, because the officers knew he was about to lose it. Rather than wait for one of them to be hurt first -- again, some people think the police should allow themselves to be hurt first, which is beyond lunatic -- they elected to quickly subdue the man with the taser. Usually, the person falls down, scream a little, go stiff or become docile. He did not. He decided to fight the effects and kept flailing. At no time was an officers knee on the man's throat. At no time was the man cooperative, at no time did he finally stop resisting. At the end of the tape, one officer is seen striking something on the floor near the man. He was removing the 'thing' he had in his hand but I couldn't see what it was.
      All the commenters love to jump to conclusions and just hate the first responders without informing themselves and considering what they see with calm deliberation.
      This is why Digg is a double edged sword.
  • tutorbell, on 11/15/2007, -14/+1Wilhelm scream?
  • BaronSamedi242, on 11/15/2007, -23/+5The pigs WANT this shown. Cause it's all part of the "don't ***** with us, we will torture you and kill you" swagger they got since we went down the neoconservative path.
    • CrackaPleeze, on 11/15/2007, -0/+7You realize this was in Canada, right?
    • romistrub, on 11/15/2007, -0/+6Yeah... thems Canadian neocons is celebratin' in droves up here...
  • Homet, on 11/15/2007, -8/+44When we (US) do it, it is ok. In fact, we should also make fun of the victim by mocking over and over what he said in a moment of panic. Of course, when others do it, it just goes to show how uncivilized the rest of the world is compared to us.
    • romistrub, on 11/15/2007, -3/+4I don't think anybody's foolish enough to make such an unwarranted distinction.
      • tehnico, on 11/15/2007, -1/+6And I didn't think anyone was foolish enough to not see the sarcasm.
    • Hollic, on 11/16/2007, -2/+2Assuming you are referring to Mr. Don't-Tase-Me-Bro. In which case, shut up. That guy was a toolbag looking for his 15 minutes of fame. This guy appears to be a genuine victim. Don't draw a parallel.
  • solidcube, on 11/15/2007, -8/+146This is murder, pure and simple. These cops knew the hazards of tasers and choke holds (what killed him, the taser or having his trachea crushed?) and they should be stripped of their badges, placed under arrest and tried for murder. Police now use a nazi torture device (electrical torture) as daily procedure.
    • THEevangelist, on 11/15/2007, -1/+10I couldn't agree more. There's nothing non-lethal about a taser innappropriately used and frankly seeing the police with Night sticks doesn't look much less threatening agressive. The poor guy was clearly confused/disoriented and before anything else a real method of communicating with him was needed. What the hell was actually going on there. Why did it take so long for a response in an airport given our tightened security and surely an interpreter was available before simply confronting the guy.
      Very sad - got to feel for his mother who was waiting for her son all the way from Poland.
    • McMescalero, on 11/15/2007, -11/+1The man clearly was violent before security and the police arrived. Just because someone speaks a foreign language doesn't mean someone who doesn't speak that language would be able to identify it-- but the airport security officer WAS saying to get an interpreter so while they were trying to scare one up, the police arrived.
      I love it when people think interpreters for every language are standing around any place they go. What budget would that come out of, baby milk for crack babies? No, I didn't think so.
      The man also had something in his hand and was clearly acting in a threatening and unstable manner, which is why he was tased so soon, because the officers knew he was about to lose it. Rather than wait for one of them to be hurt first -- again, some people think the police should allow themselves to be hurt first, which is beyond lunatic -- they elected to quickly subdue the man with the taser. Usually, the person falls down, scream a little, go stiff or become docile. He did not. He decided to fight the effects and kept flailing. At no time was an officers knee on the man's throat. At no time was the man cooperative, at no time did he finally stop resisting. At the end of the tape, one officer is seen striking something on the floor near the man. He was removing the 'thing' he had in his hand but I couldn't see what it was.
      All the commenters love to jump to conclusions and just hate the first responders without informing themselves and considering what they see with calm deliberation.
      This is why Digg is a double edged sword.
      • ElectRONPAUL08, on 11/15/2007, -0/+2"At the end of the tape, one officer is seen striking something on the floor near the man. He was removing the 'thing' he had in his hand but I couldn't see what it was."

