Controversial Tasing of Elderly Man on 18-Mile Stretch

by Naja and Arnaud Girard

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21 thoughts on “Controversial Tasing of Elderly Man on 18-Mile Stretch

  1. More sensationalism from the Blue Paper. Let’s get everyone stirred up with some provoking video about which we know nothing. What was the back-story here? What had happened up to this point? No idea, because it was not provided…just the sensational video of the old man getting tased JUST as he decided to stop resisting arrest and start complying. It was a close call and the tie goes to the runner, but even that is a moot point if we don’t have any context.

    1. I learned of this incident a few days ago, when someone sent me the You Tube of it on Facebook. I didn’t like what I saw in the video, it’s hard to wrap my mind around two burly cops tasering this elderly man. Even so, I wondered what had happened before, and now I’m curious about why the fellow was Baker Act’d. Maybe there was a good reason, that needs to be investigated, if it can be investigated.

      As I recall, Just Jim, you are a police officer, or a retired police officer. If so, you should disclose that in comments like this one you made, so other readers will know where you are coming from. As I recall, you were not particularly happy with blue paper articles in the past about alleged police brutality, particularly tasering, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen anything from you under blue paper articles.

      1. If this elderly man was fighting with his wife,the police will receive VAWA incentive money from the feds.The Violence Against Womens Act pays the bribe money for every boy and man they arrest pertaining to a sexual assault , domestic violence and stalkinghttp://www.fcadv.org/sites/default/files/FCADV%20VAWA%20Law%20Enforcement%20RFP.pdf

        The police receive pay raises and promotions based on their arrest conviction ratios.This is why they are not interested in giving people warnings or using psychology to defuse a conflict.Money for the cops is the game

    2. Jim,
      Can you explain why the officer would scream, “stop resisting” three or four times while the man is laying perfectly still and compliant while facedown on the ground? And wouldn’t you agree that he, in fact, had his arms up in the air when the officer opened the door requiring him to evacuate the car? On what basis do you make the statement that he was tased JUST when he stopped resisting? is there ever a situation where, in your view, it is appropriate to question the actions of law enforcement and provoke open discussion of those actions? You had a similar comment on our story about unlawful strip (allegedly cavity) searches in public – thereafter even Chief Donie Lee acknowledged that the actions were unlawful and he had the entire force retrained on that subject.

      1. Try goggling “cavity searches in Deming, NM. That stupid town had to pay either 1.6 or 1.8 million for an illegal cavity search where the instance involved 2 x-rays, 3 enemas and a colonoscopy without consent.. They found no drugs. Deming has 2 other instances and there are many more throughout the country.

    3. That video clearly shows police brutality and the old guy is a passenger. At least he did not crack his head form being tasered like Matthew Shaun Murphy or get killed like Charles Elmers. You would think the KW police would be more careful with the limelight on them from the above mentioned instances. They just keep reinforcing my belief that they are as arrogant and corrupt as ever. The KW police department is a mess and should be disbanded. You will never catch me spending a dollar in Key West again.

  2. One person’s “sensationalism” is another’s exposure of human rights violations. It is distressing to me that many people refuse to believe what their eyes see.

    We saw video of a man being smothered to death by the police on a beach in Key West and we saw video of the police that did the smothering lie about it on video, yet they were not punished. Same with the video of Eric Garner, no punishment. Remember Rodney King getting the snot beat out of him by the LA police? No punishment.

    As satirist, Andy Borowitz pointed out in a piece he wrote, “On the heels of an initiative to provide police departments with body cameras, there is growing support for a plan to supply grand-jury members with eyes, advocates for the plan said on Wednesday.”

    1. Just my it don’t smell right radar acting up, Just Jim always taking cops side under blue paper articles kinda causes me to think he is a just shill, just a plant, and he represents the view that cops just can do anything they want to do, and if they just don’t do it legally, if they just hurt, or just kill someone, it’s just okay, or just excusable, because they just are cops, their jobs are just dangerous, and they just don’t operate under the same laws as everyone else in America.

      I keep finding myself thinking lately that America’s foreign wars and the support the troops mentality, no matter what, has bled into much of domestic law enforcement.

      Instead of just police officers, we now have paramilitary. Instead of just police officers who enforce the laws, keep the peace, know their beats and the citizens they protect and represent; instead of police officers, who also are ambassadors and social workers, we have a breed of cops who are thugs and behave like they are on steroids, speed, or something even more stimulating. And who think they are gods, making up rules of engagement and trying, convicting, sentencing and punishing on the spot, knowing their fellow cops, their police chief, the police benevolent union, and their elected city/county officials will back them all the way, as we see happen in Key West.

