Man Dies in Nova Scotia Jail After Taser Hit

by Rob Walker | November 22, 2007 at 09:23 am
2704 views | 15 Recommendations | 7 comments

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Just as the international uproar over the polish man who was videotaped being tasered and then dying at a Vancouver Airport is reaching its peak, another story comes out about someone dying after being hit by a taser, this time in Nova Scotia, Canada.

A man who was jolted with a Taser has died in a Dartmouth, N.S., jail.

The 45-year-old man died Thursday morning at the Burnside correctional centre, about 20 hours after police used a stun gun on him.

Nova Scotia Justice Minister Cecil Clarke briefed reporters on the death and said there will be a review of police use of Tasers, but there will not be a ban on the weapons.

The RCMP and the province's chief medical examiner are investigating the man's death.

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0
Kaitlin

Rob Walker, thanks for getting this story out so quickly. It will now show up on the home page for four hours. If new developments justify it, I'll renew this flag for another cycle.

Jordan Yerman
Jordan Yerman
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:29 on November 22nd, 2007

We'll just add this to the growing list of Taser's PR woes, as well as the list of fatalities. I get the feeling, though, that "investigating", in this case, means something like "waiting for the whole thing to blow over".

RC Cone
RC Cone
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 11:34 on November 22nd, 2007

Those taser's are certainly doing their job *cough*.

0
Nicole Billard

Wow... I can't say I'm really surprised that more and more of these incidents get press; once one is publicized, everyone realizes that its an issue. What I AM surprised at is that this happened in Burnside/Dartmouth... The Halifax Regional Police department, the RCMP in Nova Scotia and the guards/staff in the correctional services in Nova Scotia are not known for being overly agressive. This lends more weight to the idea that the wepon itself is what is dangerous, even in situations where proper procedure and discretion are involved.

  

0
ifindtrends

Here are a couple more stories:

WJXT-TV5:13 p.m. EST November 19, 2007

MAYPORT,
Fla. - A 21-year-old man died Sunday night after a routine traffic stop
over a loud radio became a confrontation in which an officer used his Taser
gun three times before getting the driver into custody. Police said an
officer pulled over an SUV driven by Christian Allen about 7:45 p.m.
near the Bikini Beach club at Mayport Road and Pioneer Drive.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21888206

 

This next one was a simple trafic stopwhere the guy did not want to sign a ticket. He did NOT die but it was not called for and his wife was pregnant too. I think there aregood uses for tasers as a non-lethal alternative, but it seems they are getting trigger happy lately.



 
Thursday, November 22, 2007

The Associated Press- The Daily Herald   http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/244686/

Here is full the videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMaMYL_shxc 

SALT
LAKE CITY -- Authorities are expediting an investigation of a state
trooper who zapped a motorist with a Taser after video of the incident
was posted on YouTube, the Utah Highway Patrol said Wednesday.

"It definitely put a little bit of conflict out there.
We definitely have received a lot of feedback on it, calls and e-mail,"
said Trooper Cameron Roden, a spokesman for the highway patrol. The
video, taken from Trooper John Gardner's patrol car, shows him using
his Taser after Jared Massey refused to sign a speeding ticket Sept. 14
and walked away from the officer on U.S. 40 in eastern Utah.

Massey shrieked and fell after he was hit and then asked Gardner, "What the heck is wrong with you?"

"Face down! Face down! Put your hands behind your back," Gardner said.

When a woman emerged from Massey's vehicle, the trooper ordered her to get back in -- "or you're going to jail, too."

Massey could not be reached for comment Wednesday. There was no
phone listed for him in the Vernal area. UHP declined to make Gardner
available for comment.

Tasers use compressed nitrogen to fire two barbed darts that can
penetrate clothing to deliver a 50,000-volt shock to immobilize people.

"I can't speculate on what was happening in the trooper's mind,"
Roden said. "We have an internal investigation going on. ... With it
coming out on YouTube, we have expedited the investigation."

The 10-minute video landed on YouTube after it was released to Massey under a public-records request.

Signing a speeding ticket is not an admission of guilt, Roden said.
He described it as a promise that a motorist "will take care of the
citation."

Under UHP policy, a Taser can be used if someone is a threat to
themselves or others and other means of control are unreasonable, the
spokesman said. Massey has filed a complaint with UHP, said Roden, who
didn't know the status of the speeding ticket.

 

0
denseatoms

Tasering is the latest non-lethal way of killing people. And it's so easy to use that any idiot can do it.