        actually he's retracting the baton that they carry ... it's steel ... and one hit shatters bones it looks real bad striking it on the ground that close to him .... at first I though he was hitting him with it ... as for getting a interperter it's actually really easy I worked in a 411 call center and at any time I had access to phone numbers that could get a person on the line in any of 90 languages ... no excuse for this... the police were told he didn't speak english .. that he was maybe russian .. they should have radio'd it in and asked if anyone spoke russian ... heck handing him a pen and paper.. and telling him "family" he might have wrote down the name and number of his mother he was in a airport... one could asume he just got off a plane from some other county .... he wasn't violent to anyone .. he might have been mad .. but he didn't try to hurt anyone ... it makes me mad... because if I was there I would have tried to help him .. maybe even saving his life ... oh and the taser didn't kill him... the knee to the thoat did... he was fighting back .. trying to get air
        • McMescalero, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1Right, I went back and watched the tape again and he is collapsing the baton, not hitting something else with it. The woman at the window was trying to help him, trying to speak to him in Italian hoping it would help. But it didn't. The problem is he was acting unstable and was destroying property, even threatening to throw chairs around. Why didn't he write on a paper "mama [Canadian phone number]"?
          I know it can be so very frustrating to deal with people who don't speak your language, but the man had to know he was going to a country that doesn't speak Polish, so why didn't he and his mother make extra careful arrangements to compensate, before he left Poland?
  • screenracer, on 11/15/2007, -16/+9 I didn't know that Canada was a police state too!?
    • romistrub, on 11/15/2007, -0/+6What...? Police state? Seriously? We... we have police... if that's what you mean. That IS what you MEAN, right? Please...?
    • ryan83189, on 11/15/2007, -3/+1The world is a police state.
  • hydrodev, on 11/15/2007, -27/+20Im starting a vigilante corporation. We are going to take the law into are own hands and start smashing kneecaps of police that get out of line. We are also gonna take care of the criminals that get away with *****, like OJ, and those pesky kids that keep breaking into cars in my parking lot at night. It will be a cross between the A-team and To Catch a Predator, with base ball bats and deadly explosions, that actually kill people. Anyone looking for employment?
    • Midvicious, on 11/15/2007, -1/+8America! ***** yeah!
    • angelgrl, on 11/15/2007, -2/+3Hells yeah! Count me in! I'll take care of those cheeky punks!! Our criminal justice system surely doesn't work.... How is Kenneth Lay these days?
    • Ghstfce, on 11/15/2007, -2/+11Well the United States Constitution allows for the people to rise up and replace the government if they feel the government is corrupt, I for one think it's come high time to do so. This applies to both local and Federal Governments. It should apply to Canada too. Sign me up.
      • hydrodev, on 11/15/2007, -0/+3Ive been thinking the same thing lately. There is just noone organizing the revolt. May be it SHOULD be me.

        Knock Knock....Hang on gotta get the door.......................................................
      • IADTatami, on 11/15/2007, -1/+4Careful, posting that sort of stuff might run you afoul of H.R. 1955: The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.

