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xchrom

(108,903 posts) Fri May 18, 2012, 07:02 AM May 2012

Tasing a Pregnant Woman in Front of Her Kid? The Outrageous -- And Dangerous -- Abuse of Tasers by P

http://www.alternet.org/rights/155487/tasing_a_pregnant_woman_in_front_of_her_kid_the_outrageous_--_and_dangerous_--_abuse_of_tasers_by_police/

Tasing a Pregnant Woman in Front of Her Kid? The Outrageous -- And Dangerous -- Abuse of Tasers by Police

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Malaika Brooks and her baby

In 2004, Malaika Brooks, seven months pregnant and accompanied by her 11-year-old son, was pulled over by two Seattle cops for driving 32 mph in a 20 mph zone. She was willing to accept a speeding ticket, but incorrectly thought signing it was an admission of guilt. She refused.

In response, one of the officers held up his Taser and asked if she knew what it was. She said she didn't, but added: “I have to go to the bathroom... I am pregnant. I’m less than 60 days from having my baby.”

According to Adam Liptak, reporting for the New York Times, this is what followed when a patrol supervisor joined the cops and decided to place Brooks under arrest, all in front of her young son:

The three men assessed the situation and conferred. “Well, don’t do it in her stomach,” one said. “Do it in her thigh.”

Officer Ornelas twisted Ms. Brooks’s arm behind her back. A colleague, Officer Donald M. Jones, applied the Taser to Ms. Brooks’s left thigh, causing her to cry out and honk the car’s horn. A half-minute later, Officer Jones applied the Taser again, now to Ms. Brooks’s left arm. He waited six seconds before pressing it into her neck.