Witnesses allege police brutality in death of tasered man

David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Raw Story
Thursday, Aug 7, 2008

A Pennsylvania man has died after being tasered by local police, and the Civil Rights section of the FBI’s Pittsburgh office has now opened a preliminary investigation. Although the cause of death has not yet been determined, witnesses insist the man was kicked and beaten by police officers after he was forced to the ground and handcuffed.

Residents in Swissvale, PA had called police after they observed 37 year old Andre Thomas knocking on doors in the middle of the night and yelling that someone was trying to shoot him.

According to Allegheny County Police Assistant Supt. James Morton, when the officers arrived Thomas “was like yelling and screaming and acting really erratically, and they didn’t know what the situation was. So they asked him just to calm down and so forth and he made a movement towards them. So they had to tase him.”

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However, witnesses insist that Thomas was then brutalized by police, with one telling KDKA News that “after he was tased and handcuffed, one officer used a football-type kick and stomped him in the head.”

Another woman recounted to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette what she saw after four officers forced Thomas to the ground. “‘They killed that man. They killed him. They killed him,’ she added, her hands trembling. The woman said she saw one officer stomp on Mr. Thomas’s upper back, holding his foot there while the subject lay on the sidewalk with his head hanging over the curb. Another officer ‘reared back and punched him in the head with all his might,’ she said.”

Thomas vomited, then lay motionless. An ambulance arrived and he was was treated at the scene by emergency medical personnel. Police allege Thomas was conscious at the time, but he was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital.

Andre Thomas’s father, Dennis Thomas, now says, “I want to know what happened, what the particulars of the incident were that caused my son’s death.”

This video is from KDKA News 2, broadcast August 5, 2008.

 

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9 Responses to “Witnesses allege police brutality in death of tasered man”

1. BeTrueSeekTruth Says:
   August 7th, 2008 at 4:34 am

   Moral of the story: If you’re in trouble do NOT call the police. They have been trained to act in a robotic manner. Unfortunately, if someone is in a distressed emotional state, they cannot simply turn it off. If there was any question of the man’s motive, get him on the ground and cuff him no question. But you don’t need a taser to do this. Police have been doing this for years before the taser was introduced. There is no need to punch and kick a man when he’s down and helpless. Its shameful and signifies homicidal intent.

2. JF Says:
   August 7th, 2008 at 9:17 am

   Pure evil is what this is. How much more of this will the people of this country take of this blatant police brutality? Stomping on a guy’s head when he is helpless and already cuffed? Congrats to the police in this case for demonstrating so clearly that they can do whatever the ‘F’ they want to do to anyone at anytime and they dare to say “respect us” ? What the heck for? For being jackbooted thugs in uniform? I don’t think so.

3. MARIA Says:
   August 7th, 2008 at 10:01 am

   I don’t understand how much more the sheeple want. I mean, really how much more can be done before we just go crazy. These scumbag cops stommped on this guys head. These fucken cops are animals, pure evil fucken animals. They better get what’s coming to them.

4. Estevende Says:
   August 7th, 2008 at 11:48 am

   How much more will the people take?..well, historically speaking, you only have to look at the history of such repressive governments going beyond that of China’s, take a look at the history of Chile..during Pinochet’s 29 years…or there’s many other examples..look at Venezuala today, if you can believe what is on the media..the people don’t stand a chance against the police. Now consider this, the U.S. has the best trained highly organized and equipped “thugs” in the history of mankind…in consideration of that, you have your answer to “How much more of this will the people of this country take of this blatant police brutality”

5. frak Says:
   August 7th, 2008 at 4:31 pm

   This is the New America…They are hiring former military conditioned to kill. I don’t have problems with all of them, but there is a significant number that are homicidal under the friendly neighborhood facade. And Cod help you if you are up in the way of their criminal profiteering…Tasers are Un-American, PERIOD..

6. Papilion Says:
   August 7th, 2008 at 5:13 pm

   I once tasered a guini pig to death. I could see how cops would really enjoy killing someone like that!

7. Wez the Aussie Says:
   August 7th, 2008 at 6:07 pm

   This seems to be typical Police behaviour. Police here in Aus kill people, an “Inquiry” is carried out and the Cop is found not guilty – EVERY TIME. The Australian Public (99% ignorant fools) just take it on the chin – EVERY TIME.

8. Tony Montana Says:
   August 11th, 2008 at 9:15 am

   The purp was black. I am sure it the exact same situation happened to a white guy, the results would be the same?

9. Sad Recent Victim of HPD Says:
   January 10th, 2009 at 10:26 am

   I was six-months pregnant and I’m white, when HPD and their accomplices nearly murdered me, killed my daughter and illegally detained both my husband and myself, then allowed us to be threatened and robbed. So… It looks like race does not have everything to do with this. Constantly bringing it up is obscuring the fact that the police everywhere seem to be completely out of control.

   Interesting isn’t it? An “agitated” man is screaming for help because cops are trying to kill him, then a few minutes later, some cops show up and actually do kill him. What is the rest of the story?

   Cops attacking innocent people is the norm. Most of them are sexual sadists who get off inflicting pain on other people. They are all sociopaths or they could not don the uniform and stand with their accomplices.