        You'd better believe that talk of running the rats out of office at gunpoint would be considered "promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change"
        • hydrodev, on 11/15/2007, -1/+4so the constitutional right to toss out a corrupt fascist gov is moot? So all our fears and all the things our fore fathers had worried about have come to pass? Would that not indicate that they used 9-11 to shift power to a point that we are all terrorists if we think the govt should be overthrown?
        • Ghstfce, on 11/15/2007, -1/+1Welcome to "TerrorAmerika." It's funny how America is ruled by the almighty dollar, yet once the almighty dollar's value has dropped, those living by it have not yet decided to save face and try to instill change that would inevitably raise the value of a dollar close to what it once was. But God forbid common sense ever be used in "Parliament". Yes I used Parliament because we have a king. Welcome to Nazi Germany boys and girls. Don't believe me? Look at our airports.
    • NEWNHLISLAME, on 11/15/2007, -3/+4Im in , ***** those Cops fuuuuck them
    • damansternpak, on 11/15/2007, -2/+3I'm with you man. What's the name of our vigilante group, and can we create videos demonstrating our retributions?
    • tehnico, on 11/15/2007, -2/+3It's a corporation? So it's protected by heavily capitalist laws? I'm in!!
    • leerayIG88, on 11/15/2007, -1/+2I'm in, my new name will be MadMax.
    • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -2/+3Ummmmm no. Violence begets more violence in the vast majority of cases. You get baseball bats, the cops will get shotguns. You get rifles, the cops will get APCs. Why resort to violence against a group that we (supposedly) control through elected officials who make the laws and (more importantly) control the budgets. I agree that our governments need to fear the people more than the people currently fear the government, but I doubt mob rule will bring this about.
      • hydrodev, on 11/17/2007, -0/+1because violence has been the only constant factor in change on this planet. Name one government shift that did not involve violence. JUST ONE.
  • UCFartstudntJON, on 11/15/2007, -22/+10Act completely ***** insane, threatening people, in ANY airport, you may be shot and killed, if your LUCKY you'll get a taser to the groin and questioned. Well, well aware of this.
  • compulsive1, on 11/15/2007, -5/+36Wasn't it Canadian police who recently shot a taser spike into a man's eye? Police is definitely overly relying on this weapon. It gives them a feeling that "shoot first, ask questions later" policy is actually justifiable as long as you are shooting a taser. With all these horrible accidents recently it's clear that a change in policy is in order.
    • xerexes1, on 11/15/2007, -1/+2Source?
    • Nerys, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1Police use of tasers should be banned except as a DIRECT replacement for a GUN. IE AFTER you have tried all other civil and force related methods short of shooting them. Tasers are used consequence free. People are under this ridiculous assumption that you are COMPELLED to obey police officers and that ANY form of disobedience makes you a criminal. Police are NOT here to give us orders they are here to Uphold the law. In this country technically you are even allowed to RESIST arrest lawfully if the arrest is unlawful (duh) But good luck doing it. With a taser resistance is not possible. THAT more than any health concerns is what makes it so dangerous. A taser means FORCED submission even when its NOT justified and the submitted has NO RECOURSE.

      You say well you just follow there orders and go with them. Well let me tell you why thats BS. Imagine I am at a speech. I am going to deliver a message of importance. Powers that be do not want this message delivered. SO the police come and say "your not in a free speech zone" (non existent and illegal and unconstitutional) So we are going to arrest you for no legal lawful moral or constitutional reason just because we can.

      You go with them. You lose your chance to speak your objectives are ruined.

      Another scenario. The police come as I do nothing wrong. I tell them to buzz off. In a society where police are NOT jack booted thugs they are less likely to "assault" me for doing nothing wrong. you see they will have to either use there clubs or there guns (very violent) this could stir the crowd of hundreds of people to action around me.

      SO now these officers have to decide on several choices and potential outcomes. They could do there job and go away. They could club me and either cause an outcry from the crowd maybe even a beatdown from said crowd or at the MINIMUM get a hell of a lot of attention from witness and news recordings and testimonies IE giving me a lot more attention than I would have gotten otherwise. Guns same issues.

      SEE what I mean? lack of a non violent non damaging (thats how they are percieved) passive TASER means they actually have to THINK about what they are doing. They have to actually consider the consequences of the decisions they are about to make. WHen your alone your at there mercy there word against your word. in a crowd there word is meaningless if it conflicts with the facts.

      With a taser submission is almost 100% assured and sinces its percieved as non violent passive and safe they can USE IT to silence anyone for any reason with impunity. I am ok with Civilians having tasers (if they are safe) since a single individual is never really in a position to subjugate a population. ITs almost always effectively one on one. Tasers should be illegal except when ABSOLUTELY needed for police maybe even outright illegal. its just too dangerous a tool of subjugation that I feel the gains (less deaths) of taser use are FAR outweight by its losses (virtual elimination of resistance to illegal arrest)

      Very Very dangerous folks. If you see someone tasered you should respond and consider it as if they had just be SHOT with a GUN and respond accordingly as to whether that level of force was warranted or not.

      No matter what the issue was with this guy the taser was NOT the correct answer.
    • ZeroArmada, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1Isn't THIS the video where the taser spike went into the man's eye? You can see a flinching reaction that looks like he's reacting to a hit in the eye.
  • screenracer, on 11/15/2007, -11/+2 DTMB!
    • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -0/+3Great. Now you are unoriginal, unsympathetic and lazy...
  • thewidowmaker, on 11/15/2007, -3/+71holy crap...embarrassed to be canadian. hope those mounties lose their jobs and get sued for that one.

    i love it that they say it is one persons view. yeah...it is all our views now. he looks chill enough to me before they tazed him.

    vancouver police, in general, are dicks. they take people to stanley park and beat them. they shoot people in the head with rubber bullets. and, unless you know your rights, they will be happy to infringe on them. case in point, much smaller incident though, but going to the fireworks in Vancouver there were officers requesting random people to look in their bags for alcohol. they began to open mine when i asked if they were allowed to do this. response: "thank you very much sir, have a good night" as they gesture for me to be on my way without looking in my bag! jackasses they knew what they were doing was wrong.