      And, it seems most citizens are okay with that, judging by how few of them, one as far as I know in Key West, me, takes the elected city officials to task at city commission meetings, for their cops’ wrongdoing and for them, the city officials, doing nothing about it. Rare is it is in America that local officials do not side with their cops.

      Will putting body cameras on cops change anything in such a climate. I’m not holding my breath. I’m not holding my breath cops will turn on their body cameras, or won’t turn them off, when they do wrong. I’m not convinced police chiefs and sheriffs will not destroy what’s on videos, which they do not like.

      I’m not convinced we have gotten close to the bottom of the bystanders’ video that prompted this article and this reader conversation.

      If the Florida State Troopers head honcho actually gave a shyte about his constituents, as opposed to his troopers, we would already know what led up to that incident. It just don’t pass my smell test that this elderly man, a passenger, was taser’d, then Baker Act’d, and then a lid was put on the entire thing to protect whom? The elderly man? Or the two brutes in state trooper uniforms? And the Florida State Troopers? And the State of Florida?

      Protect and Serve means protecting and serving the public, or that’s what it used to mean. Today, it just means protecting and serving cops.

      1. Your explanations are very good and thank goodness for the Blue Paper. I do know the KW police have been able to bully Craigslist Rant and Rave. I live in Ohio and still wonder how many of the locals really care. I get the impression that many want to use this as an excuse for the tourist to stay away and do not think how important the tourist dollar is to keep your economy viable. Hopefully, that is not the case and it is just KW police underhandedly trying to get information hidden.

    2. The states attorneys seldom charge the police because there will be retribution against the legal industry.

      If the police got ticked off at the prosecutor for not rigging the grand jury questions in favor of the accused officer, the police would just stop issuing summonses and other arrest.

      This tactic would empty the courthouses as well as every lawyers office in town. Nobody would be making any money off of the law industry

      1. I say let there be retribution against the legal industry. These issues must come to a head before all will take notice and fix. Maybe then some with integrity will come forward and run for some of those elected offices. As one of your locals wrote, lawsuits against a public entities make insurance premium go up and the locals end up paying more.

    1. Your explanations are very good and thank goodness for the Blue Paper. I do know the KW police have been able to bully Craigslist Rant and Rave. I live in Ohio and still wonder how many of the locals really care. I get the impression that many want to use this as an excuse for the tourist to stay away and do not think how important the tourist dollar is to keep your economy viable. Hopefully, that is not the case and it is just KW police underhandedly trying to get information hidden.

  3. By Dan Christensen, FloridaBulldog.org coconutcreekbadge

    Coconut Creek Police officers firing Tasers killed a man early Sunday morning inside the sprawling Wynmoor condominium complex, a usually tranquil gated retirement community, FloridaBulldog.org has learned.

    The dead man, described by witnesses as a black man about 40 years old, died after being struck at least twice in the chest by wires tethered to the high-voltage stun guns. The Taser can deliver a painful and immobilizing electroshock from as far as 35 feet away.

    Eyewitnesses said as many as four police officers fired four Taser shots in two volleys.

    After the first volley, about five policemen “were around and on top of the man” who yelled out, “Baby! They are going to kill me” and “I can’t breathe,” the witnesses said.

    Police threw an immediate veil of secrecy over the in-custody death that continued through Friday. The department has issued no press release or public statement about the incident at 1701 Andros Isle, although that’s typically standard procedure in officer-involved shootings.

    Through a spokeswoman, Coconut Creek Police Chief Michael Mann declined Thursday to discuss what happened or even acknowledge that an in-custody death had occurred.

    “He will not be giving any comments on this,” said the chief’s assistant, CarolAnn Bown.

    The Broward Medical Examiner’s Office was also close-mouthed about the police takedown on a small strip of grass between the parking lot and unit E1.

    “It’s under investigation and we can’t talk about it,” said an office spokeswoman. “It’s a police hold and we can’t speak about anything at all about a police hold…the hold has been put on by the agency, which is Coconut Creek.” Go to: floridabulldog.org for full story.

    1. First, the editors of this publication are not the “arnauds”, they are the Girards. Arnaud is Mr. Girard’s first name.

      Second, “firstly” is not a word.

      Third, Telling someone to go back to their nation of origin for critiquing their government in a publication, is antithetical to foundational concepts of this nation.

      For example, the founders of this nation criticized their government repeatedly, up to and including the Declaration of Independence.

      Another example of this American value would be the First Amendment to our Constitution, of which you may have heard.

      Although I will admit to there being a longstanding tradition in this nation of ignorant bigots hurling slurs at immigrants and/or the intelligentsia for the crime of being different.

      Have a nice day.

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