[VIDEO] Outrage as UK officer seen tasering Black father in front of son

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This just happened a few hours ago <a href="https://twitter.com/gmpolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@gmpolice</a> <a href="https://t.co/0sIwn3NrHI">pic.twitter.com/0sIwn3NrHI</a></p>— Yaa (@essmurph) <a href="https://twitter.com/essmurph/status/1258537649368739840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

London, United Kingdom - A UK policeman who tasered a father in front of his young child is facing accusations of using excessive force unnecessarily after the moment was caught on video and shared widely on social media.

In the video, two policemen can be seen at a petrol station in Manchester, northern England, arguing with the driver, 34-year-old Desmond Ziggy Mombeyarara, outside a police car as his son stands by his legs, distressed and shouting "Daddy!".

One of the officers releases the taser on Mombeyarara, who is Black.

The taser makes a bang and Mombeyarara falls to the ground.

His son shouts "daddy!" again, cries and stamps his feet in a traumatised manner.

The officer who fired the taser orders Mombeyarara to "put your hands behind your back, now!", but he appears unable to do so.

The other officer then picks the crying child up and takes him away.

Tasers disable people by firing an electric charge into their bodies through needle-tipped darts.

According to the College of Policing, a professional body for policing in the UK, the usual reaction of someone who has been tasered "is loss of some voluntary muscle control accompanied by involuntary muscle contractions".

During the discharge, the subject may "not be able to respond to verbal commands during the discharge" or could "freeze on the spot".

In a statement on Friday, Greater Manchester Police said the incident took place on Wednesday before 11pm, local time.

"Police officers observed a vehicle being driven unsafely at high speed on Chester Road, in Stretford," said the statement, adding they stopped Mombeyarara and arrested him.

Mombeyarara was charged with resisting arrest, speeding, not having car insurance, failing to stop when required, refusing a test and being unfit to drive through drink.

He was also charged with "one count of unnecessary travel", which refers to violating current coronavirus lockdown measures in the UK, under which only essential travel is allowed.

He was remanded in custody and due to appear before Manchester Magistrates' Court on Friday.

"We have voluntarily referred this matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), to ensure transparency and independence in terms of reviewing the circumstances of the arrest," said Greater Manchester Police.

Superintendent Mark Kenny said: "We are aware of public concern regarding this arrest and I want to reassure the public that this matter is being reviewed and treated seriously. In addition, we have voluntarily referred this matter to the IOPC."

The IOPC is a police watchdog, sponsored by the UK Home Office.

Andy Burnham, Manchester mayor and a politician with the opposition Labour Party, said: "I was concerned about what I saw ... It is not at all clear that the level of force used in this instance, particularly in front of a child, was proportionate or justified and that is why I have asked for an urgent and independent review to be carried out."

He added, however: "From what I have been told, it would appear that the officers were right to apprehend the individual who was putting his child and others at risk by his actions."

'Tasers should be last, not first resort'
Deborah Coles, head of Inquest, a UK charity providing expertise on state-related deaths and their investigation to bereaved people, wrote on Twitter that she had "serious questions".

Greater Manchester Police "must answer as to why a taser was discharged in a petrol station and with a young child present. Tasers should be a last not first resort. Reinforces concerns about disproportionate use of force against black people".

Aamer Anwar, a Scottish-based lawyer, tweeted: "Force used must be reasonable, legitimate & proportionate - using a taser at a petrol pump, do they not realise the deadly danger of using it near flammable material? Doing it right in front of the man’s toddler? A lot of questions."

Twitter user Michael Morgan said: "This taser incident is yet another example of institutionally racist policing and disproportionate use of force."

Example, a British musician, said: "This is disgraceful. There'll be so many people saying 'why didn’t he cooperate?' But how can two male police officers not deal with this WITHOUT a taser !!?? And the poor kid. Scarred for life. The cycle continues."