0
Freedomresist2007

 POSTED BY AARON JAMES, DEC3/07 8AM

URGENT DANGER! AIRLINE PROFILING VICTIMS ATTACKED AGAIN OCT 27 AT HOME BY POLICE AT GUNPOINT AND ABDUCTED/THREATENED WITH EXTRADITION AND NOW IN HIDING!
UPDATE:http://www.hiphopcanada.com/_site/community/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=464681
ORIGINAL SITE: http://justiceforjamesfamily.blogspot.com

Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2007 19:48:28 +0800
<a href=http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ajames1000&search=Search"><img src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_Yqs39kNa528/Rv3HLPPsBBI/AAAAAAAAAGU/V8ezCHLj8w0/s320/clothing+worn+attack+video+composite.JPG"></a>
<A href="justiceforjamesfamily.blogspot.com"> <img src="http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploads/Graphics/001-0212134930-police_state.jpg"></a>


Oct 27/07 Aaron James

attacked by Winnipeg police (Canada) at his own home as an ***illicit sadistic extension of the Jan 18/2006 Northwest Airlines Profiling attack in Minneapolis United States, ***demonstrating collusion between Canadian and U.S. 'authorities' in the same likeness as the Air India scandal, the Maher Arar extraordinary rendition and others.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE ON TO AS MANY CONTACTS AS POSSIBLE- AARON AND HIS MOTHER ARE IN IMMEDIATE AND SEVERE DANGER AND AARON IS CURRENTLY FORCED INTO HIDING!!

Jan 18th attack followed by COVERT TRIAL WITH FBI CIA NSA ON JURY POOL, AND TOP LEVEL JUDICIAL COLLUSION AND CORRUPTION EXPOSED (HTTP://AARONJAMESSTORY.COM) Threats ongoing and IMMINENT DANGER!:

Details of the Oct 27th attack: Without charges, police came to Aaron's home Saturday morning Oct 27/07 and told him to open his door or they would kick it down. Aaron took some time to make some quick phone calls to associates advising him of his situation for his safety. Police then ominously pronounced, "Come out with your hands up" in hollywood fashion. Aaron opened the door to find between 6 and 8 police (read thugs in uniform) outside his door in the hallway of his apartment, all with guns drawn and pointed at him with arms extended.

Aaron was instructed to turn around, get down on his knees and was handcuffed, while police raided his home and stole property and documents. Aaron's pockets were emptied, his usb stick (complete with his web site pass codes) wallet and keys were all seized. Aaron was walked out of his home handcuffed in broad daylight placed in the back of their car (a first rate illicit abduction) and taken down to the downtown police station, where police held him for 12 hours interrogation. (DO A GOOGLE SEARCH ON THE WINNIPEG POLICE UNDER 'Winnipeg Police Chief's Right hand Man" and see what you find-Aaron has an entry in the comments section of this url, a fact that Winnipeg police are surely sensitive to...)

During this 12 hour illicit detention, Aaron was subject to police threats of extradition to the United States, and warned that they had contacted U.S. Authorities to inquire about extraditing him. "Our boss thinks maybe we should keep you locked up here long enough for the U.S. Marshalls to come and get you" Not withstanding the fact that this is illegal process, the reader should note that this is a direct carbon copy of the threat Judge David S. Doty made against the James family in the Minneapolis trial- that he would send the marshals into Canada to get them, but that he wasn't very worried, because they "have a very good relationship with Canada right now", while going on to compare the U.S. Marshals to hollywood and bloodhounds.

Moreover, for the record, extradition for a minor alleged offense (false though the verdict was, it was only a verdict of a misdemeanor) is illegal under legal terms, which is evidence for further collusion and illicit threats/intimidation! This clearly has nothing to do with the law and everything to do with silencing and harming a family diligently exposing top level federal judicial and governmental corruption in both the United States and Canada, as an extension of the heinous attack upon them.

At 10pm that night, Aaron was released, but not before police had threatened further that they would be returning for him later the next week. Aaron is now in hiding at an undisclosed location.

Conspicuously, the attack occurred in sync with and only shortly following significant government interaction that Aaron had publicly amongst certain high level government officials, suggesting foul play and collusion. The attack, moreover, also took place only days prior to the Nov 1st/07 release of the Canadian Dimension magazine publication highlighting the James family's ordeal through Lesley Hughes article appearing as the back article of the publication.

AARON'S MOTHER IN SEVERE DANGER!: While Aaron is in hiding, Aaron's mother remains in extreme danger at the hands of potential illicit attack/ abduction from Winnipeg police or illegal FBI intervention (FBI were illegally outside of Aaron's home in Jan 2006 in Canada only 2 days after the U.S. Profiling attack, constituting only one of over 135 documented illegal unauthorized FBI entries into Canada- the 51st State...) Aaron is justly of the opinion, as are others, including Michelle Gross of Communities United Against Police Brutality in Minneapolis, that these goons (Winnipeg police, FBI etc) would stoop to any low in order to protect their interests and hide their crimes, even including going after Aaron's very mother. (They have done this very kind of thing before in other cases.)

According to Roche Tasse, head of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group "the United States has become the land of the Wild Wild West where anything goes." Certainly in keeping with this is their current policy on condoning the use of torture and their crimes against the Geneva convention globally abroad in the spirit of oil profiteering and military conquest. Steps are and have been taken to secure Aaron's mother's safety from these loathsome entities. Aaron's mother may be reached at 204 889 9134 or 204 632 5598.

