TN! of the week: Helen Roberts, Federal Government Lawyer at the Braidwood Inquiry

Who would have thought the Braidwood inquiry would take such a major turn "before" closing arguments ?

Today it was revealed that a crucial email was "overlooked" by the legal team representing the Government of Canada.

In the now partly disclosed email, Supt. Dick Bent writes to an RCMP Assistant Commissioner that the four officers responsible for the killing of Dziekanski "had discussed [their] response en route [to the airport,] that if [Dziekanski] did not comply that they would go to [use the taser]".

This appears to contradict earlier made statements by the four officers; they all testified in court that no discussion on how to respond had taken place prior to entering the airport.

Sounds like signs of cover-up to me.

Helen Roberts apologized today for the "overlooked" email from Bent, but, for someone who has been following this inquiry closely, I find it very hard to believe that such a damning email can so easily be overlooked; of course this legal team wanted to protect the government and its subsidiaries from blame, and given they were the single collector of government dossiers they had the intend, means and the opportunity.

Taser-Nazi of the Week
However appalling the above might read to you, it's not the sole reason why Helen Roberts got nominated for being the Taser-Nazi of the Week. After all, my explanation is still nothing more than speculation on WHY she and her team "overlooked" such a crucial email.

Neither did she get nominated for breaking out in tears: these are stressful times for everyone involved, including Helen Roberts and her Mounties.

What got her nominated was the content of her tearful explanation. She simply kept in line with her "old" narrative, propping up the cops's version of the truth that they never had any conversation about how to respond before getting to the airport, and that Bent was, how did she put that again, simply "mistaken."

A mistake, that explains it, right?

Helen Roberts, dismissing crucial evidence as a "mistake" while withholding this highly contradictory evidence coming from a top RCMP brass has gotten you nominated for Taser-Nazi of the week.

Congratulations!

UPDATE 1: This post called "Canada: Cover-up of RCMP murder of immigrant worker unravels" on the World Socialist website should not be missed

UPDATE 2: I agree with Vancouver Sun's conclusion of the column Mounties in Tasering should face prosecution: "That was not an "oversight." It was professional incompetence or a cover-up."

I Don't Want To Live On A Street

LINKS
- Vancouver Sun: Songwriters write ode after Taser death

TN! of the week: RCMP Constable Kwesi Millington:

Plenty of reasons why Kwesi Millington is the receiver of the Taser-Nazi of the Week nomination.

The most obvious ones:

1. "A bulletproof vest, handgun, baton and pepper spray were not enough to quell the fear RCMP Constable Kwesi Millington says he felt when confronted by Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski [who was holding a stapler] during a fatal October 2007 incident at Vancouver airport."

2.Without any warning Constable Kwesi Millington fired the taser at Robert Dziekanski, who, according to a scared Kwesi Millington, was making a threating gesture with a stapler toward one of the other three officers.

3. As a reaction to this "fluid" situation Kwesi did not taser Dziekanski once, not twice, no, Kwesi tasered "the subject" another four times AFTER it had fallen down on the floor from the excruciating pain from the first taser deployment.

4. Throughout the Braidwood hearing Mr. Millington's initial explanation continuously contradicted the Pritchard video, which seems nothing short of a cover up. The (a) yelling of Dziekanski, the (b) raising high of the stapler, (c) not functioning of the taser, (d) number of deployments of the taser, (e) even the intensions of Mr. Dziekanski (why Dziekanski walked to his luggage when asked for his passport and identification), they were all proven wrong by the video or other evidence presented at he inquiry.

What was it that Abraham Lincoln had to say about long strings of lies and cover-ups?

"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

Kwesi, you are the Taser-Nazi of the Week.

Congratulations!

