Wisconsin Police were caught on camera tasing a 54 year old woman
and confining her to a wheel chair after she sat in the wrong
seat at a football game in Madison.
Margaret Hiebing, a veteran Badger season ticket
holder, was ejected from the Camp Randall stadium during the Oct.
11 game against Penn State after she was found sitting in the
wrong seat, reports WKOW
27 News.
Hiebing had taken a different seat because someone
else had occupied her usual place at the packed game.
When police approached Mrs Hiebing she explained
the situation and refused to leave. Onlookers began to berate
the cops after one of them reportedly threatened Hiebing with
pepper spray.
One witness filmed the altercation on a cell phone,
evidence which would later dispel initial police claims that Hiebing
was causing an obstruction by sitting in the aisle.
Police then forced Hiebing face down on the ground
and tased her on the back of the leg.
Hiebing was then placed in a wheel chair and ejected
as she was unable to walk out of the stadium.
Watch a WKOW report on the incident:
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
Former Wisconsin Department of Justice Training
and Standards Director Dennis Hanson described the tasing as "
the next step to force compliance" and told 27 News the use
of a taser is an accepted intermediate option when the subject
of police commands is not cooperating.
This is simply not true.
The weapon is designed to be used as a last resort
before lethal force when a suspect becomes violent and the officer
feels their own safety is under threat.
The police are now trained that "pain compliance,"
a euphemism for torture, is acceptable in apprehending anyone
even if that person poses no physical danger.
This case once again highlights the fact that police
are using the Taser to get non-violent suspects to simply do what
they are told, rather than for their intended purpose as the very
last line of defense before the handgun.
Taser has been the subject of much controversy and
outrage all over the world.
Last year the UN's Committee Against Torture issued
a statement
on the TaserX26, which read: "The use of TaserX26
weapons, provoking extreme pain, constituted a form of torture,
and that in certain cases it could also cause death, as shown
by several reliable studies and by certain cases that had happened
after practical use."
Doctors in the U.S. and Canada have spoken
out against the devices and have accused Taser International
of corporate
intimidation.
Meanwhile, the UK government wants to arm London
police with 10,000 tasers, a plan that police
have said they will boycott because of the potential
the devices have to cause fear and damage public confidence.
WKOW 27 news reports that over two dozen witnesses
have signed a petition stating that the police conduct in Margaret
Hiebing's case was not appropriate.
While stadium video of the altercation also exists,
police are keeping it under wraps and have said the incident is
still under review.
Wisconsin Police were caught on camera tasing a 54 year old woman
and confining her to a wheel chair after she sat in the wrong
seat at a football game in Madison.