Source Al Jazeera

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Mayor has issued a statement in response to a recent video showing a police incident involving <a href="https://twitter.com/gmpolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@gmpolice</a> officers. <a href="https://t.co/pSV6wsGyh2">pic.twitter.com/pSV6wsGyh2</a></p>— Mayor Andy Burnham (@MayorofGM) <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorofGM/status/1258704583741882369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 8, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[sweep_shot]

Mombeyarara was charged with resisting arrest, speeding, not having car insurance, failing to stop when required, refusing a test and being unfit to drive through drink.

These were his faults apparently. Driving without car insurance can get you in trouble in many countries.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I mean the guy wasn't co-operating, but he was hardly being threatening either. There was absolutely no need to use the taser at that point. It's the sort of heavy handed treatment you would expect to see meted out in the third world.

 

[HitWicket]

I'd have a lot more sympathy for him if he wasn't being charged with 8 offences that endangered his own life, his kids life and the lives of others.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Now imagine if that policeman had a gun with him.

 

[Bigboii]

I mean the guy wasn't co-operating, but he was hardly being threatening either. There was absolutely no need to use the taser at that point. It's the sort of heavy handed treatment you would expect to see meted out in the third world.

Or in the US

 

[sweep_shot]

I mean the guy wasn't co-operating, but he was hardly being threatening either. There was absolutely no need to use the taser at that point. It's the sort of heavy handed treatment you would expect to see meted out in the third world.

How else would you make him cooperate?

He was breaking a lot of rules (including drunk driving). He could've killed someone with drunk driving.

 

[Zaz]

Damn Yes it was excessive Its not as if he was being violent or resisting arrest

The below is key

Greater Manchester Police "must answer as to why a taser was discharged in a petrol station and with a young child present. Tasers should be a last not first resort. Reinforces concerns about disproportionate use of force against black people".

 

[sweep_shot]

Damn Yes it was excessive Its not as if he was being violent or resisting arrest

The below is key

Greater Manchester Police "must answer as to why a taser was discharged in a petrol station and with a young child present. Tasers should be a last not first resort. Reinforces concerns about disproportionate use of force against black people".

These were his offenses:

1) Resisting arrest.
2) Speeding.
3) No car insurance.
4) Failing to stop.
5) Refusing a test.
6) Being drunk.
7) Unnecessary travel (COVID-19).

I think #3 and #6 are big mistakes.

 

[Zaz]

How else would you make him cooperate?

He was breaking a lot of rules (including drunk driving). He could've killed someone with drunk driving.

You speak to him This isnt a third world country or america where force is used willy nilly by the police

A taser should only be used as a last resort The situation hadnt escalated to a point where a taser was necessary

 

[ElRaja]

that kinda stuff could traumatise a kid for life, for all the alleged charges against that dude the police need to be smarter and realise resorting to using tasers in front of a kid who is already crying and agitated is plain stupid.

waste some time, get him a bit sober, stop him from getting in the car, tell him to put the kid in the car, there are tonnes of ways to go about this without further antagonising anyone, unfortunately the copper seems fairly thick so resorted to the easy option.

the real victim is the kid, caught between a stupid father and stupid copper.

 

[KingKhanWC]

These were his offenses:

1) Resisting arrest.
2) Speeding.
3) No car insurance.
4) Failing to stop.
5) Refusing a test.
6) Being drunk.
7) Unnecessary travel (COVID-19).

I think #3 and #6 are big mistakes.

Irrelevent, tasers are only to be used as a last resorst and if the person is becoming violent which wasnt the case. If you watch the earlier video, the man asking the police to leave his child alone who was upset.

Sure he was a little drunk but there was no risk to any of the coppers.

Coppers also have to loudly and clearly warn of taser, verbally and visually showing the weapon before discharging. He said taser once and then fired, against the rules.

There is no justification for this esp as black people are 3 x more likely to be tasered.

Both cops should be sacked.

 

[sweep_shot]

Irrelevent, tasers are only to be used as a last resorst and if the person is becoming violent which wasnt the case. If you watch the earlier video, the man asking the police to leave his child alone who was upset.

