Free Republic

Security Director First Sprayed Pepper SprayDES MOINES, Wash. -- A police officer used a TASER gun on a student to break up a fight between two juniors at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines Thursday. The Highline School District's director of security was in the high school when the fight broke out in the school cafeteria at 7:30 a.m. The first time the two students fighting ignored the security director's orders to stop fighting, he sprayed them with pepper spray. When that didn't stop the fight, the school's resource officer took out a TASER gun and jolted one of...

FRiends, I live in Thailand. Every couple of years I like to get a fresh couple of cannisters of Mace or pepper spray. I used to order from the USA, but suppliers will no longer send through the mail, and I don't know anyone in the USA that would do that for me. Pepper spray is legal in Canada in limited form (for protection against bears and dogs only!) and I do have someone there that will send it to me, but it is tough to find. After a couple of hours on the web I could only find one...

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Angry that his truck had been towed, a 64-year-old man was arrested at a busy intersection while walking on his way to get it back - with a loaded rifle. Savannah-Chatham County police said officers spotted Floyd Goldwire with the gun in his hand Thursday walking through rush-hour traffic at the crowded commercial intersection of Bull Street and DeRenne Avenue. Two officers drew their guns and confronted Goldwire, police said, but he refused to drop his rifle. "He just wouldn't give up the gun," said Sgt. Ashley Brown, a precinct shift supervisor. "He wasn't threatening anyone, but...

A mob scene unfolded at Oceanside High School on Mission Avenue Wednesday morning when about 200 students tried to leave campus, only to be blocked by police officers toting pepper-spray pellet guns and wearing riot gear. The scene at the campus subsided as school let out this afternoon and protesting students headed for the Oceanside Bandshell at the beach. Three boys have been arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly throwing chunks of concrete at officers during the incident at the school. Tensions arose at the school just before noon, when several hundred students tried to...

THE OTTAWA Police Firearms Task Force yesterday swooped down on a Navan Rd. homeowner suspected of having a cache of illegal weapons, shot him and his dog with a Taser and left without finding any weapons. Yvon Richer says he was returning from an early-morning snowmobile ride on his 50-acre property in the city's southeast end at around 9:15 a.m. when a vehicle pulled into the driveway and a voice behind him screamed, "Get on the ground!" He looked back at a police officer with his weapon drawn and as many as 40 others, some of them in tactical gear,...

An FBI sweep launched in Puerto Rico to prevent a "domestic terrorist attack" is eliciting widespread outrage on the island - and as far away as New York City - with critics accusing the agency of trying to use terrorism as a guise to turn public opinion against Puerto Rico's independence movement. The Friday morning raid on the U.S. commonwealth, which targeted five private homes and one business, was launched to prevent attacks from the Boricua Popular Army, the FBI said. The special agent in charge of the San Juan Division of the FBI, Luis Fraticelli, said the searches were...

DALLAS- A Peruvian citizen living in North Texas died Friday morning, two weeks after a struggle with two Allen police officers who the department said used pepper spray when the man resisted arrest. Edgar Vera, 45, had been on life support in a McKinney hospital, which had orders from his relatives not to resuscitate him, said family attorney Steve Salazar of Dallas. Salazar said no lawsuit has been filed against Allen police. He plans to await autopsy results and medical records from the incident. A cousin, Luis Pacchioni, said once the Collin County Medical Examiner's Office completes its autopsy, the...

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Baton Rouge police officers used stun guns on innocent people, hit handcuffed suspects and damaged cars and other personal property during patrols after Hurricane Katrina doubled the city's population, according to New Mexico State Police. In addition to a complaint filed with Louisiana authorities in September, the agency plans to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate, said Peter Olson, spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. His department and Michigan State Police had not given details about why they pulled out of Baton Rouge after patrols Sept. 9 and 10. Olson...

Top Local Stories Elkhart Officer’s Gun, Taser Stolen From Car (WSBT) A number of car break-ins in Elkhart County have police concerned, especially after the latest victim was one of their own. An Elkhart Police officer's semi-automatic rifle and his taser were stolen from his personal car overnight Wednesday in northern Elkhart County. It's a .223 caliber rifle, it's intended for law enforcement only,” said Capt. Tom Love of the Elkhart Police Department. “it's a great concern that it's out there. Obviously we want to get the gun back.” Since September, county police have taken 60 reports of car break-ins...

As the State Street crowd turned suddenly riotous early Sunday morning, police resorted to the use of pepper spray to quell the horde of Halloween revelers for the fourth year in a row. Madison’s Halloween tradition is now in jeopardy, as indicated by a release Sunday from Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Police Chief Noble Wray, which raised serious questions about the future of the event. Discussions to cancel the event or limit it are expected to ensue over the course of next year.