    • BaronSamedi242, on 11/15/2007, -3/+6Pigs are like that.

      Bad pig. No taser.
    • NEWNHLISLAME, on 11/15/2007, -0/+4I agree with you ,
    • MarkOfTheDead, on 11/15/2007, -0/+7That's why cops hate being videotaped no matter where you are. Prevents build-your-own story.
    • Phyrex, on 11/15/2007, -0/+1Vancouver police is only good at a few things: Catch people driving at 15 km/h above speed limit on the road, catch lone drivers driving on carpool lane, and camping at stop signs to catch people not coming to complete stop. They are good for nothing else really.
    • ghank, on 11/15/2007, -0/+2"holy crap...embarrassed to be canadian."

      As am I. This makes me sick.
    • Xondar, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1Funny how the Vancouver police are RCMP rejects...
  • SleepingOrange, on 11/15/2007, -13/+3не шок меня брат

    Ok... it's russian... and it's really translated "don't shock me brother"
    Google translator doesn't do polish.
    or tase
    or bro
    • crapmatic, on 11/15/2007, -2/+1не шок меня брат

      That would be spoken as "ne shok menya brat"
  • blakeage, on 11/15/2007, -9/+75Taser should be considered a deadly weapon, just like a gun.
    • SteelChicken, on 11/15/2007, -8/+8what is it with people trying to change reality with just simple proclamations like that?
      seriously! tasers are just as lethal as guns!!! no, they aren't, and no amount of wishing they were and tear jerking hippy-isms is gonna change that.
      would you rather be shot or tased?
      • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -0/+5What is it with people and straw man arguments? Go read the comment again. It says "considered a deadly weapon, just LIKE a gun" not "considered a weapon as deadly as a gun". Is a sword as lethal as a gun? No. Is a sword a potentially lethal weapon just like a gun is a potentially lethal weapon? Yes.
      • Nerys, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3Tasers are worse than guns. GUNS can be resisted. You see we have not gone SO FAR over the edge that a police officer will willy nilly use a gun in a CROWD of people. HE HAS TO THINK about it and if you are truly NOT a lethal threat to that officer he is VERY unlikely to discharge his pistol. YOU KNOW IT and HE KNOWS IT. As gung ho as they are they are by and large not stupid.

        Tasers have NO consequences so far. They are used with impunity and WORSE than ANY health issues they are a form of absolute subjugation with NO chance of defense or resistance if the usage is illegal. If you are tased YOU WILL go down.

        IF they draw a GUN ON YOU illegally your still getting arrested (assuming your not stupid and get yourself shot) but NOW that officer is going to have a ***** load to deal with as the public and media sink there teeth into it.

        What sounds better.

        Man has guns drawn on him while not being threatening or breaking any laws tonight at 6

        or Crazed man is tasered and taken away for questioning tonight at 6

        See the difference. A ***** storm is going to result from #1 if the action was not legal.
    • birch25, on 11/15/2007, -4/+10pens have been used to kill people. should pens be considered deadly weapons? tasers are used to stop people who are out of control. tasers have been used millions of times where the victim is just fine afterwards. when someone dies during a tasing, it's usually because of some other variable like, i don't know, a cop putting his full weight on the guy's neck.