LINKS
- Globe and Mail: "He was carrying a weapon and all four of us were only in our underwear"
- Dawg's Blawg: Braidwood to show us the obvious: the RCMP defeated by a single amateur video

RCMP officer Benjamin Monty Robinson involved in Robert Dziekanski killing AND main suspect in drunk-driving-causing-death incident last Saturday

RCMP officer Benjamin Monty Robinson, one of the four officers involved in the killing of Robert Dziekanski, has been caught drunk-driving and killing 21 year old Orion Hutchinson last Saturday.

One of the four RCMP officers involved in the Tasering of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski is facing charges of impaired driving causing death after a collision in Tsawwassen Saturday.

However, Delta police -- who are investigating the crash -- have refused to identify the officer until he makes his first court appearance on Jan. 15 and is formally charged.

Yes, the police is always eager to come up with names, except when it involves one of their colleges; Getting it Right did find the answer to who it was here:

An RCMP officer facing charges of impaired driving causing death in Delta is refusing to comment on the charges against him.

Reached by The Vancouver Sun on his cellphone Wednesday, Cpl. Benjamin Monty Robinson hung up as soon as a reporter identified himself.

Follow-up calls to Robinson went to voice mail and messages left for Robinson were not returned.

Robinson is due to appear in Surrey Provincial Court on Jan. 15 after he was allegedly involved in a collision Saturday night that left 21-year-old Orion Hutchinson dead.

To be honest with you, I think the idea of releasing the names of suspects is a bad practice to begin with. In the Netherlands all media is used to address suspects (but also convicted criminals) only by the first letter of their last name (that would be Benjamin R. in this case); and I am in favour of such a policy. But if the full name does need to be exposed on ideological grounds (and the Law and Order types in N-America are convinced it does) than at least be consistent about it.

Footnote: Investigations into the death of Robert Dziekanski have been delayed AGAIN. We still don't know who the other three suspected killers were. How's that justice and consistency working for you?

UPDATE:
-Read also the Macleans "blog"-post by Chris Selley: "Suspended with pay"

UPDATE 2
-Facebook Group: R.I.P Orion Hutchinson... STOP IMPAIRED DRIVING!!

UPDATE 3
- Benjamin Robinson was supervisor during taser killing of the Robert Dziekanski
This doesn't look good, folks. Why is this suspect of multiple killings still out on the streets? Why are out citizens not protected from these reckless killers? Does an RCMP batch give one a licence to taser someone to death? Does an RCMP barch give one a license to a hit-and-run while drunk? What's wrong with our RCMP?

LINKS
- Mounties in trouble, again
- Taser Mountie faces drunk-driving-causing-death charge
- Buckdog: Robert Dziekanski's Mother Threatens Legal Action Against RCMP

Vancouver Airport Taser tape conveniently erased

Does anyone remember me talking about an airport surveillance video of the Robert Dziekanski Taser-killing that could give some more insight to what exactly happened? Well, most of it is gone. Erased. And not a single investigating police officer has made a back-up copy of the whole ordeal. How convenient.

Border services says it deleted security footage inadvertently
Chad Skelton, Vancouver Sun

Published: Friday, April 11, 2008

Several hours of surveillance footage recorded at Vancouver airport the night Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski was Tasered and died were inadvertently erased by the Canada Border Services Agency a week after his death, The Vancouver Sun has learned.

The mistake is revealed in a series of internal CBSA e-mails on the Dziekanski matter released to The Sun in response to an Access to Information request.

Dziekanski was Tasered by the RCMP early on Oct. 14, 2007 after he began behaving erratically in a secure area of the airport -- pacing and throwing items against a glass wall.

However, before Dziekanski's interaction with the Mounties, he spent more than six hours in the airport's customs and baggage-claim hall without being noticed by anyone from the CBSA.

After Dziekanski's death, a CBSA officer reviewed all the agency's surveillance footage from that night to see if it provided any indication of what Dziekanski did for several hours in the customs hall.

That review found Dziekanski was picked up by CBSA cameras only about a dozen times, and just for a few minutes each time.

Between 4:15 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. -- a five-hour stretch -- the officer couldn't find Dziekanski on any of the footage, something the agency later said may have been due to construction in the area blocking camera angles.

