Disappeared News

by Larry Geller

This man was no threat to the police. He was obviously mentally ill and (as it turned out, off his meds).

The cops had Tasers. They used one on him. He’s dead. See pics in this story:

Police fired a Taser at a naked Brooklyn man armed with only a fluorescent light tube yesterday, sending him falling to his death from a second-floor ledge after he went on a 40-minute rant.

Iman Morales' mom begged cops not to hurt her son, telling them he's sick - then watched in horror as he plunged from the top of the roll-down gate on which he'd been perched.

An Emergency Services officer, acting on the orders of his boss, fired at the 35-year-old man at around 2 p.m., as he waved the 8-foot fluorescent light tube, police sources said. [New York Post, Cops in nude taser slay, 9/24/2008]

According to an eyewitness report aired on radio station WBAI this evening, police at the top of the building were preparing to let down the fire escape ladder to the street so that the man could continue walking downwards. But then the police on the sidewalk tased him.

There will be an investigation, and predictably, no cop will be convicted of anything.

I’m still hoping to get the video of Honolulu police tasing a man with possible mental health issues. We either pay attention to each situation or the police will be more and more casual with the use of these weapons. And yes, they can kill, either from the jolt of electricity itself, or from a fall, as apparently in the Brooklyn situation.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 9/25/2008 09:04:00 PM