Here is the latest news report from the AP about the AL police done unjustifable stuff like taserizing the low-functioned deaf guy, who was not being aware of the police demand.
I tried and tried to attach the link, but the library computer system block "copy" link.
I had no choice like copy and paste this newsreport for the DeafRead readers. Okay?
Someone need to teach me how to find another way to copy the link. :)
Published on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 by
the Associated PressAla. Police: Taser Use on Disabled Man Justified
MOBILE, Ala. - Officers who used pepper spray and a Taser to remove a man from a store bathroom found out only later he was deaf and mentally disabled and didn't understand they wanted him to open the door, police said Tuesday.A spokesman for the Mobile Police Department said the officers' actions were justified because the man was armed with a potential weapon -- an umbrella.
A police officer demonstrates a taser gun in 2007. Manufacturers of the Taser stun gun on Monday unveiled a new handheld weapon on Monday which is capable of shocking three people without having to reload. (AFP/File/Carl de Souza)But relatives of Antonio Love, 37, have asked for a formal investigation and said they plan to sue both the police and the store.
"I want justice," Love's mother, Phyllis Love, said Tuesday.
The woman said her son hears only faintly, has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old and didn't realize that it was the police who were trying enter the bathroom.
"He thought the devil was out there trying to get in to get him," she said.
Antonio Love, in a written statement and in a television interview given in sign language about the confrontation, said he had a badly upset stomach last Friday and went into a Dollar General store to use the restroom.
Police spokesman Christopher Levy said Tuesday store workers called officers complaining that a man had been in the bathroom for more than an hour with the door locked. Officers knocked on the door and identified themselves, but the person didn't respond.
Officers used a tire iron to open the door, but the man pushed back to keep it shut. Officers saw the umbrella and sprayed pepper spray through a crack trying to subdue the man, Levy said. They shot the man with a Taser when they finally got inside, he said.
Officers didn't realize Love was deaf or had mental problems until he showed them a card he carries in his wallet, Levy said. He was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct, but officers released him and took him home after a magistrate refused to issue a warrant.
Levy said officers were justified in using force against Love since he had an umbrella.
"The officers really worked within the limits of our level-of-force policy," he said. "We had no information about who this guy was."
Phyllis Love said her son, who has worked in the garden department at a Lowe's store for several years, was scared when he realized someone was trying to get into the bathroom with him. He put water on his face and on the floor after being hit with pepper spray, she said.
"He didn't know it was a policeman until they busted the door in on him," she said. "He had a knot on his head from where it hit him."
Levy said police wish the confrontation had never occurred. The internal investigation will include a review of Love's complaints that officers laughed at him after realizing he was deaf, he said.
"We'll make whatever efforts we can to resolve this situation, hopefully so this man will be able to trust police in the future so we can help him. Obviously, it's going to be a rough road," he said.
© 2009 Associated Press
Posted in
inequality,
tasers,
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Snoop July 29th, 2009 8:28 am
Oh, dear. It's been a bad day in Mobile.
An unmanned Air Force drone crashed into a local cemetery last night. Police report that so far they've recovered 327 bodies and expect the count to go higher.
When an off-duty Coast Guardsman tried to point out the possible error here, local police told him he was out of his jurisdiction.
The Air Force had no comment pending completion of their continuing search for the crash site.
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report this comment Snoop July 29th, 2009 8:12 am
Well geez Bubba, ya gotta think about this.
A guy locks hisself in a restroom for an hour, what's he up to?
Could be he's stealing the plumbing.He could be doing soma' that terr'ist stuff.Or...he could be sick?
Anyways, the big threat here is, he's messin' with the operation of a Dollar Store (one of the few remaining cornerstones of the failing economy of the Greatest Nation on Earth.)
See, ya gotta git all the facts 'for you can figger out who's the sum'bitch.
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report this comment Bob Pomeroy July 29th, 2009 1:31 am
It's great to read these comments. My last week has been spent trying to introduce truth and reason on the std MSN blog site "newsvine", and it has been extremely burdensome. I would invite some of you to hold your noses and plunge in once in awhile, just to keep the fresh air flowing. Think of it as public service to those who are victims of rush/orielly/dobbs. It will be neither pleasant nor pretty, but avalable service opportunity disconsonant with those who standby and do nothing.I love this blog
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report this comment MBK July 28th, 2009 10:56 pm
O man, umbrella's are extremely deadly! I see local police in my gym all the time, always acting like tough guys. But when it comes to the real world, rather than subdue someone physically these narcissistic pricks take the cowardly path and taser at will. Then again, what else would to expect from someone who enlists to be a tool of oppression...just another tool.
