Family of Darrin Hanna Continues to Fight Those Who Taser-Killed Him

Darrin “Dagwood” Hanna was tasered multiple times during his arrest by six North Chicago police officers a year ago. Those shocks and other “tactics” police claimed they had to use to subdue Hanna, a big but gentle man according to his family, contributed to his death a week later, according to an official autopsy.

The incident sparked an outcry from Hanna’s large extended family, among them some of the area’s earliest Black residents.

In the months that followed, Hanna’s mother and son filed a federal wrongful death suit and supporters staged rallies, marches and weekly protests at city council meetings, demanding that the officers involved be removed from duty and charged with murder.

While the state’s attorney office declined to prosecute the arresting officers, an internal investigation ordered by North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham resulted in the firing of one officer who was found to have punched Hanna, 45, repeatedly in the face while he had him trapped in a headlock, the discipline of another for falsifying a report, and the forced retirement of Police Chief Michael Newsome. Last month, Newsome was arrested and charged with the theft of $140,000 in drug money.

Read the rest of the WLS 890AM article.

Taser Protests in Chicago Seek Justice in Death of Darrin Hanna

I don't know if Darrin Hanna was a good man or not. The police were called to his home in November 2011 for a domestic violence complaint. There is never a good reason to lay your hands on a woman. Period.

That being said, I'm uncertain when there is a good time for police officers to beat an unarmed man ... then electrocute him with 50,000 volts of electricity up to 11 times with their taser guns ... then lie about the whole thing in their police report. It is the inability of the community in Chicago to see any justice in this taser-killing that is causing the current uproar. Thousands of people marched in the streets of Chicago this past weekend. They simply want to see some justice ... which means some consequences for the police officers that killed Mr. Hanna.

Here is a video that provides some of the details in this case of police brutality against Darrin Hanna. You be the judge:



Something is wrong in this country when police feel that it is OK to kill a suspect without taking him to trial ... and feel free to lie about it on their police reports about the incident ... and there are few, if any, consequences. How do call ourselves a nation of laws if the police are allowed to flaunt them as clearly as they've done in this case?