Confused man killed by a taser

Image diagram from BBC.com’s article on this same story.

A man in a Canadian airport was distraught because the person he was waiting for didn’t show up at baggage claim. The Russian man spoke no English, he threw a computer and a chair. Bystanders told security that they needed a translator, before a translator arrived one officer asks if he can taser the man. The man was taserd and tackled by multiple officers, he later died. Before the video surfaced the story from the officers’ side was, “he tried to fight with us”. This video shows that it was clearly not the case. The interviewee near the end of the video tries to reinforce that this video is from one persons view. Hardly, it’s video evidence with no commentary, not some shaky eye-witness account. All the actions and conversation is recorded, it’s obvious that police all over the world need to chill the eff out.

Mount Holyoke College recently decided not to give tasers to officers on their campus. It was voted down last year, the reason being that there was not enough of a threat. Many students feared that the tasers could be abused, with good reason.

This most recent abuse of power is another drop in a seemingly overflowing bucket.

It’s not as if the dangers of tasers were never known. Many studies have highlighted how lethal this weapon could be.

Instead of dealing with real dangers in airports, they tasered and killed a distraught man in baggage claim.