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rfmcdonaldThe Robert Dziekański taser incident involved a disoriented Polish traveller who was tasered repeatedly in Vancouver's international airport by four RCMP officers, apparently without properly assessing the situation, with the RCMP briefly trying to sequester another traveller's video of the incident before lawsuits forced its release.
Here's the video.
I've posts on the subject from 2009, 2010, and 2011. The emerging consensus is that the RCMP handled this very badly, with the incident itself not only being badly mishandedly but with the RCMP and the four officers involved actively trying to cover up information, conveniently not remembering any number of things. This, one of the latest scandals involved the RCMP in British Columbia, has done quite a bit to make the RCMP look very bad.
Now, the officers involved have been charged with perjury.
Here's the video.
I've posts on the subject from 2009, 2010, and 2011. The emerging consensus is that the RCMP handled this very badly, with the incident itself not only being badly mishandedly but with the RCMP and the four officers involved actively trying to cover up information, conveniently not remembering any number of things. This, one of the latest scandals involved the RCMP in British Columbia, has done quite a bit to make the RCMP look very bad.
Now, the officers involved have been charged with perjury.
The four RCMP officers who Tasered Robert Dziekanski shortly before his death at Vancouver International Airport in 2007 have been officially charged with perjury, the B.C. government announced Thursday.
Last week, Richard Peck, the special prosecutor appointed over the matter, made the recommendation in relation to testimony given by the Mounties at the Braidwood inquiry, which found the four officers displayed "shameful conduct" and were not justified in using the Taser.
On Monday, B.C.'s deputy attorney general David Loukidelis consented to the charges, and on Wednesday, Const. Kwesi Millington, Cpl. Benjamin Robinson, Const. Bill Bentley and Const. Gerry Rundel were officially indicted.
The four officers are scheduled to make their first court appearance on June 29 in Vancouver.
Dziekanski, 40, died at the Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 14, 2007 after the four RCMP officers, responding to a report of a violent drunk, repeatedly shocked him with an electronic stun gun as he writhed in pain.
Dziekanski, who spoke no English and had never been on a plane before, was unable to find his mother upon arriving at the airport. He remained in a secure customs area for nearly 11 hours and then, appearing dazed and delirious, began throwing around furniture, prompting the 911 call.
Moments after the four officers arrived on the scene, Dziekanski was jolted five times with a Taser.
He died minutes after he was restrained and handcuffed face-down on the airport floor.
The incident prompted an international outcry after a citizen's cellphone video of the officers' actions was posted on the Internet.
