A woman at the Fairfax County Jail, Natasha McKenna, died after by shackled by police deputies and a Taser stun gun was used on her repeatedly for failing comply with the deputies’ commands, according to reports citing the sheriff’s office. The repeated Taser shocks apparently drove her into a cardiac arrest and resulted in her death. She was shackled while being repeatedly shocked with an electric Taser stun gun, with four 50,000 volt shocks from the Taser gun, while strapped into a restraint chair. It is a disgrace and an embarrassment to human rights activists that the individuals responsible for Natasha McKenna’s death have not yet been identified and held accountable.
How are they above the law?
UPDATE:
February 12, 2015: “‘It takes six deputies to restrain a 5’3′, 37-year-old woman?’ Harvey J. Volzer, an attorney for McKenna’s family, asked in an e-mail to The Washington Post. He said that McKenna had been diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was 12.”
“The Fairfax sheriff’s office declined to answer further questions about the incident Thursday. In an e-mail, Capt. Tyler Corey said, ‘We are grateful for the diligence and professionalism displayed by the Police detectives as they work through their investigation.'”
Fairfax County Sheriff’s Captain Tyler Corey proud of investigators, after woman tasered to death, and no action taken.
April 1, 2015 from the Washington Post: “A mentally ill woman who died after a stun gun was used on her at the Fairfax County jail in February was restrained with handcuffs behind her back, leg shackles and a mask when a sheriff’s deputy shocked her four times, incident reports obtained by The Washington Post show.”
Restraint Chair Similar to those used in Fairfax County Jail
“Natasha McKenna initially cooperated with deputies, placed her hands through her cell door food slot and agreed to be handcuffed, the reports show. But McKenna, whose deteriorating mental state had caused Fairfax to seek help for her, then began trying to fight her way out of the cuffs, repeatedly screaming, “You promised you wouldn’t hurt me!” the reports show.”
“Then, six members of the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team, dressed in white full-body biohazard suits and gas masks, arrived and placed a wildly struggling 130-pound McKenna into full restraints, their reports state. But when McKenna wouldn’t bend her knees so she could be placed into a wheeled restraint chair, a lieutenant delivered four 50,000-volt shocks from the Taser, enabling the other deputies to strap her into the chair, the reports show.”
Another report on April 13, 2015, states that “experts” felt this was inappropriate. (As if you have to be an expert to know it is wrong to strap down a woman and electrocute her.)
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Responsible for Equality And Liberty defends the right of equal justice for all people, and rejects the use of authority as a tool of oppression to belittle and deny justice to people in the United States of America, and anywhere in the world.
Like many in our America today, and especially among human rights activists, we are used to making such reports and protesting such behavior from fascist and totalitarian rogue nations with a history of oppression such as: North Korea, Communist China, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and other rogue nations in the greater Middle East, Asia, Africa, and South America.
Do not let our reporting deceive anyone, we are as sickened and disgusted by what is going on in the United States right now as anyone else.
As we continue to see the litany of reports about American rogues in law enforcement, we must challenge those who have lost their way (some would say lost their minds) and remind them as human rights activists, our challenge to oppressors of human rights are not just to distant shores, but also right here in the United States of America.