The officer who reviewed the footage copied all the clips he found of Dziekanski onto a video disk.

However, weeks later, the CBSA decided it should take another look at all the footage to make sure it didn't miss anything.

"This is a significant undertaking, but close review may provide some additional information," John Dyck, head of the CBSA's Pacific Region Program and Communications division, wrote in a Nov. 1 e-mail to regional director Blake Delgaty. "We have requested that the full time period from all cameras be loaded to DVD for further review."

Unfortunately, by that point the original footage had all been erased.

In an e-mail to Dyck the same day, Binder Kooner, head of CBSA passenger operations at the airport, explained that there had been some confusion over how long the footage would be stored before being erased.

"I'm advised that footage was originally available for 16 days but due to subsequent modifications to the surveillance system, the footage is now only available for 7 days after which it automatically erases," Kooner wrote. "The footage is no longer available."

Kooner added that the CBSA officer who viewed all of the footage would write a declaration stating any clips of Dziekanski were included on the DVD.

Still, Dyck wrote back that "this is an unfortunate turn of events; we were under the impression that steps had been taken to preserve the video."

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, which is investigating Dziekanski's death, said Thursday it wasn't aware the CBSA's original footage had been erased.

However, IHIT spokesman Cpl. Dale Carr said the team is not worried because one of its investigators reviewed the complete footage before it was erased and was confident all clips of Dziekanski are on the DVD.

CBSA spokesman Derek Mellon refused to comment this week on why the agency didn't take steps to preserve the original footage or how confident it is that no shots of Dziekanski were missed.

In an e-mail, Mellon said only that he believed any questions about the footage were already answered in the documents released to The Sun.

The few clips of Dziekanski the officer burned to the DVD were released to The Sun earlier this year in response to a separate Access to Information request.

h/t The Coast of Bohemia: Tazer Video Deleted

LINKS
- Vancouver Sun: Video of YVR taser victim erased

Canadian Police paid in stock by TASER International

Taser is in the news again. This time Thomas Smith, Taser stun gun manufacturer, was grilled by MPs on Parliament Hill. The Public Safety commission was questioning Mr. Smith as part of study stemming from death of Robert Dziekanski.

Deadly Tasers

OTTAWA — With his company under intense scrutiny following a high-profile death, and with a potentially lucrative Canadian business deal on the horizon, the CEO of Taser International vigorously defended his company's signature stun gun on Parliament Hill yesterday. [...]

The committee's study of tasers, and in turn Mr. Smith's appearance, were in large part prompted by the case of Robert Dziekanski, the Polish immigrant who died last October after RCMP officers tasered him at Vancouver International Airport.

Mr. Dosanjh asked Mr. Smith whether he was suggesting that tasers played absolutely no role in the 300 or so North American deaths that occurred after the [use of one or more Tasers] in the past few years. Mr. Smith said the use of tasers was deemed a contributing factor in [the deaths of] about 30 cases.

Victoria Police Darren Laur paid with TASER stockHere's another reason why the police love their Taser so much:

It was during subsequent questioning about Taser International's financial relationship with Canadian police officers that Mr. Smith revealed TASER International had paid two Canadian officers for services.
One of those officers, Darren Laur of the Victoria B.C police, was compensated with Taser stock after designing a holster for the device. However, it was not publicly known that a second officer was paid until yesterday's hearing. After the session, Mr. Smith said he believes the second officer was from a Montreal police force and was paid to provide taser training in Europe because he could speak French.

- Wikipedia: Taser International
- Globe and Mail: Taser CEO grilled by public safety committee
- Getting it Right: Why the Police love their Tasers so much

UN Committee: Taser guns torture and kill

The latest news on Tasers (and other electroshock weapons) comes from the UN Committee against Torture (CAT):

Taser electronic stun guns are a form of torture that can kill, a UN committee said on Friday [November 23, 2007] after several recent deaths in North America.
"The use of these weapons causes acute pain, constituting a form of torture," the UN's Committee against Torture said.