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report this comment anothervetdidmine July 28th, 2009 10:47 pm
Trust the cops? Not on your life!! Welcome to AmeriKKKa!!!
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report this comment Stonetool July 28th, 2009 9:57 pm
TASERS ARE TORTURE DEVICES......... PERIOD!! Law enforcement agents are far too willing to use these devices because they "do not kill" and leave virtually no marks. They use them liberally at the slightest whim, and often use them for "punishment". The mission of law enforcement does not include summary punishment. Invariably the use of these devices is found to be "appropriate" in all cases. They close ranks and protect "their own" increasing the divide between the forces of law enforcement and those they supposedly protect. There IS NO JUSTICE for victims of law enforcement abuse weather it be being tazed, beaten, or outright murdered. It is time that law enforcement reconnected with the ordinary citizen, and their mission to "serve and protect". "Small" men with weapons and torture devices do not belong in law enforcement, and whatever their victims...... un-satisfied by justice... resort to is justified! There needs to be some fear of the consequences of abuse of power!
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report this comment sirios333 July 28th, 2009 9:57 pm
First we have a harvard professor trying to break into his private domain and now we have the gestapo trying to slither home [ the shit pools at the local waste treatment plant] via a public toilette. As to the exuberance of the pigs? Well, the carpenter desires timber the physician disease and the police,confrontation. I guess we will now have to broaden the definition of retarded, to include the "serve and protect" crowd.
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report this comment baruchzed July 28th, 2009 9:48 pm
Police in this country are drunk with power. The chemical weapons and tasers have emboldened police considerably. Often enough they are acting like gangs of thugs, protecting each other no matter what, unable to admit mistakes (Crowley/Gates for example, and this story) and brutalizing first before asking questions, if they ask at all.
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report this comment Truth_Forward July 28th, 2009 9:41 pm
Double Post, Sorry.
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report this comment Truth_Forward July 28th, 2009 9:41 pm
Brutalizing the disabled.
Isn't that the kind of crap that happened in Nazi Germany?
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report this comment aussidawg July 28th, 2009 9:25 pm
First we have the pig arresting and cuffing a Harvard Professor in his own home after the prof. showed him identification of both a driver license and university ID. Obama called the police "stupid" after the incident (the one thing Obama has said that I believe and agree with), and police all over the nation come unglued.
Now we have this deaf, menatlly disabled person pepper sprayed and Tased after being in a restroom sick.
These bastards expect us to trust them? After this in one week of time? I think not. Not now, not ever!
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report this comment eugene_sargent July 28th, 2009 9:05 pm
Young Antonio Love was not far wrong: There were devils trying to break down the door. I don't understand the bone-headed feeding frenzy kind of behavior that takes over policemen's minds when they get in situations like this. Recently in my area, the local cops broke into a house in which a man was stabbing his pregnant girlfriend. The cops pulled out their weapons and the typical hail of bullets ensued. When the smoke cleared, the assailant was still standing, the victim had a 40 caliber bullet in her head and was pronounced dead. Now cops aren't the sharpest tools in the shed to begin with, but for some reason, when things get exciting, their IQ's drop at least 20 points.
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report this comment Humbaba July 28th, 2009 8:53 pm
What sort of monsters would use the deaf and mentally challenged for target practice? I'll never visit Alabama.
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report this comment h4020 July 28th, 2009 8:46 pm
Every day this country looks more and more like Stalin's Russia. Federal, state and local goons do what ever they like and none are held responsible. This goes right to the top. For example, we are still waiting for the Attorney General to finish thinking about the criminal activities of the previous administration and do something about them. Electronic snooping by the government is rampant and uncontrolled. Vast data bases have been constructed and filled with huge amounts of information about the citizens. These can be mined by the snoops without constraint. The Watch List of the Department of Homeland Security is an example of how we can be abused. It is badly flawed and little if any effort is made to correct it. The government makes the rules to protect us. Of course, there are always new enemies to be protected from and therefor more rules. The cages of the new gulags have already been constructed, the guards trained and they will be packed to capacity when necessary. It's not a pretty pictureof life in the Home of the Free. It's going to get worse.
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report this comment EKATON July 28th, 2009 8:22 pm
"We had no information about who this guy was."
Right, so shoot first and ask questions later you FUCKING COWARDS.
"Levy said police wish the confrontation had never occurred."
I'll bet. Now you've exposed yourselves to a massive, I hope, lawsuit. PIGS!
