From JPMassar's diary about the death of an 18 year old artist who was tasered to death by police in Miami
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Miami Beach police say an 18-year-old died after being shocked with a stun gun as he resisted arrest for spraying graffiti.
Chief Ray Martinez told the Miami Herald (http://hrld.us/.... ) that officers spotted Israel Hernandez-Llach painting graffiti on an abandoned fast-food restaurant early Tuesday. Martinez said the teen ran, but was eventually cornered. He said Hernandez-Llach then ran at the officers and one shot him with a Taser in the chest. The teen went into medical duress and died at a hospital.
The
description of the incident would sound like an overreaction by the police to a very minor crime, if we weren't used to such stories every day.
After Hernandez-Llach was spotted spraying graffiti and ran, five officers chased him.
The chief said Hernández-Llach was confronted by officers about 5 a.m. as he was vandalizing private property, and he fled, leading officers on a foot chase. It ended at 71st and Harding when he was cornered by police and ran toward the officers, ignoring commands to stop, Martinez said.
“The officers were forced to use the Taser to avoid a physical incident,’’ the chief said.
Forced to use the Taser? Seriously? A physical incident? Police afraid of this guy?
No doubt they feared he was a ninja blade wielding martial artist.Why does it always escape them that if they hadn't chased the 'perpetrator' in the first place, there would be no danger of a 'physical incident' occurring.
“He is a very skinny guy, very small” Fernández said.
They stopped him from painting, but multiple officers (why so many) had to chase him down, for what?
Félix Fernández said he saw about five police officers chasing Hernández and shoving him against a wall. Then he saw his friend on the ground, surrounded by police.
“He was on the ground and the cops were making jokes,” said 19-year-old Thiago Souza.
Two of the dead teenager’s friends, including one who says he was his “lookout” while Hernández-Llach applied paint, said the officers exchanged high-fives and congratulations after Tasering him.
So it's not good enough they avoided a 'physical incident', they had to congratulate themselves for it. This is police gone wild. It's vile and disgusting. They are no longer protecting ordinary citizens, they are over-militarized, aggressive actors who see the world full of criminals, everyone is a suspect or troublemaker, and they will not face accountability for this.
How can anyone deny the existence of a police state when a young, slight man's death for spraying graffiti is cheered by his pursuer-killers? A recent report from the FBI indicates that 1 in 25 people were arrested in 2011.
One of the officers involved has been placed on paid leave. The case is under investigation.
The case is currently under internal investigation by Miami Beach Police, Reuters reported. Friends and family are calling for an independent investigation into the teen's death. Officer Thomas Lincoln, Officer Cormilus Lattimore and Sergeant Rey Aguilar are also being investigated in addition to Mercado, according to CBS Miami.
"There is no justification for this kind of action for a second-degree misdemeanor," Jason W. Kreiss, a lawyer representing Hernandez-Llach's family, told Reuters.
Grafitti is typically a misdemeanor in Florida if the damage to the property is less than $1,000.
Killed for a misdemeanor, and cheered by the killers.