Sure he was a little drunk but there was no risk to any of the coppers.

Coppers also have to loudly and clearly warn of taser, verbally and visually showing the weapon before discharging. He said taser once and then fired, against the rules.

There is no justification for this esp as black people are 3 x more likely to be tasered.

Both cops should be sacked.

Yeah. It could've been handled better.

I don't find taser that threatening because North American cops use guns a lot. Taser is seen as something relatively harmless over here.

I feel bad for the kid. He got caught up.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Yeah. It could've been handled better.

I don't find taser that threatening because North American cops use guns a lot. Taser is seen as something relatively harmless over here.

I feel bad for the kid. He got caught up.

I assume you havent been tasered? Yes mostly non-lethal but people have died due to taser being used on them. Which is why it's a last resort.

 

[Nadeemp]

I mean the guy wasn't co-operating, but he was hardly being threatening either. There was absolutely no need to use the taser at that point. It's the sort of heavy handed treatment you would expect to see meted out in the third world.

Or usa

 

[Robert]

A lot of people pontificating here about what is appropriate use of force based on a very few seconds of footage. We don’t know what preceded this event.

What does surprise me is the discharge of a high voltage device in a petrol station when we are not even allowed to use phones.

The inquiry into use of force will determine what happened.

 

[James]

My thoughts on this would be similar to Andy Burnham’s.

I’m always cautious to draw firm conclusions when a video has been circulated which gives rise to strong emotions. Factually speaking we don’t know the full context and circumstances of what happened here.

My initial views are that the taser was not needed, however the accused has committed a series of very poor criminal offences and should face justice for this.

 

[James]

Yeah. It could've been handled better.

I don't find taser that threatening because North American cops use guns a lot. Taser is seen as something relatively harmless over here.

I feel bad for the kid. He got caught up.

Tasering somebody, in rare cases, can cause cardiac arrest and death. This has happened to young people as well, not just older people.

 

[Abdullah719]

(Another incident, not this one)

Police watchdog investigates London stun gun shooting

The police watchdog is investigating after a black man in his 20s was left with a life-changing injury after he was shot with a stun gun by officers in north London.

Police on patrol in Haringey chased the man on Monday after he ran away from them following an approach, it is understood. They used the stun gun as he jumped over a wall and he fell, suffering serious back injuries which his family fear could leave him at least partially paralysed.

The man, whose family have since been in contact with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), was arrested for possession of cannabis with intent to supply and taken to hospital. The amount he had in his possession remains unclear.

Spoiler

“This is an extremely serious incident where, we understand, a man has suffered life-changing injuries,” said IOPC regional director Sal Naseem. “We are in contact with his family and will keep them and him informed as we carry out our independent investigation.

“Our role is to seek answers about what happened and share any learning highlighted by our investigations. Our investigation will look at all the circumstances and consider whether there are any conduct or criminal matters.”

Naseem added: “In line with our tradition of policing by consent, the public has the right to expect police officers to be accountable when they use force, particularly if it leads to a death or serious injury.”

Katrina Ffrench, chief executive of StopWatch – a coalition that promotes fair and accountable policing – said there was concern about the “ongoing disproportionate and unnecessary” use of force against black males. “This type of policing is not only dangerous for the individuals involved, but also obliterates people’s trust and confidence in an emergency service,” she said.

“We demand that officers be held to account and disciplined. There must be robust mechanisms put in place to ensure that national guidelines are adhered to, especially as Tasers can be lethal.”

The IOPC said the Metropolitan police made a mandatory referral to them following the incident and that the force was fully cooperating. News of the incident emerged on Friday afternoon when the IOPC informed stakeholders.

On Wednesday, a man in Manchester was shot with a stun gun by police at point blank range in front of his young child, seemingly without warning or justification, amid growing concern about their use as weapons of first resort – particularly against BAME people.

