A Virginia police officer is under investigation for Tasering a black man during a stop without provocation, WUSA9 is reporting.
In a video posted to Facebook, that officer can be seen aiming his Taser at the man and instructing him to turn around and place his hands on the police cruiser.
Once the man complies, the officer then Tasers him, causing him to scream and crumple to the ground as the officer stands over him still aiming his weapon and yelling at him to roll over.
ADVERTISEMENT
An onlooker can be heard yelling at the cop, “What’d you do that for?”
According to the man who shot the video, the cop had no reason to use his weapon.
“A gentleman just happened to be walking down the sidewalk and the cop pulls up in front of him and tells him to turn over [sic]. And as soon as he has his back turned toward him, he Tasers him. He didn’t see it coming,” he told Fox 5. “He told him to turn around. He turned around he complied. And boom he popped out his Taser and he shot at him.”
The Fairfax Police Department issued a statement saying, “The facts and circumstances which led to the deployment of a electronic control weapon” are being investigated.
The man reportedly was stopped for theft and has been charged with grand larceny.
ADVERTISEMENT
Neither the officer nor the suspect were identified.
Watch the video below:
ADVERTISEMENT
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.
Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Unhinged from billionaires and corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.
… then let us make a small request. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.
Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.
In a Sunday evening panel discussion, MSNBC commentators explained that the White House appears to be just as chaotic and marred by chaos as the rumors say.
Many in the White House learned that the president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was working overseas in Ukraine. Giuliani claimed that he's been producing a film that he couldn't get Fox News to run, as it will appear on the fringe network OAN.
"What Rudy Giuliani is doing is using Kremlin-manufactured propaganda as a defensive shield for the president," said CNBC's John Harwood. "Fiona Hill was unambiguous in her testimony to the intelligence committee. What Rudy Giuliani has been doing with these two indicted men who are linked to a Russian oligarch who is tied to Russian organized crime, is trying to manufacture a story that Ukraine, rather than Russia or in addition to Russia or differently from Russia, meddle in the campaign. That is false."
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) lost it over the weekend when he was asked about his phone calls with Rudy Giuliani's associate Lev Parnas, who was recently indicted.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) appeared on "Meet the Press" Sunday to perpetuate the false narrative that Ukraine hacked the 2016 election, a fact that has been disproven by all of the U.S. intelligence agencies. When asked to explain what Cruz could possibly have been thinking, former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) confessed he has no idea how to explain Cruz.