PITTSBURGH - Police charged four people protesting the war in Iraq, two of whom suffered minor injuries from the police response, when 60 people disrupted traffic by marching the wrong way down a busy one-way street toward an Army recruiting station. The Pittsburgh Organizing Group planned the Saturday morning demonstration. A spokesman for that group, David Meieran, accused police of responding with "inappropriate and excessive force." Meieran claimed some protesters were pepper sprayed and Tasered; he said a 68-year-old woman who was not resisting was bitten by a police dog. Police spokeswoman Tammy Ewin initially said no pepper spray was...

Pepper spray still illegal 27 May 2005 CAMDEN Police are warning women that carrying pepper spray in self-defence is still illegal. Two girls - an American and German - have recently received cautions after the spray was found in their handbags. One of the girls was trying to get into Koko's nightclub in Mornington Crescent, while the other was stopped and searched in the street. Both said they carried it for their own protection and didn't realise it was an offence in this country. Although widely available in America, pepper spray is classed as a firearm in the UK and...

PONDERAY, Idaho — A woman was arrested on a child endangerment charge after an infant was doused with pepper spray in a feud between two families in a Wal-Mart (search), police said The 2-month-old baby was recovering after being sprayed Monday with the oleoresin capsicum (search) solution, which is derived from chili peppers, police Chief Mike Hutter said. Lorlie M. Gantenbein, 36, was charged Tuesday with felony injury to a child. Bail was set at $5,000. The altercation apparently started earlier at a gas station, but both groups met later at the discount store, Hutter said. Police reports indicate Gantenbein's...

After eight years and three trials, a group of protesters whose eyes were swabbed with pepper spray during a series of anti-logging demonstrations finally won their case Thursday against Humboldt County sheriff's deputies and Eureka police -- but were awarded only $1 each in damages. A federal jury deliberated for about 12 hours starting Tuesday before returning its verdict, finding that law enforcement had used excessive force while trying to break up three different protests in the fall of 1997, including one at then-Rep. Frank Riggs' Eureka office and another at the Scotia headquarters of the Pacific Lumber Co. It...

SAN FRANCISCO - Law enforcement officers from two northern California counties were found liable Thursday for using excessive force by swabbing pepper spray in the eyes of logging protesters in 1997. A jury awarded eight plaintiffs $1 each. It was the third trial in the case; the first two ended in deadlocked juries in 1998 and 2004. The plaintiffs laughed and hugged outside the courtroom — and applauded when jurors left their chambers. "They did the right thing," said Terri Slanetz, a 42-year-old naturalist from Oakland. "We've been trying all along to get a statement that this was illegal. It's...

An irate Andover housewife was freed without bail on assault charges after a case of snowball rage allegedly prompted her to chase down some kids with a tire iron and a can of pepper spray. Among the victims was a high school student who reportedly was an innocent bystander who just asked her to move her car. ``(Maria) Needs told him to say one more thing and he would see what would happen and she was waving the metal bar at him,'' read a police report. ``(He) said something sarcastic and at this time, Mrs. Needs sprayed him with pepper...

This is a funny voice mail: http://mfile.akamai.com/5022/wma/coast.download.akamai.com/5022/clips/05/02/020305_incident.asx

NEW YORK Oct 30, 2004 — A member of rapper Jay-Z's entourage released pepper spray at R. Kelly during a joint concert at Madison Square Garden, Kelly's publicist said. The spraying happened about an hour into Friday night's show, when Kelly walked on stage and said he saw two people in the audience waving guns, publicist Allan Mayer said. Kelly abruptly stopped his set around 9:30 p.m. while arena security employees searched for weapons. Finding none, guards told Kelly it was safe to continue performing, Mayer said. But as the singer was making his way back to the stage, a...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - A man who fought with several people and bit a bystander died after sheriff's deputies used pepper spray on him, authorities said. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the cause of death. Callers told a dispatcher Friday afternoon that a man was behaving erratically, Broward County sheriff's spokeswoman Liz Calzadilla said. Deputies and paramedics found Derek T. Kendrick struggling with neighbors who were trying to hold him down, Calzadilla said. He "was extremely combative and when deputies got closer to try to restrain him, he turned and bit a bystander," Calzadilla said. The deputies used...

In response to a big increase in violent crimes against women in upscale Massachusetts towns, some thousands of good Liberals have decided maybe the Beatles were wrong and have applied to carry pepper spray/mace. Surprise! In The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts, pepper spray is considered a lethal weapon and before it can be purchased or carried, a person must beg her local police department for a firearms license. The approval typically takes 2-3 months, and upon being granted the licnese, the woman's personal information becomes public record, to whit: Name, address, marital status ("I live alone"), mother's maiden name, prior...