      i know it's cool to post "***** the police" and "the whole world is ***** up and i know how to fix things" but you really don't. and statements like this make it pretty clear your only experience with tasers is in these clips and stories posted on digg. i'm sorry, that doesn't make you an expert. it makes you a very biased commentator.
      • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -0/+3Again, straw man argument. How do you take "Taser should be considered a deadly weapon, just like a gun." and turn it into "the whole world is ***** up and i know how to fix things"?
      • Nerys, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3NO a taser is a tool of subjugation. Its lethality or not is rather minor to me.
    • rattler72, on 11/15/2007, -1/+3There is obviously a problem with tasers. People are dying after being shot, it cant be just a coincidence that they die after being shot. Although the company who makes the taser claims it cant kill a person.... wtf! Look at the evidence! Perhaps turn down the voltage?? I dunno, there's gotta be a solution.
      • MrNexus, on 11/15/2007, -1/+4They should not be using more then one taser at a time. They hit him with acouple tasers at once which doubled the voltage and probably stopped his heart. The pigs should be taught how to use these weapons responsibly. There was a room full of cops and they were to lazy to jump him and arrest him the old fashion way.
  • dhVyse, on 11/15/2007, -13/+6Poor guy. Bad cop, no doughnut.
  • blakeage, on 11/15/2007, -18/+11A taser should be considered a deadly weapon, just like a gun.
  • TrogdorSmash24, on 11/15/2007, -23/+2Good the guy was probably a terrorist.
  • cphelps, on 11/15/2007, -14/+14I think what the cop was really asking when he asked "Can I taser him?", was "Can I supplement my penis size by hurting someone else and asserting superiority in a brute fashion?".
  • TheIguana, on 11/15/2007, -3/+7It is frusterating that we are so afraid in airports today because of events like 9/11. So much that we simply jump to action, rather than stepping back and trying to deal with a situation in a civil manner. Namely without the shoot first and asking questions later mentality.
    • NEWNHLISLAME, on 11/15/2007, -3/+1911 was an inside job
      • captric, on 11/15/2007, -1/+0Another wako truther! It was an inside job where a couple hundred ninjas came in to 3 towers housing thousands of emloyees and planted explosives in the walls without anybody being supicious and timed them to go off the same moment that airplanes hit them! BRILLIANT
    • antechinus, on 11/15/2007, -0/+2It must be especially frusterating to be shot - at least for a couple of hundred milliseconds.
    • captric, on 11/15/2007, -1/+0This has noting to do with 9/11 - it has to do with a maniac - who just happened to be at an airport - acting like a maniac and throwing chairs and computers and barricading himself in an office!!!
  • tehnico, on 11/15/2007, -4/+44Airport staff initially agitated him. He went to them for help at the beginning. Instead of trying to find an interpreter, they locked him in a room and ignored him for some time. Airport staff are lucky he wasn't able to punch them out like they deserved. Now he is dead and their negligence deserves much more them a punch in the face.
    • rattler72, on 11/15/2007, -1/+1He wasn't locked in.... The glass he is behind is in the arrivals area of the airport. The doors kept opening and closing and he could've walked out, he was about 100 feet from the outdoors.
      • tehnico, on 11/15/2007, -0/+2Can't rely on the video alone. Eyewitness said that he was put into a security area (glassed room), and kept there against his will for hours. This must be that room. I'm sure any previous attempt to leave was met with restriction by security.
        • rattler72, on 11/15/2007, -0/+1Guaranteed this is not a secure area... this glassed area is where passengers walk through to get out. The area where this guy was filming from is in the international arrivals waiting area. Ya perhaps security kept him there though... even though they looked like they weren't doing anything. Whatever the case, what a tragedy.
  • julianrod, on 11/15/2007, -1/+3I just watched the whole ad just to get a "video not available" sign.
  • caferrell, on 11/15/2007, -5/+9How can we make it unlawful for the cops to use these things on unarmed people?
    • romistrub, on 11/15/2007, -4/+5No offense, but I don't agree with your logic. Typically, they use guns on armed people. The idea of the taser is to give the cop an advantage against unarmed assailants.
      • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -0/+4Cops already have an edge against most unarmed people. They have the numbers, training in hand to hand combat, pepper spray, etc. You don't need to use a weapon that has a real potential to be lethal against someone who has nothing except themselves.
  • nycmac247, on 11/15/2007, -7/+1S+M fantasy -- but it's not role play for these cops --- they get to "get off" FOR REAL!!!
    -- and get paid for it!!!
  • insonh, on 11/15/2007, -12/+2so much for Canadian Health Care
  • sportbikepilot, on 11/15/2007, -7/+8once you think about the tiny dick, low self esteem, control issue ***** that want to be police officers, is anyone not surprised this ***** happens. anyone with half a brain would have said "let's get an interpreter down here" (why the hell wasn't one already at the AIRPORT?!). but these mental giants said "hmm, non-compliant, let's taser him." never mind that he wasn't threatening the officers (like they claimed until the video was release), who cares that he might have a reason to be agitated... the desire to be a cop should exclude you from ever being a cop.
    • McMescalero, on 11/15/2007, -3/+1The man clearly was violent before security and the police arrived. Just because someone speaks a foreign language doesn't mean someone who doesn't speak that language would be able to identify it-- but the airport security officer WAS saying to get an interpreter so while they were trying to scare one up, the police arrived.
      I love it when people think interpreters for every language are standing around any place they go. What budget would that come out of, baby milk for crack babies? No, I didn't think so.
      The man also had something in his hand and was clearly acting in a threatening and unstable manner, which is why he was tased so soon, because the officers knew he was about to lose it. Rather than wait for one of them to be hurt first -- again, some people think the police should allow themselves to be hurt first, which is beyond lunatic -- they elected to quickly subdue the man with the taser. Usually, the person falls down, scream a little, go stiff or become docile. He did not. He decided to fight the effects and kept flailing. At no time was an officers knee on the man's throat. At no time was the man cooperative, at no time did he finally stop resisting. At the end of the tape, one officer is seen striking something on the floor near the man. He was removing the 'thing' he had in his hand but I couldn't see what it was.
      All the commenters love to jump to conclusions and just hate the first responders without informing themselves and considering what they see with calm deliberation.
      This is why Digg is a double edged sword.
      • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -0/+2Thanks for the copy and paste reply, but it was dumb enough the first time.
      • TubeDigger, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1"Clearly was violent" to whoms person did he violate? he was irratic and under stresss!
        'no interpreters' check the vid he was able to communicate with that lady..
        " had something in his hand and was clearly acting an unstable manner" True

