The Dziekanski Inquiry & International Day Against Police Brutality

Right now in Vancouver there is an inquiry going on for the tasering death of Robert Dziekański, who died at the hands of the RCMP.

I am not surprised to see that through out this whole inquiry that previous lies are coming to the surface, as the police were saying one thing, and a video of the incident shot by Paul Pritchard says something completely different (see video below).

Here is a tidbit of some of the latest from the CBC:

Dziekanski jolted again after falling to floor, Mountie testifies

After Robert Dziekanski fell to the floor, screaming and in pain from the first jolt of a Taser, the officer who deployed the stun gun shocked him a few more times because he thought Dziekanski was combative and resistant, a public inquiry heard Monday.

RCMP Const. Kwesi Millington, 32, told the Vancouver inquiry into the Polish immigrant's death that he delivered the first shock from the 50,000-volt weapon because Dziekanski had picked up a stapler and become a threat.

"I formed the impression that he wanted to attack one of the officers or all of the officers," said Millington in his first public account of the events leading up to Dziekanski's death at the Vancouver airport in 2007.
Millington said he fired the Taser again even after Dziekanski was lying on the floor because the first jolt did not immobilize him. In all, he fired the stun gun four times, although the records indicate the Taser was discharged five times, the inquiry heard.

"The person that it's applied against is supposed to fall immediately and it's supposed to immobilize them," Millington said. "It did not have that effect so I felt it was necessary to fire it again."

To read the rest of the article, including a listing of a few of the inconsistencies, click here.

Now for the video:



On March 15th it is the International Day Against Police Brutality, where various events and marches will happen around the world to speak out against police violence and injustice.

Some of the ones that I could find going on in Canada are in Montreal (click for details) and in Vancouver. Check out your local activist listings if you want to get involved, or start your own event!

Sláinte!

Laurel