Comments on: Officer Seth Brundle Was Justifiably in Fear of His Life.

By: Time to Take the Tasers Away « LewRockwell.com Blog

Time to Take the Tasers Away « LewRockwell.com Blog — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:36:20 +0000

[...] During a forced entry raid in California in February 2008, police Tasered a man for “cursing” and “threatening” the officers with a flyswatter. The aggressive entry was unnecessary, since the suspect being sought was already in police custody. Yet the man who was treated to electro-shock torture was charged with “obstruction” nonetheless. [...]

By: mlang52

mlang52 — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:24:46 +0000

What gets me is that the police broke into the house. That was just wrong. What in the world did they think the people could “hide” that would have anything to do with arrest of their son on rape charges? The police WANTED a confrontation. They elevated the danger of the situation by THEIR tactics! That is why they told their daughter to with-hold the information from the parents. And how would I react if the cops pulled this bull— in my house! I would be p.o.’d. They would have tazed me, too! And I have never had any trouble with the law! Come on people! Just because the old man has had run ins with the cops before, does not justify invading his house for little, to no, reason. The warrant should have been served with a knock at the door! They knew, before they went to the man’s house, that they were “going to get him”. At least that is the way I see it!

By: Lee

Lee — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 02:11:27 +0000

“It (Taser) is for less than lethal force”

Then why do otherwise healthy people keep dieing when tased?

Yes there have been several examples.

By: ftp

ftp — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 01:47:17 +0000

“Woodland Police Lt. Charlie Wilts, however, said the department did nothing wrong.

“Our position is we didn’t do anything illegal or inappropriate,” he said, declining to comment on the details of the case.”

Fuck you Mr Wilts, fuck you.

By: EdinTally

EdinTally — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:09:28 +0000

Eric,

The Taser isnt supposed to be a pain compliance tool or a torture device. It is for less than lethal force (unless you have a health condition, then it can kill you). I suppose you could put the fly swatter on the level of closed hand which would allow the officers to use closed hand techniques or go to the baton. It seems that some departments view the use of force as a positive not a negative and if mistakes are made they creatively write their reports. That may keep police out of trouble in the short term, but in the long run you create more and more citizens who do not trust the police and will not cooperate on any level.

On another note, I saw a video yesterday of a cop who was fighting two people (and kicking their ass) when one of them started swinging a shovel. The cop just kept backing up with his gun drawn until help arrived. Nobody got shot. Nobody died. I hope the officer is given a medal.

By: Danno49

Danno49 — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:15:43 +0000

My bad all. Thank you for correcting my English that stinks. :)

I guess I am so ready for the worst (and who can blame me? I read the Agitator everyday!) that I saw it fully expecting to be the worst.

I’m still thinking that a flyswatter isn’t a weapon. Call me crazy.

By: Eric Seymour

Eric Seymour — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:48:27 +0000

Dave K is right–very hard to tell from the article who’s telling the truth. It’s not even clear whether the police forced entry into the house. If they did, that seems excessive for a search warrant.

Assume the police are telling the truth and the guy came at them holding a flyswatter. The flyswatter is irrelevant; the guy is built like a linebacker. If he succeeded in attacking one of the cops, either he or the cop or both could have suffered broken bones, concussion, etc. Does that justify using a taser? Hard to say, but if I were a juror I wouldn’t fault the cop for it.

Anyway, it’s just as wrong to assume the cops are always at fault as it is to assume they’re always right.

By: Dave Krueger

Dave Krueger — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:25:26 +0000

So… Was this a “no-knock” raid?

Those folks should probably be more appreciative. I mean, they’re probably lucky to be alive and still all they see is the down side.

Geez! Am I developing a bad attitude or what?

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:10:33 +0000

Alas, google imaging for “fly cop” just doesn’t come up w/ quite the right graphic.

By: redalert

redalert — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:07:02 +0000

And “search “means… a full military take down…how dramatic.Remember the police live in fear..so you must also. I have One US citizenship..for sale,cheap.

By: Jet Goodson

Jet Goodson — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:46:21 +0000

Danno49,
It was a search warrant, obviously they had arrested him and wanted to search his home/room-in-parent’s-home for evidence. That in itself isn’t wrong. But it is the type of thing that an officer should just knock on the door and when the guy’s mom answer, actually say, “M’am, we have a warrant to search the premises,” not come in like Marines in Fallujah.

By: Dave Krueger

Dave Krueger — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:43:55 +0000

WTF are the cops doing serving a warrant for a guy who’s already in custody?

It was a search warrant. Not an arrest warrant.

By: Lee

Lee — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:51:22 +0000

I have been gving this some thought recently and I wonder if this is not the root of the problem.

The current generation of cops have substituted bravado for bravery (or at least confused the two).

By: Danno49

Danno49 — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:49:23 +0000

The real question is: WTF are the cops doing serving a warrant for a guy who’s already in custody? How many of Sacto’s finest have a hard-on for this guy and his dad? Didn’t the police that served the warrant get the memo that he was already in the pokey? Holy fucking shit what a joke.

By: Nando

Nando — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:30:29 +0000

When I was a kid, my grandma would spank (or swat me) with a flyswatter when I misbehaved. Maybe the cop is Puerto Rican (or has a Puerto Rican grandmother) who did the same to him as a kid and that traumatized him for life?

If that’s the case, it’s a good thing the guy didn’t come out with a “chancleta” or a branch from a guava tree!

By: Dave Krueger

Dave Krueger — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:28:08 +0000

It’s hard to tell what happened just from reading this story. It’s not like cops are the only people capable of embellishing the truth.

But, it’s becoming clear that the sense of security you have in your own home is more illusion than reality. Law enforcement (and their patsy judges) don’t have any more respect for your right to be secure in your home than the criminals they claim to be protecting you from. And merely objecting when it happens is now itself a crime.

By: Dave Krueger

Dave Krueger — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:17:01 +0000

Cops (and probably many other people) seem to think that all people are guilty and the world is only divided into those who have been caught and those who haven’t. And the fact that some haven’t been caught makes them even more despicable because they are “getting away with it”.

By: kaptinemo

kaptinemo — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:46:46 +0000

M. Dantes has hit the nail on its' head. But a lot of this has been fostered by the media. When you look at popular TV 'reality' shows like COPS from a civil libertarian point of view, you find nearly all those the police come in contact with do not know their basic rights, such as refusing an unwarranted search. Anyone who does, and stands upon those rights, is automatically presumed to be guilty; why else would he or she do so? Again, thank the media for helping to foster that "if you have nothing to hide, why not surrender your rights if it is for a 'good' cause?" mindset amongst the public. Add to this such abominations as random school drug testing, which only succeed at teaching kids that rights are fictions that may be overturned at some authority figure's whim, and you create a laboratory for fascism. A whole generation has grown up like this, always having to 'stand and deliver' their urine on command, never being able to say to nosy Gub'mint functionaries to get stuffed and bugger off. Is it any wonder why we have a police state in all but name?

By: Brit

Brit — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:29:45 +0000

“Thompson said he was not carrying a fly swatter. Patricia Thompson, a fruit inspector, said she had an oversized swatter she planned to take to work as a joke.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OH! NOW I understand…..it was an OVERSIZED flyswatter!

By: David

David — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:29:06 +0000

I don’t think that’s a new phenomenon. People have always believed that no one would bother to make an accusation if it wasn’t true. That’s why people believe rumors and gossip for it’s own sake.