Not really any new information for regular visitors of my site. But what's interesting is WHO is saying this, the United Nations Committee Against Torture, a "body of highly regarded independent human rights experts that monitors implementation of the Convention by State parties".

They've got more to say too:

"In certain cases, [tasers] can even cause death, as has been shown by reliable studies and recent real-life events," the committee of 10 experts said.

Three men, all in their early 20s, were reported to have died in the United States this week, days after a Polish man died at Vancouver airport after being tasered by Canadian police.

The man, Robert Dziekanski, 40, fell to the ground and died after the police officers piled on top of him. There have been three deaths in Canada after the use of Tasers over the past five weeks.

So now even the United Nations regards tasers as torturous weapons that can kill. When will our police stop using Tasers?

- 24.com: Stun Guns "a form of torture"
- wikipedia: UN Committee against Torture (CAT)

Tasers kill, but do they actually save lives?

We've heard the catch phrase many times in the last few days, tasers are supposedly saving lives. Here are some recent examples:

London Free Press (November 21, 2007): Taser critics don't know what they're talking about, Fantino says
"“I can say without qualification that Tasers save lives,” said Fantino."

570News Victoria (November 19, 2007): Police weapons expert says Tasers save lives, prevent injuries
"A Victoria police weapons expert says Tasers save lives and he personally believes he would have killed several people in the line of duty if it wasn't for his Taser. Const. Mike Massine says his use of the Taser diffused several tense situations where using his firearm was the next alternative.

CBC (November 17, 2007): RCMP to review Taser policy in wake of airport death: commissioner
Numerous police forces say the weapon is a crucial "non-lethal" option for officers that helps save lives and protect both them and civilians from injury.

Not that there's any hard evidence of course, on the contrary, there's a growing number of cases in which the Taser has been considered a primary or secondary cause of death.

So how can "experts" keep claiming that tasers save lives?

They use a technique called informal predictions, which are often nothing more than opinions marketed as "evidence".

Here's one of Taser's own fallacies, from Taser's paper: TASER Device Liability and Litigation Riskown fallacies (p.3):

TASER technology is saving lives as well. Houston (TX) Police reported that in 39 instances between December 2004 and October 2006, incident involved officers would have been justified in using deadly force instead of stunning them;

Taser makes several mistakes in reasoning:
- reporting that in 39 instances officers were "justified in using deadly force" doesn't mean that these officers would have actually used deadly force if they wouldn't have had a taser.
- using deadly force doesn't guarantee that the "victim" will die from it. There are many ways to shoot someone without killing; try the legs for example. And not all "use of deadly force" will actually result in a hit; police officers miss too.

So how many lives were actually saved? We don't know and neither does Taser. There is simply no hard evidence. What we do know for sure is that tasers kill. There's proof that between June 2001 and June 2007, there were at least 245 cases of deaths of subjects soon after having been shocked using Tasers.

Then why are there so many police officers repeating the "tasers save lives" myth? Well, why don't you read it for yourself?

(don't forget to read the comment section)

Update: more "Taser Saves Lives" bullshit below:

CBC (November 22, 2007): B.C. police chiefs defend Taser use but support reviews
But [British Columbia Association of Chiefs president Gord Tomlinson said the association is rejecting calls for a moratorium on Taser use because members believe the weapon is safe and saves lives.

CTV.ca (November 22, 2007): Commons committee to probe Dziekanski's death
"Forgive us if we sound biased in the defence of the Taser. But if we didn't believe completely that they've saved live[s] and prevented injuries . . . we wouldn't be using them."

Thunder Bay's Source (November 22, 2007): Fantino concerned about rhetoric over Taser use
[Fantino] says Tasers have been studied enough and is adamant that they save lives.

