Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
Posted on 11/10/2006 11:48:51 PM PST by FLOutdoorsman
Man refused to remove hat, struggled with police
Saginaw's City Council meeting featured a shocking incident Monday night. A Saginaw Valley State University student was TASERed after he became unruly after being asked to take off his baseball cap.
There is a new rule at Saginaw City Council meetings. Men are required to take their hats off. Evidently, they are pretty serious about this new rule.
The man was wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers hat. Officer Doug Stacer of the Saginaw Police Department asked him to remove the hat. The man raised his voice and did not remove the hat.
As the officer tried to grab the hat and then tried to grab the man, the man with the hat tried to kick Saginaw Police Chief Gerald Cliff, who was coming to help out.
At that point, Stacer TASERed the man, which sends 50,000 volts into a person's body. Cliff and Stacer got help from Saginaw County Sheriff Charles Brown hauling the man off to jail.
A few people stood up and watched the event; the meeting resumed a short time later.
The man faces possible charges of alarming and harassing conduct -- a misdemeanor -- and assaulting a police officer. That's a felony. He was not arraigned Tuesday.
"Who would want to live in Michigan?"
I would, and thank you for asking.
Seems this may take the focus off real problems then.
Thanks
The tasering was in response to kicking at the officer, not for refusing to leave.
That's what politicians do.
If the people aren't happy with those politicians they can remove them.
People have the government they deserve.
It's an interesting question. Is the hat off thing more east coast? I live in Oregon and Washington and I *never* see people take their hats off. I see hats on in theatres, restaurants, church. I think they do make you take your hat off in court, but I haven't been there for 15 years so it may have changed too.
Is taking your hat off when, for instance, you sit down to eat a "old school" manners thing, or is it a "eastern" custom that never took hold in the west?
Yes and the kicking was in response to the beating which was in response to him swatting away the hand of the LEO who tried to take his hat off for him. The correct response, for the LEO who supposedly is trained and professional, would have been to inform the citizen he was going to be arrested for failing to follow the "no hats" rule and they attempt to peacefully arrest him.
He did not do this but acted like a common thug.
Guess I missed the "beating" part.
Seems even the officers attempt to "grab the man" was a failure as it was described as "tried."
I think in this case it was a matter of the Mayor and her fellow council members wanting to command more respect for themselves and the city government, and make young people understand civility and things like that. Too bad this kid started getting feisty, if he had just quietly gone out he probably wouldn't have been roughed up - especially with a whole room full of bleeding heart liberals looking on. Unless he was white.
He wasn't.
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
lol!
I think someone who resists a police officer should be treated accordingly but a taser seems like overkill to me - over a hat.
OK, I'm convinced. Let's do it. Way too many are into such a power trip and have their power toys to back them up, so I'm WAY cool with disarming them AND having them WALKING beats, as they did years ago. Then they got to know all the neighborhoods and the people and kids who lived there. They knew how to STOP trouble before it got started and how to KEEP THE PEACE, something today's "LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS" haven't a CLUE how to do. After someone has been a PEACE OFFICER for about five years or so, let him carry some cuffs and a nightstick. Another five years, maybe we can trust him with a piece. LEOs, on the other hand, should NEVER be trusted with anything deadlier than their hands.
A few broken teeth would be good.
"See, I got this when I didn't take off my hat."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.