Following the incident, the human rights advocacy group Liberty called for their mass rollout to be stopped, claiming that their growing use exacerbated the over-policing of minority and marginalised communities. In a letter to Greater Manchester police, a coalition of groups called for an end to “racist” police practices.

Analysis of Home Office figures shows that stun guns were used against black people in England and Wales at a rate almost eight times greater than against white people in 2018-19.

A number of civil society organisations quit the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s independent Taser advisory group last month in protest against a lack of meaningful action to address the disproportion.

A week later, the Home Office and the College of Policing effectively rejected a call from a coroner to institute “a wholesale review of the effects of multiple Taser activations” due to what was described as a lack of independent data about their lethality.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/09/police-watchdog-london-taser-injury-investigate

 

[Robert]

Yeah. It could've been handled better.

I don't find taser that threatening because North American cops use guns a lot. Taser is seen as something relatively harmless over here.

I feel bad for the kid. He got caught up.

My understanding is that in the USA it is often used to subdue suspects, whereas in the UK it is to protect police officers from assault by the public. We do not want all our police carrying firearms so the taser is there as a less destructive alternative to keep the Officers safe.

Of course all use of force much be inverstigated to check whether it is appropriate, and apprehension of black male suspects features greater use of force. This should not be the case, but there is a vicious curcle - young black males feel they are more likely to be hurt when facing arrest so are more likely to resist, and therefore are more likely to get hurt. While Officers may feel that black males are more likely to resist so situations escalte faster.

 

[James]

Of course all use of force much be inverstigated to check whether it is appropriate, and apprehension of black male suspects features greater use of force. This should not be the case, but there is a vicious curcle - young black males feel they are more likely to be hurt when facing arrest so are more likely to resist, and therefore are more likely to get hurt. While Officers may feel that black males are more likely to resist so situations escalte faster.

I would never claim that all British police officers are racist, because that is obviously not true, but the police force in the UK arguably has institutionally racist elements to it, primarily in London and also potentially in Manchester.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

How else would you make him cooperate?

He was breaking a lot of rules (including drunk driving). He could've killed someone with drunk driving.

There were two policemen there, they could have physically subdued him, and cuffed him if necessary, although from the video it doesn't look like he was being violent. Just a bit of drunken arm waving like you see every weekend. Or at least we used to before lockdown. Do you think you would see tasers being used on tanked up white lads on a night out Brighton?

 

[Knight_Rider]

that kinda stuff could traumatise a kid for life, for all the alleged charges against that dude the police need to be smarter and realise resorting to using tasers in front of a kid who is already crying and agitated is plain stupid.

waste some time, get him a bit sober, stop him from getting in the car, tell him to put the kid in the car, there are tonnes of ways to go about this without further antagonising anyone, unfortunately the copper seems fairly thick so resorted to the easy option.

the real victim is the kid, caught between a stupid father and stupid copper.

+1

 

[the SHA]

Pardon the pun, this is simply shocking.

Extremely cruel by the police to do this in front of a small child. Think about the psychological trauma that is going to cause on him? Utterly disgusted by that video.

 

[Robert]

Pardon the pun, this is simply shocking.

Extremely cruel by the police to do this in front of a small child. Think about the psychological trauma that is going to cause on him? Utterly disgusted by that video.

They might have saved his life by stopping the drunk driver.

 

[Robert]

There were two policemen there, they could have physically subdued him, and cuffed him if necessary, although from the video it doesn't look like he was being violent. Just a bit of drunken arm waving like you see every weekend. Or at least we used to before lockdown. Do you think you would see tasers being used on tanked up white lads on a night out Brighton?

But that could be hard to do safely with the toddler there. Someone might have fallen on him. A very hazardous situation to have to try to control.

 

[King-Misbah]

But that could be hard to do safely with the toddler there. Someone might have fallen on him. A very hazardous situation to have to try to control.