        This instance makes case that tasering should be a 2nd last option.
        • Nerys, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1So what if he had something in his hand. They were INCHES FROM THE GUY they could easily identify ANYTHING he had in his hand. HE WAS NOT tasered for being threatening. HE was tasered for DISOBEDIENCE plain and simply. Did you not watch the video? There was an exchange of words he turned AWAY FROM and WALKED AWAY FROM the officers (the OPPOSITE of threatening) at which point they pursued and tasered him.
    • TubeDigger, on 11/15/2007, -0/+1sportbikepilot does have a point, i know some ppl who want to be cops... NEVER have i ever heard the reason being is to help people. They say to throw criminals in Jail, so if they can justify to themselves you are one your no better then the bully who used to pick on them at school ZAAPPP. Granted i have met some really great cops but too much power is given to those who have power problems and thats when it becomes a problem. The main solution is... proof. tape every police encounter cuz you have that right. Hold them accountable, they will use the clolour of law on you beacuse you dont know it well enough, but if you can show potentially show someone who does, that keeps them on the correct side of the law. And if they refuse tell them "You would let me if you didnt have anything to hide. I dont wish to seek contract with you otherwise" right there you put them in a spot that if they dont comply they are being decietful. of course they will use the colour of law to convince you otherwise..
    • Litespeed, on 11/16/2007, -0/+0People who want to help become ambos, firemen, etc.
      People who want to control become cops.
  • kgorczyn, on 11/15/2007, -2/+1CNN video.....
    http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/11/15/
  • Klepto21, on 11/15/2007, -1/+17I can't figure out why tasers are considered so usable, or even nonlethal! Talk to a lawyer and they'll tell you, you could make the same argument that a gun shooting someone in the foot makes it "nonlethal". And setting the taser on "low" makes it nonlethal too.