Note: Not a single journalist asked what the reasons are for believing that tasers save lives. Neither did anyone bother asking what the equation between lives saved and people killed is: so much for sound evidence or good journalism.

Upper-date: more "Taser Saves Lives" bullshit below:

CBC.ca (February 24, 2009): Tasers save lives, police associations say
Canada's two main police associations are defending the use of Tasers, saying in Ottawa Tuesday that [tasers] save lives and there is no proof the stun guns have been directly responsible for civilian deaths.

CNW (February 24, 2009): British Columbia Police Association supports national position on Taser use
Describing the Taser as a "vital tool that protects the lives of police and the public" BCPA President Tom Stamatakis notes that the 2,500 members of the 12 police services across B.C. that he represents "support the use of the Taser within clear guidelines".

Calgary Herald (February 13, 2009): RCMP limits use of Tasers
During a meeting of the Commons public safety committee on Thursday, [Commissioner William Elliott] insisted Tasers are still useful weapons that save lives, but also said the RCMP now recognize they can cause death in"acutely agitated" suspects.

Metro Canada (February 24, 2009): Chief Backs use of Tasers
[Police Chief Rick Hanson]: “Absolutely, they should have Tasers; Tasers save lives."

RCMP Watchdog continues whitewash of RCMP lies and spin

What do we expect from the "Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP"? One would think that such a commission would be critical of the RCMP right? Nothing could be further from the truth:

An RCMP watchdog has dismissed a civil rights group's complaint that the Mounties "misrepresented the facts" surrounding the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, even as the force continues to receive e-mails accusing it of "lying."

The Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP will instead follow up an internal complaint into whether officers followed proper procedures, according to a letter from its chairman, Paul Kennedy.

Insiders are probably not all that surprised because the commission is far from independent

The Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP is mandated to conduct reviews when complainants are not satisfied with RCMP handling of a complaint, but even it has no teeth, says the past chair of the commission, Shirley Heafey.

[...] the commission can't subpoena evidence or question witnesses involved in an RCMP investigation. It only has access to investigation material if the RCMP commissioner willingly hands it over.

And to be frank, when a watchdog uses euphemisms like "conducted energy weapon" (likely invented by Taser to describe the sometimes-lethal, other times torturous electroshock weapon, better known as the Taser) one has to wonder how "critical" this commission will be of ANY Taser use.

So did the RCMP lie? Many people think they did, and they've let the RCMP know too:

"We've been outright called liars," said Carr of e-mails he'd received from the public. "But a liar is someone that has one piece of information and says something else. We were giving the information we knew at the time. That's not a lie."

Well, this seems to become a classic example of an agency that, because of all the lying, doesn't know when to stop lying anymore. Of course the RCMP was lying; here's why, with some help from the Victoria Times Colonist.

The morning after the incident, Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre told a Sun reporter that three police officers tried to reason with Dziekanski, but instead he "continued to throw chairs around" despite efforts to calm him.

How many lies can one put in one paragraph? Just watch and see:

Did the RCMP know that there were not (lie #1)"three" police officers, but four?
Did the RCMP know that the four officers did not (lie #2) "reason with Dziekanski?
Did the RCMP know that Dziekanski did not (lie #3) "throw chairs around [after the police arrived on the scene]"?

The answer to all these questions "YES", they knew all these facts because they had the now famous RCMP Taser Killing video in their possession right after Robert Dziekanski had died.

The fact that the RCMP keeps lying about their lies is a good indicator that the whitewash has continued. Who IS going to stop it?

- CanWest: Watchdog rejects spin charge against RCMP
- Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP: Complaint
- The Tyee: As Killings by Police Mount, a Call for Independent Probes
- Wikipedia: Taser Controversy
- An interview with the Paul Pritchard (rush transcript; includes audio)

U of A Student Paper argues RCMP not to blame in RCMP Taser Killing

When reading the a problematic article titled "Tools, not police, to blame for death" by Paul Owen (probably a journalism student at the University of Alberta, writing for "the Gateway") , I tried to leave the following comment at their site, but it was "rejected" (error code 4 ?). His writing is in quotation marks, mine follows.