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report this comment Obedient Servant July 28th, 2009 8:14 pm
"Scottsdale-based TASER International kicked off its annual Conference and Master Instructor Training event yesterday by announcing the X3, a new ECD capable of firing up to three sets of probes without being reloaded."
[Google TASER X3]
Isn't progress wonderful?
Now they can "tase" the whole damn family without reloading! And they will.
· Yr Obd't Servant
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report this comment MNbabs July 28th, 2009 8:14 pm
It took me forever to figure out how to log in here, and probably just as well. Because I was absolutely furious after I read this piece.
I am guardian for my adult brother who has mental retardation. This could have been him, and not in AL. He'd have been absolutely terrified at the pounding and door wrecking and probably rendered motionless and speechless. And in his terrified state, he'd have had almost no chance of being able to unlock the door.
I am trying my best to see this from both sides. I can almost, ALMOST, justify knocking hard, harder, hardest and, getting no response, attempting to open the door. Why? Because someone may have been in trouble. Sick. Passed out. Dying. Dead.
Why is it that officers seem to be trained to assume the worst at all times, ergo, guilty until proven innocent? Rhetorical, I guess. It's for their own safety.
There's a fine line here, and clearly these officers stomped the daylights out of it. The training that needs to happen on the heels of this is for the officers, not for restoring this young man's faith in them.
I cannot imagine the physical and emotional trauma he endured.
Okay, I'm mad again. So I'll stop here. But I'm not done with this. Not by a long shot with my deadly umbrella.
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report this comment genie July 28th, 2009 8:05 pm
Police need special training on how to discern between citizens who can't respond and people who won't respond in a way the police expect them to. People who live with a mental disability and also have a hearing impairment are doubly challenged. I remember reading about a school in America where troubled children were receiving little shocks when they misbehaved. At first this was considered a success because the children responded by being good but it was later discovered that it was counterproductive and in the long run it did not help the children to act the way they were expected and was cruel. I am often shocked by the acts of people with authority. I hope the day will come when all people will know sign language. People who are deaf have a lot to offer.
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report this comment tell the truth July 28th, 2009 7:48 pm
its beginning to look like this all over america.this isn'tjust a alabama problem but a us ofa epidemic.the police deptshave morphed into paramilitary orgs. with all kinds of hi techdevices and tanks etc. this is not your mom and dads p.o.!my neighbor is retired from the nyfd and has friends in the pd.he was a capt. and those friends held similar jobs in the fd.their major complaint! the fd. had the brightest bestrecruits leaving the pd no choice but to except the leftovers. whats the real motto of your local pd! its not toprotect and serve but rather "we may be dumb but we aremean"! the criminal at the door may be the pd.
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report this commentDownwinder July 28th, 2009 9:15 pm
When I go out the door, I first check for terrorists in blue.
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report this comment WTF July 28th, 2009 7:24 pm
Hey, the cops gave Love a free ride home in a police car. Aren't they wonderful?
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report this comment Jarhead I go th... July 28th, 2009 6:25 pm
Dont go to Alabama on a rainy day. Your parasal will be considered a deadly weapon by the local gestapo idiots. You can and will be tasered or probably shot with a 9m. three or four times.
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report this comment ianplank July 28th, 2009 5:58 pm
Use to Be: PROTECT & SERVE
Now it is: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Reminds me of a guy named Jesus, who didn't give an answer back to the authorities, and the gov't treated him the same way too, even worse.
I guess in this world if you don't speak up for your self some one else will, and it might not be what you wanted them to say.
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report this comment jj apple July 28th, 2009 5:42 pm
Attack first and ask questions later if at all.
Since this is the much same principle that has come to guide US foreign policy, here's a question: Is it the the Gestapo tactics of our local police that trickle-up to our foreign policy? -- or our Attack First foreign policy that trickles down to our local police?
I want to avoid asking either/or questions that provoke one-dimensional answers, so let me start out by first answering my own question: I think it is, at minimum both trickle factors, but much more than both, too.
