US park police have used a stun gun on an Occupy protester, whose only crime was tearing down fliers warning demonstrators about a ban on camping in Washington’s McPherson Square.
On Sunday afternoon, while arresting a man for the abovementioned activity, the three officers got nervous when he started to cry out repeatedly “I have done nothing wrong!” To cut things short, a police officer shot the man in the back with an electronic stun gun to make handcuffing a smoother process.
Park police insist that the man turned “aggressive and confrontational”, so the use of force was legal, promising an internal inquiry, as with any use of force by police.
On the video taken by one of many witnesses, it is clearly visible that the man was extremely frightened, and not aggressive. But the woman in police uniform still looked like she couldn’t wait to put her gadget into use.
With the National Park Service calling on protesters to stop camping a few blocks away from the White House, more police action is on its way. It appears Washington’s authorities have made a decision and police have already served notices, attaching them to protesters’ tents.
So McPherson Square could very soon resemble a scene from the movie District 9, with armed-to-the-teeth police treating Occupy protestors like aliens and forcing them to move on to a safer place for protests.
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