GOVERNMENT APPEAR COMPLICIT IN THE ATTACK:

Canadian Consulate Estelle Battahdier "Let us know if they torture  you ...we will not intervene in U.S. affairs"
     Aug10/07 Globe and Mail: "Ottawa Sacrificed Maher Arar (Maherarar.ca) to save face with U.S. and Syria"
...
Aaron questioned Stephan Dione, leader of the Liberal Party and the Official Opposition, directly during question period at the Oct 20th /07 Liberal Convention in Winnipeg, concerning his position on their ordeal and strategies to correct it. In response to Aaron's concerns, Mr Dione would only defer to having one of his MP's deal with his case, despite the fervent appeals from another member of the audience during question period attesting to the urgent need for Mr Dione to speak directly to Aaron before departing the conference.

PC Stockwell Day, it should also be noted, minister of 'public safety' is a strong supporter of the vague offensive and affrontive so called 'terror lists' that have and continue to ensnare so many innocents, and has grown into a monstrosity amongst the devices of the fascist New World Order.

Still at the Oct 20/07 Liberal convention, Aaron was approached by Gian Luca Cairo, executive assistant to Stephane Dione. Mr. Cairo extended his card at the time, instructing that Aaron should contact him for follow up. Despite Aaron's repeated attempts and messages left, Mr. Cairo has failed to respond or return calls.

A Liberal MP Meeting one Day, Attacked By police the Next Day...

Liberal MP Raymond Simard met with Aaron and his mother Oct 26th /07 to discuss matters. After a lengthy discussion Mr Simard finally stated "Well this would have to be something that only the RCMP could investigate in the end. I'm just the go between." He had deferred and offloaded responsibility and authority to a police faction that has shown itself corrupt and complicit in a number of virulent crimes against humanity. RCMP- complicit in the Air India scandal and deaths-RCMP-complicit with U.S. Authorities in the abduction of Maher Arar unto torture- and more recently, RCMP, responsible for the heinous taser attack Oct 14th at Vancouver airport that has left a 40 year old polish man dead as a result of yet another airport profiling attack, coming only 2 short weeks after a police brutality attack at Phoenix airport that left a 45 year old woman dead in police custody.

***The following morning after his meeting with Raymond Simard, Aaron was attacked at his home by Winnipeg police, abducted at gun point, had his home raided and spent 12 hours in interrogation-AGAIN-while police threatened him with illicit extradition to the United States (where torture and worse are likely candidates according to current U.S. Judicial bararianism.)

Aaron has also recently been in contact, by phone, with members of the NDP, including Glenn, legislative assistant to MP Penny Priddy, the public safety critic. Aaron and Glen had spoken amicably and twice at length, the week prior to the Saturday Oct 27 police attack at Aaron's home. Plans were in place to continue discussions on the Monday, of Oct 29th, however, as Aaron in an undisclosed location, he is no longer able to follow up with Glen of his own accord. The system has failed and collapsed in on itself leaving justice in rags. Others must continue discussion with Glen where Aaron has left off if justice is to be served.

Several resources towards advocacy and representation for Aaron and his mother Linda James, present themselves as follows:

Roche Tasse, head of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (613 241 5298 email: rocht (at) iclmg.ca has monitored the James family's ordeal for over 1 year now and has also, a very good relationship with Joe Comartin, the justice critic MP (613 947 3445 e: comartin.j (at) parl.gc.ca

Also, as stated before, Glen, legislative assistant to Penny Priddy, MP and public safety critic, has been amenable to talks with the James family and can be reached at 613 992 2922 and by email at pennyp0 (at) parl.gc.ca or penny.p (at) parl.gc.ca

Further still, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives member Erika Shaker has spoken with Aaron at length and is also frequently in communication with Roche Tasse. She is also able to relay information directly on to the Arar family with the hopeful prospect that the Arars would be amenable to drawing media attention to the James family immediate illicit and shameful persecution. Erika can be reached at 613 563 1341.

*Chris Andre at KBOO radio (971 645 5232) must also be apprised and instructed that she should now go ahead with broadcast of the latest developments of the James family's persecution as a matter of urgency in that neither Aaron James or his mother are safe and Aaron remains hunted by thugs in uniform remeniscent of the Police State now rampant in the United States making its presence felt in Canada.

Michelle Gross of Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB) (612 703 1612-evening calls) Email: mgresist (at) minn.net, has indicated she will soon be releasing a feature article in the context of her monthly newsletters on line, dealing with airport profiling, highlighting as central, the James family's ordeal, with other cases included.
PLEASE CONTACT LINDA JAMES 204 889 9134/ 204 632 5598
E:lindajames@mts.net, Aaron at  resist1000@usa.com, Journalist Lelsey Hughes 204 275 5757 E:lesleyhughescanada@yahoo.com

______________________________________________________




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