"Police officers are trained to prevent a violent action, not to react to one."

You must be kidding yourself, Mr. Paul Owen.

"but to place the blame for it solely on the shoulders of the four officers who simply did what they were trained to do"

Did you watch the same video I watched?
- I saw that these officers were using excessive (and evidently lethal) force in a situation that could have been resolved by good policing, assessing the situation better. Are you sure they were simply doing as they were trained to do?

All that this confused man needed was a little help (an interpretor would have helped). Never did the RCMP consider waiting for an interpretor. Why not? That's what you should ask the RCMP.

He never attacked bystanders, and in the opinion of many witnesses and several experts it seemed very unlikely Robert Dziekanski would have attacked anyone.

- What they should have known is the following, taken from the "office of the police complaint commissioner review" on "taser technology" p.39):

5. What role does restraint play in sudden and unexpected death proximate to restraint?

Subjects who struggle with police are almost always restrained in a face-down position.

If subjects are pinned down with a great deal of weight placed on their shoulders and back for a long period of time it may hamper their ability to breathe rapidly enough. Did you watch the video? All four were on top of Robert Dziekanski, who was in a face-down position for about 90 seconds while being handcuffed, and then he lost conscience.

- We DO KNOW that the RCMP lied about this RCMP Taser Killing. Lying has often been the RCMP strategy to protect their own but never was there a video in which reality appears to be significantly different from the RCMP whitewash/lies.

- These officers were also trained to resuscitate any person in the need of CPR. Did YOU see a single officer applying CPR? There were four of them present. None of them helped him when it mattered most; the point between life and death. These four officers are all guilty of gross neglect, if you ask me.

In short, your story is based on two false premises:
1) The police is not trained to react to an violent action. -
2) The four officers simply did what they were trained to do.

Once you've got the premises right, then proceed to argue what's proper or not.

- The Gateway: Tools not Police to blame for death

What members of Canada's Law Enforcement think about the RCMP Taser Killing; it's disgusting!

An anonymous person shared a link of the Blue Line Forum with me. What follows is a selection of what Canadian Law Enforcement has been expressing on this "wonderful forum", right after the release of the RCMP Taser Killing video:

"Setting up a barricade at the doorway does not strike me as the actions of a confused traveller. It indicates to me that he was preparing for a confrontation with the authorities."

"well IMO with the control tactics/use of force training I have I can see the RCMP being 100% justified in how they reacted to the situation."

"Why in God’s name should a copper get hurt just to avoid tasering or OCing a subject that it violent and out of control?"

"Today we have use of force tools that allow us to effect our purpose without getting a "bloody nose". Getting hurt isn't part of my job. My job is to get the job done and go home safely to my family."

"what would look worse to the general public, 4 coppers on top of this guy using knee strikes, arm bars, or possibly, batons to restrain him, or 2 "zaps" with a taser which drops him...they then place him in cuffs?"

"I don't go to work to become a punching bag, and weapons and tools are available to me so I go home. These guys are cops who are no different. At the end of the day it's ME who goes home, if some jerk-off who tried hurting me gets hurt or killed in the process, that's just too damn bad."

"Better to be judged by twelve than carried by six."

"Hell, WHY did this guy pick up a solid metal object with sharp corners? Do you REALLY think he was going to staple some loose papers in his passport? [..]Did this guy at one point have : ABILITY, INTENT, MEANS? Bet your ass."

"Again, no one has asked the obvious question: Why for the love of mike, if you had 7 years to learn even simple English phrases like " I am lost, can someone call my mother?" didn't he do so?"

"Broadcasting the videotape did nothing but inflame public opinion, without providing any additional information on whether the officers' actions were justified. [...] But, you do see the guy writhing in pain and then go limp - images which do little but crank up Joe Q. Public and the media."

