In what world is tasering an 8-year-old 70lb girl justified? In a world where police investigate their own, we can only guess!
The mother of the 8-year-old Native American girl, from Pierre, South Dakota’s Rosebud Sioux community is now suing the police who have maintained that it was justified to taser the girl.
The four police who tasered the girl say that she was a danger to herself after they decided to neutralize her for having a small paring knife.
The incident happened in 2013 and even though an internal investigation still says it was justified, the mother says that non-violent means should have been used.
Counter Current News reported;
“Within seconds,” the officer’s electroshock weapon discharged snares into the chest of the 70-pound girl, the lawsuit reads.
“The force of the electricity shot through her body, lifted her, and threw her against a wall. After the officers had stunned (the girl) into high voltage submission, they pulled the fish-hook like Taser darts from her chest, gave her emergency medical attention, bandaged the holes left by the razor-sharp hooks, and called the ambulance.”
Pierre Police Chief Bob Granpre, however, says that the police acted properly, and a two-month long investigate claims the same thing (PDF).
Attorney Dana Hanna recounts the incident, saying that the “four trained police officers surrounding a 70-pound, 8-year-old Indian girl,” should have used tactics that were less violent and not so risky to the young girl’s health and possibly life.
“One distracts her, another grabs the girl’s arm. That’s what they should have done,” Hanna continued.
“She had a kitchen paring knife, but hadn’t cut. She was a kid throwing a tantrum. They should have made an attempt to grab the kid, not use a weapon to throw her into a wall. A Taser’s not meant to kill, but it does kill. Many people have died after being hit by a Taser by cops. It never should be used on a little child. She certainly wasn’t presenting a danger to officers.”
The girl’s father, Bobby Jones added, “I don’t fault for the police being there because they were called. They were there. But what happened while they were there is why I’m upset,” in an early interview he did with local KSFY.
Hanna says that the girl, “L.M.J.”, is currently receiving mental and emotional counseling from a child counselor, as a result of the trauma she experienced at the hands of police. We’ll keep you updated on how the lawsuit proceeds.
Do you think it could have been justified in any way?
Original source: http://countercurrentnews.com/2014/12/native-american-police-over-reacting/
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