Video Raises Questions About Taser Death
A video of a Polish immigrant being jolted with a police Taser at the Vancouver airport shows the man screaming and writhing in pain on the floor shortly before he dies.
The video, taken by another traveler on Oct. 14, shows four Royal Canadian Mounted Police converging on Robert Dziekanski, who could not speak English and who had languished in the airport arrivals area for 10 hours after his flight arrived last month.
"He's holding a folding table at the door to the arrivals area of Vancouver airport. He's exhausted, confused, and breathing heavily," reports Terry Milewski of the CBC.
After arriving from Poland on his first-ever plane ride, Dziekanski had been waiting 10 hours for his mother, who told him to wait in the baggage area. But she couldn't go in there, couldn't get a message to him and finally went home after being told he never arrived.
On the video, a bystander tried to calm Dziekanski down, but he didn't understand. Then, he picked up a computer and threw it, and then a wooden piece of furniture.
The Polish man appears calm when the police arrive.
The video shows him backing up, raising his hands and turning away before the police stun him with the 50,000-volt Taser, sending him to the floor screaming before he's stunned again and the Mounties pin down his head and limbs to handcuff him.
"Probably the most disturbing part is one of the officers using his leg and his knee to pin his head and his neck against the ground," said Paul Pritchard, who made the video.
Dziekanski then became quiet and died soon after.
"I don't know why it ever became a police incident," said retired Vancouver police Supt. Ron Foyle. "It didn't seem that he made any threatening gestures towards them."
"Not a lot goes on in an airport. So, if you're there and there's an incident, sometimes they might overreact. It looks like that's what happened in Vancouver," aviation expert Michael Boyd said on CBS News' The Early Show Thursday.
The RCMP urged the public not to rush to judgment.
The lawyer for Diekanski's mother, Walter Kosteckyj, said the release of the video has driven the woman into seclusion.
He said Zofia Cisowski of Kamloops saw part of the video and feels her son was frightened, in distress and looking for help which he never got.
"They have to do something with this killing with that Taser weapon. they should do something because that is killer, people killer," Cisowski told the CBC before going into seclusion.
"You've got to question whether one person standing there with three or four officers is a threat," Boyd told Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm. "It doesn't look good for the Canadian police right now."
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The video, taken by another traveler on Oct. 14, shows four Royal Canadian Mounted Police converging on Robert Dziekanski, who could not speak English and who had languished in the airport arrivals area for 10 hours after his flight arrived last month.
"He's holding a folding table at the door to the arrivals area of Vancouver airport. He's exhausted, confused, and breathing heavily," reports Terry Milewski of the CBC.
After arriving from Poland on his first-ever plane ride, Dziekanski had been waiting 10 hours for his mother, who told him to wait in the baggage area. But she couldn't go in there, couldn't get a message to him and finally went home after being told he never arrived.
On the video, a bystander tried to calm Dziekanski down, but he didn't understand. Then, he picked up a computer and threw it, and then a wooden piece of furniture.
The Polish man appears calm when the police arrive.
The video shows him backing up, raising his hands and turning away before the police stun him with the 50,000-volt Taser, sending him to the floor screaming before he's stunned again and the Mounties pin down his head and limbs to handcuff him.
"Probably the most disturbing part is one of the officers using his leg and his knee to pin his head and his neck against the ground," said Paul Pritchard, who made the video.
Dziekanski then became quiet and died soon after.
"I don't know why it ever became a police incident," said retired Vancouver police Supt. Ron Foyle. "It didn't seem that he made any threatening gestures towards them."
"Not a lot goes on in an airport. So, if you're there and there's an incident, sometimes they might overreact. It looks like that's what happened in Vancouver," aviation expert Michael Boyd said on CBS News' The Early Show Thursday.
The RCMP urged the public not to rush to judgment.
"it is only one piece of evidence and it's one person's view, the viewfinder of one individual," said RCMP Cpl. Dale Carr, adding that something made the Mounties take the action they did.
The lawyer for Diekanski's mother, Walter Kosteckyj, said the release of the video has driven the woman into seclusion.
He said Zofia Cisowski of Kamloops saw part of the video and feels her son was frightened, in distress and looking for help which he never got.
"They have to do something with this killing with that Taser weapon. they should do something because that is killer, people killer," Cisowski told the CBC before going into seclusion.
"You've got to question whether one person standing there with three or four officers is a threat," Boyd told Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm. "It doesn't look good for the Canadian police right now."
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it seems CLEARLY OBVIOUS that this man was taserd beyond necessity . If four men can not get a set of cuffs on one individual on the ground, then there are bigger problems here including egos and trigger happy fingers. Ignorance is no excuse for the lack of protocol SHAME ON THESE OFFICERS. An Independent inquest is absolutely essential.
Oh and by the way it''s has now been proven that the tasing did not kill this person.
Who in their right mind would go to a foreign country, get stood up by their ride from the airport and rationally decide to destroy the airport... This guy snapped and vividly demonstrated his violent tendencies when he decided to wreck the place!
Why the taser??? Would ANY one of you want to go up and put your hands on this guy and take a chance on getting stabbed with the knife we can''t see in his pocket, or the razor blade we can''t see in his mouth, or get bitten by him if he is carrying an active case of hepatitus-C???? I didn''t think so. Neither do the Mounties.
I am a veteran cop and I have been in this business long before their were tasers. I have the permanent injuries to show for it too. For the time I spent off of work and recovering from those injuries my family suffered through a much reduced income, and for what??? The smucks bonded out of jail before I could get discharged from the emergency room.
I extend my sincerest condolences to the family of the deceased, it is unfortunate that they have to mourn this loss. I also extend my condolences to the Mounties involved, they have to live with the memories of a madman that died while they were trying to lawfully and reasonably take him into custody without causing him injury.
MD
Texas Peace Officer
I think the police did the right thing here. A taser doesn''t kill people, it''s been done on TV on Jack.as.s a few times, no one died. This guy must have had a medical condition. Airport police in my local international airport don''t have guns, the only defense they have would be harsh words or maybe a taser.
Hell, I''m buying a taser today. Seems like the ''IN'' thing to do this week.
Thank you Jesus and Hillary. lol
I am appalled at the actions of the Mounties. Just because one wears a badge ,it does not make him God!!!!! I do hope they are held responsible for this senseless killing.
I also think that the media should choose their words more carefully so that they do not appear so bloodthirsty, callous, heartless and insensitive. Just ask yourselves one question, "Would I want to be expected to watch this kind of footage if it were my loved one?"
AT 3:03 we can ear a cop so MAY I TEASE HIM even before the even met the guy
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=zTuQBlsrKqY
AT 3.03 we can ear a cop so MAY I TEASE HIM even before the even met the guy