Let's not make excuses for this situation. As a teenager, I had the fanciest cars on the block and I was stopped frequently by the police. I believe this was because of my background. I got searched, alcohol tested and inproportionally penalised for accidental speeding. There is discrimination in the UK and it is undercover.

 

[PakPremi]

They might have saved his life by stopping the drunk driver.

Stopping is fine, which was already achieved before, the unnecessary taser.

 

[James]

Let's not make excuses for this situation. As a teenager, I had the fanciest cars on the block and I was stopped frequently by the police. I believe this was because of my background. I got searched, alcohol tested and inproportionally penalised for accidental speeding. There is discrimination in the UK and it is undercover.

I agree that there is discrimination from traffic police, particularly in terms of how frequently young males of all ethnicities get pulled, and even more so towards young people of a Black and Asian background.

All males with driving licences who are under 25 know how awful it feels to be pulled over, interrogated, breathalised and humiliated for no reason, and it has happened to us on multiple occasions - a long time ago, this included me - and it particularly affects young males who, unlike me, are of a BAME background.

This guy was not really young though, and his list of traffic offences was mind-boggling, particularly driving without insurance, which is a total disgrace (police just run your licence plate through an onboard CPU and know this before they pull you over) — imagine if this driver had crashed into you or a member of your family, written off both of the cars involved, and seriously injured or killed them (I know someone who this happened to); how would you feel then? Who pays? How can there ever be justice for families of the victims?

So yes, let’s dig into what happened here, and on the surface, the Taser use certainly seems brutal and disproportionate for me as well. Let’s also recognise when there is institutional racism and causal ageism evident in policing.

But finally (and I’m not saying that you were doing this) let’s not at all deflect from the criminal actions of a grossly negligent dangerous driver, who is setting a dreadful example for his young son with his reckless actions and has behaved like an utter fool.

 

[Robert]

Let's not make excuses for this situation. As a teenager, I had the fanciest cars on the block and I was stopped frequently by the police. I believe this was because of my background. I got searched, alcohol tested and inproportionally penalised for accidental speeding. There is discrimination in the UK and it is undercover.

I was stopped and questioned, though I had old bangers. Always after pub closing time. I was breathalysed too. I know it happens more often to BAMEs in nicer cars.

I can’t make excuses for a situation I lack the full facts on. I would, however tend to lean less toward a bloke who gets drunk and endangers a child by driving dangerously, and more towards the officials who protect me from the mayhem such perpetrators cause.

The inquiry will reveal the truth.

 

[Zaz]

His list of crimes has nothing to do with the tasering

He had already been stopped He was no danger to road users or his child now So tasering him when he wasnt being violent infront of his child was excessive and unnecessary

It hadnt got to the point where a last resort to subdue him was necessary

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

His list of crimes has nothing to do with the tasering

He had already been stopped He was no danger to road users or his child now So tasering him when he wasnt being violent infront of his child was excessive and unnecessary

It hadnt got to the point where a last resort to subdue him was necessary

This was my point as well. It just seemed really over the top to shoot the taser at that point in time. The cop who did it even had time to think about it, raise the gun and shoot it precisely while the man was just looking at him wondering what he was doing.

 

[Robert]

Stopping is fine, which was already achieved before, the unnecessary taser.

He has been charged with resisting arrest. The Officers also had to think about the safety of the child who could have been hurt during a scuffle.

My concern is the discharge of the taser in a flammable environment and that the Officer did not shout “Taser taser taser” as I believe is procedure.

 

[the Great Khan]

He has been charged with resisting arrest. The Officers also had to think about the safety of the child who could have been hurt during a scuffle.

My concern is the discharge of the taser in a flammable environment and that the Officer did not shout “Taser taser taser” as I believe is procedure.

similar incident involving a white chap and he wasnt tasered..double standards and racism abound in the uk these days.

 

[Robert]

similar incident involving a white chap and he wasnt tasered..double standards and racism abound in the uk these days.

I accept that there is disproportionate use of force applied to BAME suspects as per post #21.