"And as for Mr. Pritchard, if he sold this video for profit, he is less than a "global citizen" IMHO"

"I like that Ottawa Police demonstration of the Taser to the CBC, but it should have been someone in the CBC that they tasered....."

"Wow this [Paul Pritchard] guy is now Canada's newest hero. Yep 25 years old now he can move out of his parent's basement and change the world. One shitty, grainy video at a time. I noticed he did sweet nothing to try to calm the guy down, or maybe he could have subdued him by himself. Funny how easy it is to lay blame when you are sitting on your useless ass watching. Loser."

"Why is no one talking about how this Candian hero is benefiting financially from someone's death??"

"I'm glad all the RCMP members involved in the incident made it home to their families after shift."

"I'm always amazed that people try and profit from someone else's misery, either #1 I wouldn't film that, or #2 if I did, I would give it to the police and never think about it again. "

"i don't even read the news stories now. it's too frustrating."

"I guess that's what separates us from the scum of journalism. They see a duty to film. We see a duty to actually do something. Then they see a duty to criticize. Gaping crap pipes."

See for yourself how a single member of this forum (named VoteQuimby) gets bullied by all other members: start reading here or here.

And just so you know, the above comes from a "public" forum. One is only left to guess what the "tone" will be at Blue Line's "private" forums, which are unaccessible for "Joe Q. Public and the media".

Here is couple of images that two "Canadian Law Enforcement" members use to bolster their profiles:





Disgusting.

Upcoming rallies for Robert Dziekanski - show your support!

Yesterday about 500 people gathered at the international arrivals gate of the Vancouver International Airport, only meters from the place where Dziekanski died.

"We are not here to point fingers -- we all know what has happened," said organizer Martin Karcz. "I know many of you are angry. We failed to protect a person whose only crime was an inability to communicate.

"We hope the RCMP will never let this happen again."

Rallies in support of Robert Dziekanski and family have been organized (for next Saturday, November 24th, 2007) in Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto. Here's an overview:

Update: For the most current information about the planned rallies for Robert Dziekanski, please visit the following website: Events in memory of Robert Dziekanski

The site also includes links to picture slight-shows and YouTube video clips of past events.



Vancouver: Protest against RCMP using excessive force on Robert!
Host: Facebook Group - "Petition against RCMP officers involved in YVR Tazer Death"

Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007
Time: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: Downtown Vancouver, Art Gallery (Georgia Street side)
City/Town: Vancouver, BC

Description:
A protest against the brutality shown in the video, which resulted in the death of new immigrant Robert Dziekanski, 40. Please express your interest by showing up next Saturday November 24th, downtown at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Georgia Street side. Rally will commence 12pm. Please try to wear the red/white colors of the deceased's Polish heritage, in his memory. Remember, this is about awareness of the tragedy and a protest against the excessive use of tasers, _NOT_ an anti-police rally. THIS WILL BE A PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION!

More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8636840125

VICTORIA: Solidarity and Justice for Robert Dziekanski.
Express your outrage and show supprt for his family through a peaceful demonstration

Host: Facebook Group - "Petition against RCMP officers involved in YVR Tazer Death"

Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007
Time: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
City/Town: Victoria, BC

Description: PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION - come along and express your outrage and your disgust at the recent events resulting in the unlawful killing of Robert Dziekanski. Show Solidarity for the Dziekanski family and demand Justice so that this kind of thing NEVER happens again

More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6187158110

TORONTO: Defend Robert Dziekanski Toronto Queen's Park Protest Nov 24
Protesting Unreasonable Force/Showing Solidarity with Vancouver BC Protest Nov 24

Host: Facebook Group - "Protesting the use of Excessive force on Robert Dziekanski"

Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007
Time: 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Location: Queen's Park
Street: University Avenue
City/Town: Toronto, ON

Description: This Protest is designed to continue raising media awareness about the mistreatment of Robert Dziekanski and protest the unreasonable use of force. We want the government to know that Canadians, regardless of their location in Canada are disgusted and heartbroken by the handling of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver Airport. This situation involves issues of race, nationalism, violence and most significantly ethical human behaviour of kindness, patience and compassion.

