H
Hydrogen
Guest
The tasers-are-non-lethal thing is something that gets repeated over and over again...but are they really? There are so many examples of people dying after being tasered I think that's a rather dubious claim at this point. And what's dangerous about them is precisely their supposed non-lethality--it makes cops quite likely to use them, and to use them in a fashion that includes shouts of "hit him again!"
I don't know if a manslaughter charge is appropriate here, but it *might* be.
The best that one can go by are the tests carried out with tasers, which show that in the case of general use, the device is non-lethal - even with multiple shocks (although risk increases with every shock). One should always take such a description with a grain of salt. With a pre-existing health condition, such shocks can be deadly to a person. The resulting deaths from taser use is an outcome of its greater use; and in many instances tasers have replaced firearms or batons.
In actual fact, all non-lethal means to subdue a person always carry a risk. Pepper spray has caused choking and severe allergic and asthmatic reactions. Non-lethal physical devices such as PR-24 batons, and correct training in their use, always expose both the police officer and the suspect to the threat of physical injury.
What I find interesting about the video is this: the airport people are calling the police multiple times and describing the person as "freaking out." I have to wonder if that, and the physical evidence of damage left by the guy, made a difference in how rapidly things were handled after that.