Quote:
Originally Posted by phesto
The video for this is posted on the Vancouver Sun website.
What surprises me is that the video which had been hyped by the guy who took the footage is pretty mediocre and doesn't really show when the taser was used, or any of the discussion leading up to it.
The only thing that surprised me about the footage was how long the police took to arrive at YVR. The man was clearly irate, had barricaded the international arrivals area, and was resisting police. I guarantee that at any other major airport in North America the man would have been dealt with more quickly, and more severely. And would it have helped if there had been an interpreter there? Sure, but at 1:30 am when you are acting erratic and violent in an international airport, you're probably not going to get that benefit.
It is obviously a terrible tragedy that this guy died as a result of the taser being used to subdue him, but I have personally witnessed far worse, and I don't believe any of those police involved should suffer the consequences here.
btw, the video does point to the pathetic state of security at YVR. Here a man is blocking the international arrivals gate with chairs, messing around with equipment, etc. Meanwhile a Cathay flight has landed with some 200+ passengers waiting to leave and some private security schmoe stands there and can't even move the guy without waiting 15 minutes for police? I shudder to think what the reaction time is like for potential terrorist incidents.
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You've watched the video? I have aswell. took a good 4 o 5 minutes for the cops to arrive, and within about 15-20 seconds of their first contact with him, he was tasered. Didn't even really resist the cops, he just turned around and waved his arms as he walked away. ten seconds later it looks like they hit him in the lower abdomen or the legs with the taser. They then appeared to knock him to the ground before tasering him again, then one guy was on his back, one on his head, etc.
Not once did it appear to me that he was threatening the officers. ignoring them? yes. And quite frankly in a situation where I was stuck with police I didn't understand, I would ignore them too untill they brought a translator.