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report this commentnobodyknown July 28th, 2009 7:44 pm
jjI suspect that it is the feds, dictating to the lower echelon. This country has created a multi-level federalized enforcement system. I attended a local town bazaar this past weekend where the county police had their 'communications' van set up. Handouts on what to do in an emergency were basically saying that martial law would be declared and that police would have complete control and authority. Of course each person was suppose to provide for themselves food and water for three days... BUT NO WEAPONS TO DEFEND THEMSELVES WITH.The old 'civil defense' network of the 60's stressed local citizens banded together for local support.....The modern system rejects all local input except for the police and fire depts which have all been "educated" to believe that the state and federal authorities can provide better guidance, and that their loyalties belong to the federal government of the day. (IMHO).I've asked many a local politician why medium sized police departments require fully automatic weapons.... these are only useful in mob situations, and one would hope that local police would recognize that any "mob" is actually local "citizens" with mutual grievances.The number of cases where police shoot first is mounting. It is obvious that the federal, state, county and local authorities do not believe that the "people" have any rights or authority, only the uniformed agencies of the government. We have pretty much become a nation of "subject" not "citizens.
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report this comment NateW July 28th, 2009 4:59 pm
It would appear as if the police forces from the same state that produced the infamous March 7, 1965 "Bloody Sunday" police riot on the Edmund Pettus Bridge have not learned all that much since then. It should also be written that my large local police department, the infamous LAPD, are in that company as well.
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report this commentThomasJefferson... July 28th, 2009 8:04 pm
Whoah, NateW,
RAMPART drug smuggling department made "The Shield" look like nothing. Ask old Rod King. If they don't know who you are like a deaf disabled guy, they crash your bathroom stall and torture you with a taser.
If they DO know who you are, "Guy has priors" (littering, wreckless driving) then they twist your arms, stick boots and kneecaps in between your shoulder blades and rub your corneas in the gravel. Ever see "Cops"? It is not fiction.
I would never live in such an uncivilized society that does that. I am dreading my next trip back there.
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
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report this commentNateW July 29th, 2009 12:49 am
...and your point was what? I am all too aware of the myriad thuggery of the LAPD (a prime reason why I refuse to reside in Los Angeles proper). I was merely pointing an all too depressing commonality that bedevils police departments across America.
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report this commentThomasJefferson... July 29th, 2009 2:54 am
My point is I agree with you. Good post! (I guess Whoah, was the wrong on-line noise. I Should've said: Hear, Hear!)
TJ
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report this comment bystander July 28th, 2009 4:33 pm
Tasers don't kill people...It's idiots who misuse technology that kill people.
Any Taser use should have the same post-incident review procedure as a firearm discharge. There was no need to use a Taser in this case. But the low threshold for Taser use will just get lower and lower. All of our kindergarten teachers will soon be issued Tasers to keep those little hoodlums in line. The sooner they learn their place, the better.
Now umbrellas, they DO kill people. I just hope he had a permit for that umbrella.
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report this commentWTF July 28th, 2009 7:34 pm
Permits for umbrellas? Where's my second amendment?"A well regulated militia, composed of the people, trained to raise umbrellas, is the best and most natural defense from rain and sun."
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report this commentDownwinder July 28th, 2009 9:10 pm
I'd better go down and register my cane.
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report this commentTruth_Forward July 28th, 2009 9:26 pm
When they outlaw umbrellas only the outlaws will have them.
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report this comment nobodyknown July 28th, 2009 4:20 pm
"We'll make whatever efforts we can to resolve this situation, hopefully so this man will be able to trust police in the future so we can help him. Obviously, it's going to be a rough road," he said.
Can you say "brainwash" boys and girls? That's right. See, I knew you could. I hear tell that if they 'waterboard' him, he'll say just about anything they want him to say.
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report this comment barrycounty July 28th, 2009 4:17 pm
Scared, hulking, steroid pumped, neanderthal thugs. Being "Uncooperative" is now a major crime/insult to our local, armed nitwits. I rejoice when any one of them take that final step and "cross over" under any circumstances.
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report this commentsLiMsHaDy July 28th, 2009 10:54 pm
I have to agree. Can't stand the mentality of "law enforcement"; yet another Orwellian term, as it turns out.
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report this comment pjd412 July 28th, 2009 3:32 pm
Trust the police? To do what? Not be belligerent? weaponed? homophobic? corrupt? brainwashed?
...and violent, racist, reactionary-fascist, corporotocracy-serving...
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report this comment dubet July 28th, 2009 3:21 pm
"We'll make whatever efforts we can to resolve this situation, hopefully so this man will be able to trust police in the future so we can help him. Obviously, it's going to be a rough road," he said.
Trust the police? To do what? Not be belligerent? weaponed? homophobic? corrupt? brainwashed? Rough road, indeed...
Trust: the result of keeping promises over a prolonged period of time...which would imply a first time, and an unbroken thread of repeat performances...
If the police were to begin handling situations like this without breaking down the door or pepper spraying or tasering, then that might count as a first time...then, they would have to repeat, without fail, for a prolonged period...
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