    I'm not saying tasers shouldn't be used (they are certainly better than guns), but people should treat them more like a serious weapon than a mere "immobilizer" or "thiswillshuthimuper".
    • Red_Eye, on 11/15/2007, -3/+3"I can't figure out why tasers are considered so usable, or even nonlethal!"
      Its called lazy incapable cops.
    • Nerys, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1No its called SUBJUGATION to there will. Klepto21 "thiswillshuthimuper". - Perfect.
  • rnreekez, on 11/15/2007, -1/+30This is idiotic. The only reason this is happening is out of pure laziness on the part of law enforcement and don't ***** me and tell me safety. The reason police officers have survied this long was by the philosophy safety in numbers. If you have four officers, the deck is stacked in their favor with the only exception being some guy cranked out on meth. Really, the only time a taser should used is against guys so drugged out they don't feel pain.....and maybe the retard strong.
    • McMescalero, on 11/15/2007, -6/+2The man clearly was violent before security and the police arrived. Just because someone speaks a foreign language doesn't mean someone who doesn't speak that language would be able to identify it-- but the airport security officer WAS saying to get an interpreter so while they were trying to scare one up, the police arrived.
      I love it when people think interpreters for every language are standing around any place they go. What budget would that come out of, baby milk for crack babies? No, I didn't think so.
      The man also had something in his hand and was clearly acting in a threatening and unstable manner, which is why he was tased so soon, because the officers knew he was about to lose it. Rather than wait for one of them to be hurt first -- again, some people think the police should allow themselves to be hurt first, which is beyond lunatic -- they elected to quickly subdue the man with the taser. Usually, the person falls down, scream a little, go stiff or become docile. He did not. He decided to fight the effects and kept flailing. At no time was an officers knee on the man's throat. At no time was the man cooperative, at no time did he finally stop resisting. At the end of the tape, one officer is seen striking something on the floor near the man. He was removing the 'thing' he had in his hand but I couldn't see what it was.
      All the commenters love to jump to conclusions and just hate the first responders without informing themselves and considering what they see with calm deliberation.
      This is why Digg is a double edged sword.
      • rnreekez, on 11/15/2007, -0/+3The man was acting pretty crazy before i'll give you that. The crazy thing about video is you don't know what happened in the video until after you stop recording. The "first responders" received calls a guy was acting crazy and didn't actually SEE the man going crazy. When they arrived they saw a man putting his hands in the air, the universal sign for "don't ***** tase me". They pointed over to counter, he complied, then he starts yelling and everyone is watching him wiggle on the floor. At the end, the object you see the cop striking on the floor is his standard issue "retractable hippy-womping stick" because he puts it back in his belt. Police officers have this crazy thing called training....they learn submission holds to subdue people twice their size. The funny thing about these holds is it doesn't happen at the push of a trigger and the push of a button...you gotta actually you know....work? Using a tazer is the lazy man's handcuffs.
        • McMescalero, on 11/15/2007, -0/+1The video clip I saw posted at LiveLeak shows the man talking to a woman through the glass, looking irritated. Then he escalates to throwing things against the glass. The security guard shows up and he stops doing that. That security guard tells someone to get an interpreter. When the first responders arrive the man does NOT put his hands up! He faces them holding something in his right hand. He says something to them, but he doesn't put down the object, he doesn't act compliant. They tase him. He flails so hard that he works himself outside of the holding area doors. I saw the retractable baton and it was used to strike at something hard because it sounded like he was hitting the floor and/or something metallic. He was knocking away the object, which the officer picked up to examine. I couldn't see what it was exactly. If the man had in fact stuck up his hands, overtly acted cooperative that'd be one thing, but he didn't. Even after he was in severe pain, he kept resisting! If he had simply put his hands behind his back at that point, they wouldn't have had to pin him or jolt him again. Why didn't he at least learn how to say in English "Polish interpreter please!" or "Please call my mother here in town, she speaks English, her number is ..."?!
          I ask again: try to cuff someone who does not want to be cuffed and see how easy it is. You try it. If the man had acted compliant, I can assure you, rather than endure this firestorm of unfair outcry, the Canadian police would have, with great relief, simply cuffed him and gone on.
          But he didn't put his hands behind his back, the international symbol for please cuff me, I surrender.
        • BobSutan, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1Have you ever been electrocuted? If so you'd know how utterly ridiculous your comment is. Oh if he would just xyz after being shocked xyz would never have happened. That's the problem with Monday morning quarterbacks who have no idea what they're talking about. Pain compliance is meant to take the fight out of violent subjects. Tasers are not like traditional pain compliance. If you're in excruciating instant-on pain there is no time for compliance whereas an arm-bar (or 199 other compliance holds) you can speak to the bad guy and be rational. If the bad guy resists then you tighten it up to the point they behave. Electrocute someone and you have a few basic responses: First off they scream and squirm involuntarily. After the pain they either fight or comply. In order to get comliance YOU MUST GIVE TIME AFTER THE SHOCK FOR COHERENCY TO RETURN BEFORE ISSUING COMMANDS. If you skip that step, as is usually the case in fatal taserings, then the person reacts instinctively by either going for the prongs/resisting/fighting or trying to flee. It goes right back to good old fight or flight reflexes. It is wholly unreasonable to expect someone to obey commands immediately after or during electrocution due to the phsyiological reactions it evokes. The cases I've seen that have resulted in fatal events, and in a lot of the non-fatal taserings as well, he police are quite simply not applying the device as intended or in a logical fashion based on human physiology.