More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6407280731

Please show your support!

- All events in memory of Robert Dziekanski

Airport surveillance video from RCMP Taser Killing could provide more evidence

There's more video of the RCMP Taser Killing of Robert Dziekanski, still in the hands of the investigators (RCMP, I suppose), which has not gone public.

[Larry] Berg [, president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority,] said 14 security cameras monitor the area, and the footage from those cameras has been turned over to investigators.

The RCMP has probably been studying these tapes like crazy, to see how they can spin their own story in order to get away with manslaughter, but this time it might be harder to so than ever. The release of Paul Pritchard's video has given the whole world a good view on what went wrong, and most people agree that actions of the four policemen and their superiors were sub-standard (to say the least).

Vancouver Police recently released original surveillance footage of a 2005 Hells Angels incident downtown Vancouver. Expect some delay but demand from authorities that the surveillance footage of the RCMP Taser Killing WILL be shown too. Fair is fair.

- CBC: Vancouver Airport CEO discusses Taser victim's final hours
- CBC: Surveillance video shows attack by alleged Hells Angels members

Why do police love their tasers so much?

Many things have been said about the latest Taser killing of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport. But why is it that the police keeps trying to convince us that the use of the Taser is safe, and that they need the weapon?

Amnesty International has an interesting take on the issue:

Amnesty International has serious concerns about the use of electro-shock devices in general, both in terms of their safety and their potential for misuse. Portable and easy to use, with the capacity to inflict severe pain at the push of a button without leaving substantial marks, electro-shock weapons are particularly open to abuse. Amnesty International has documented numerous cases of serious abuses involving electro-shock weapons around the world.

I'm sure Amnesty added the latest case.

Why do you think the police love their Tasers so much? Anyone who has an answer, please leave a comment.

- Owen Sound Sun Times: City police stand behind Tasers
- CBC: Ottawa police zap officer with Taser to show device's safety
- Amnesty International Canada: Amnesty International's concerns about Tasers
- Amnesty International USA: Amnesty International's continuing concerns about Tasers (pdf)

Taser did not kill Robert Dziekanski, the Vancouver RCMP police did; expert

This comes from the Times Colonist (CanWest) today;

Donald Van Blaricom, the former chief of the Bellevue, Wash., police department, said the officers should have made Dziekanski sit up as soon as possible after he was Tasered to help him breathe normally. He said Dziekanski's resistance after being handcuffed might have been due to his inability to catch his breath.

The 2005 B.C. Police Complaint Commissioner report concluded many Taser-related deaths are likely due to the way suspects are restrained after being Tasered, rather than the Taser itself. The report recommended that following a Taser shock, a subject should be restrained in a way that allows him to breathe easily, preferably face up.

After watching the video several times I noticed that it took about 90 seconds for four policemen to handcuff Mr. Dziekanski. During this time at least one policemen sat on top of Mr. Dziekanski, feet off the floor, and all this time he was restrained on his back.

Nevertheless many conclude that the tasering itself was unnecessary, including this policing expert;

Michael Lyman, a policing expert at Columbia College in Missouri, said the four officers on the scene should have been able to physically restrain Dziekanski [..]:
"I don't even think batons or mace would have been necessary, given that there were four officers on the scene."

A report into the use of Tasers commissioned by B.C.'s Police Complaint Commissioner in 2005 recommended that Tasers should be used only against a subject who is actively resisting arrest or posing a risk to others, not someone who is simply "passively resisting."

How long do we have to wait until these four officers involved be arrested and put on trial for manslaughter? According to some bloggers these four Vancouver RCMP officers are still on duty, WITH tasers.

An appalling thought.

- Times Colonist: Footage appears to conflict with RCMP
- 2005 BC Police Complaint Commissioner Report on Taser