It’s simply dreadful how these communist propaganda mouthpieces, like the Salt Lake City Tribune continue to attack our law enforcement officials from using tasers to protect themselves from unarmed naked people. So what if a bipolar guy who could have been taken into custody without the use of deadly force died after being shocked twice by the police because he was “walking toward them?” Mentally disturbed people should know better than to fail to obey a lawful police order immediately. Guy had it coming to him, is what I say.
In June, [Brian Cardall] 32, was returning to Arizona after visiting Utah when he experienced a manic episode brought on by his bipolar disorder. He pulled his car to the side of the road, got out, removed his clothes, and began flagging down vehicles on State Road 59 outside Hurricane.
Cardall’s wife gave him medication, called the police, informed the dispatcher of her husband’s psychotic condition and the fact that it would take a while for the medicine to take effect. But Cardall ran out of time.
Just 42 seconds after Hurricane Chief of Police Lynn Excell and officer Ken Thompson arrived at the scene, Thompson claims, a confused Cardall, who refused to get on the ground as ordered, stepped toward the officers. Thompson fired his Taser, striking a naked and unarmed Cardall in the chest over the heart. When the Flagstaff resident attempted to rise, Thompson gave him a second jolt. Within minutes, Cardall was dead, one of about 350 Americans to die after a Taser deployment since 2001.
Had the incident occurred 20 years ago, before Tasers came on the market, Cardall, who weighed just 156 pounds, would have been physically taken to the ground and handcuffed. He may have suffered bumps and bruises, cuts and scrapes. The police officers would have risked same. But nobody would have died.
Don’t you hate it when certain “socialistic” newspaper editors carp about the “good old days” before tasers were invented and police were given the right to literally shock people into submission for any reason whatsoever?
Why should our law enforcement officials have to risk dirtying up their spiffy and no doubt freshly washed uniforms by wrestling unarmed naked people to the ground merely to put handcuffs on them? As another example, why should our police have to risk scrapes and bruises to subdue some ten year old kid who throws a hissy fit? Or have to listen to some mouthy 72 year old woman talk smack at them?
Hey, a few unnecessary deaths is a small price to pay for keeping our police officers looking neat and tidy, stress free, and not having to suffer the indignity of wrestling unarmed 156 pound naked guys.