  • Roobix, on 11/15/2007, -1/+28"We would never dream of presenting a case based on one small piece of evidence"
    Small piece? Its a video of them tasering someone to death! How is this just "one small piece"? Holy ***** batman! I thought we were above this kind of behaviour in Canada, but I guess not.
    • McMescalero, on 11/15/2007, -5/+1The man clearly was violent before security and the police arrived. Just because someone speaks a foreign language doesn't mean someone who doesn't speak that language would be able to identify it-- but the airport security officer WAS saying to get an interpreter so while they were trying to scare one up, the police arrived.
      I love it when people think interpreters for every language are standing around any place they go. What budget would that come out of, baby milk for crack babies? No, I didn't think so.
      The man also had something in his hand and was clearly acting in a threatening and unstable manner, which is why he was tased so soon, because the officers knew he was about to lose it. Rather than wait for one of them to be hurt first -- again, some people think the police should allow themselves to be hurt first, which is beyond lunatic -- they elected to quickly subdue the man with the taser. Usually, the person falls down, scream a little, go stiff or become docile. He did not. He decided to fight the effects and kept flailing. At no time was an officers knee on the man's throat. At no time was the man cooperative, at no time did he finally stop resisting. At the end of the tape, one officer is seen striking something on the floor near the man. He was removing the 'thing' he had in his hand but I couldn't see what it was.
      All the commenters love to jump to conclusions and just hate the first responders without informing themselves and considering what they see with calm deliberation.
      This is why Digg is a double edged sword.
    • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -0/+4Yeah. When cops have you doing something on video, its an open and shut case. When we have the cops doing something on video, its insignificant and they can't comment about ongoing investigations.
    • captric, on 11/15/2007, -2/+0There is more evidence but just watching this short tape you can see the guy violently driving away unarmed security, barricading himself in a room, threw a chair at an innocent women trying to communicate with and calm him down, using a chair as a weapon, throwing a computer, and resisting the legal demands of law enforcement officers and resisting arrest. The cops were RESTRAINED in their handling of this guy and appear to have done everything right. Tazering a violent criminal is appropriated, putting your knee in the back of a violent criminal resisting arrest is appropriate. I don't get all the AGONIZING over the police doing hat they are supposed to do in a case like this.
    • deaddoll00, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1That's exactly what I thought when I read that original quote. WTF? Since when it video evidence "one small piece" and not enough to prove a case? *****.
  • IADTatami, on 11/15/2007, -1/+46Tasering should only be done after you have tried and failed to control the subject through the use of your diplomatic skills and natural physical ability and training. In fact, I seem to remember hearing that tasers would be used as a last resort back when they were being introduced.

    Obviously, there's been some mission creep.

    ...and now we've got mobile pain rays on the horizon, capable of incapacitating throngs of people. For use in crowd control, such as when you, the government, have done something to piss off thousands upon thousands of your own countrymen. The people you should be serving.

    What an awful place the civilized world is turning out to be.
    • captric, on 11/15/2007, -6/+1Guns are the weapon of last resort. Cops dont get paid to fight fair - they get paid to win fights.
      • Phrag, on 11/15/2007, -0/+3Boxers get paid to win fights. Cops get paid to protect and serve.
        • captric, on 11/15/2007, -4/+0Half right - cops get paid to serve and protect law abiding citizens from maniacs that throw chairs and computers and barricade themselves in offices and threatening unarmed securty guards who had to call the cops because they could not hande the guy.
        • CezaryBlazej, on 11/16/2007, -1/+2Wrong. He was relived to see the Police, he wanted to cooperate with them. It's them who tried to assualt him first. He was yelling "Help! Don't kill me, Don't kill me!" after he found out they weren't there to help and started to run away before getting tasered.