Two days ago near Ashland, Oregon, a young woman, dazed and oblivious, walking naked on the side of a freeway, was tasered by an Oregon State Trooper because... well, for no obvious reason other than she failed to obey an order to halt.
This description of the incident comes from a Good Samaritan who stopped, tried to help the young woman, and then called police when she was unresponsive. Little did he realize what would happen when a police person arrived.
The trooper who arrived called for her to stop, and threatened twice to tase her. After giving no response, two little red dots appeared on her back, then metal darts. "She seized up, and she just fell face first on the ground; just face first on the ground."
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See some of you at the Daily Kos caucus this morning at Netroots Nation. If I'm not tasered on the way down.
More info
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Just after 4 a.m., a passing motorist spotted the pedestrian, later identified as a husky 11-year-old girl suffering from autism... The girl ignored the Good Samaritan's efforts to get her to stop, said Lt. Gregg Hastings, an OSP spokesman.
When a trooper arrived, the girl remained uncooperative and continued wandering along an unlit stretch of highway, Hastings said. The trooper was "worried about hallucinogenic impairment," when the girl ran out into traffic lanes, he said. After two warnings, the trooper used her taser to bring the girl down, Hastings added...
The child's father, Aram Hampson, told a Medford-area television station that his daughter has a severe case of autism and cannot carry on a conversation... Hampson called the taser use "excessive."
http://www.oregonlive.com/...