April 24, 2009

Day of Blogging for Justice: End Taser Torture in America


Bloggers all over the world are continuing a tradition from last year by participating in the 2nd annual Day of Blogging for Justice against the rising pre-trial electrocutions by police officers against Black children, women and men.

Did you know that 16 Americans have died so far in 2009 ... another 72 North Americans died in 2008 ... all from being tasered with a minimum of 50,000 volts of electricity from the police. [SOURCE]

To put it bluntly ... this shyt needs to stop! It is unacceptable for us to turn a blind eye to this growing trend of taser torture in America.
"The issue is not whether or not the taser can be used in a high percentage of cases to reduce death or physical trauma to officers and civilians alike. The issue is whether or not it's OK to kill the rest through ignorance and rationalization just because it's a small percentage ... The successes aren't the problem - the failures are. They're being told that tasers are non-lethal, so they blast away until people can't move. They're killing people by accident."
In Miami, FL the police used a taser gun on a 6-year old boy at his school. In Cincinnati, OH the law says that a youngster can be shot with 50,000 volts of electricity from a taser gun. Efforts to raise the minimum age for this police action failed.

I've shared other examples on my blog in the past:
  1. Valreca Redden (Trotwood OH) - pregnant Black woman tased by Officer Michael Wilmer when she went to police department for help.

  2. Eugene Snelling (Austin TX) - tased by Officer Thomas O'Connor driving with his mother on Thanksgiving Day.

  3. Donnell Williams (Wichita KS) - deaf Blackman tased in his own home.

  4. Major Lemon (Madison WI) - Blackman tased while holiday shopping at the local mall.

  5. Xavier Jones (Coral Gables FL) - Tasers deployed by two police officers killed this Blackman.

  6. Darryl Turner (Charlotte NC) - unarmed 17-year old Black youth killed when Officer Jerry Dawson decided to fire at him with a taser gun.

  7. James Garland (Miami FL) - unarmed and naked 41-year old Blackman killed by police taser gun while disoriented in the street.

  8. Baron Pikes (Winnfield LA) - Police officer Scott Nugent indicted for murder because he tasered a handcuffed 21-year old Blackman to death.

  9. Terrance Kennedy (Dallas NC) - Police killed another Blackman in North Carolina with their taser guns.

  10. Marcus Moore (Freeport IL) - unarmed 40-year old Blackman killed by police with their taser guns.

  11. Robert Mitchell (Warren MI) - unarmed 16-year old Black youth killed police taser guns.

  12. Gary Decker (Tucson AZ) - unarmed 50-year old naked man killed by police taser guns while in his own hotel room.

  13. Michael Jacobs (Ft. Worth TX) - unarmed, mentally impaired 24-year old Blackman killed by police taser guns on his own front yard in front of his parents.
The successes aren't the problem - the failures are.

How many more Black folks need to be executed by the police before the Congressional Black Caucus does something about it? I encourage all villagers to immediately sign online petition demanding a congressional investigation into Taser Torture in America.

Today is a Day for Blogging Justice so that we can bring as much attention as possible to this issue. I am not asking for elimination of all tasers by the police. I simply want:
Frankly, it is time to end the unwarranted and unjustified deaths of Black children, women and men from pre-trial electrocutions using taser guns.

What say u?

11 comments:

Garlin II said...

I very much appreciate your proper framing of this as torture. Since torture is so hot in the news right now, perhaps we can do some more navel-gazing into killing of our own citizens.

Unknown said...

Garlin - It is nice to see Black bloggers working together on a common goal. I'll use the #tasertorture hashtag on Twitter as u suggest...

Unknown said...

The DSpot Redeux has completed its post: http://bit.ly/EAknj

msladyDeborah said...

Hotep Villager!

You beat me to my blog before I got my post up on the subject of Tasering.

You have provided some really excellent information on the subject of taser torture.

Hopefully we will have enough signatures to move Congress into action.

RiPPa said...

I'm with it!

http://rippdemup.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-of-blogging-for-justice-end-taser.html

This week I'll be posting specifically on justice, police, the prison industrial complex, and your rights.

SjP said...

I have joined in today's campaign by providing some historical information. I invite you and other Villagers to drop by SjP;s where the origin of this so-called non-lethal weapon that has taken the lives of so many is provided.

underOvr (aka The U) said...

Villager,

I didn't write my post as a journalist (I'm not), but as an African American citizen of the US.

I applaud you and my fellow bloggers who have joined together today to speak out against a Law Enforcement policy that selectively decides who to discharge a Taser on; instead of discerning whether an actual threat exists.

U

Unknown said...

Pam & Sojourner - Thank you for supporting our Day of Blogging for Justice about taser torture.

Lady D - There are 88 signatures on the petition as I write the response...

RiPPa - I'm adding you to my RSS-reader so I don't miss your series next week...

U - Quite frankly, you had the most excellent post that I read during the Day of Blogging for Justice event. I hope that all villagers take time to read your taser torture story...

SoakingNKnowledge said...

I agree you said it best "this shyt needs to stop!"

AAPP said...

Villager Great Post!

I hope your readers understand we are not against police, but rather against police brutality and abuse of tasers. Your a true leader within the afrospear for heading up this effort.

Great post!

AAPP

Unknown said...

AAPP - Asante sana!