3 years ago

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LINK FOR SHARING: http://www.thinklikeacop.org/vid/lakey52tazer.mp4

******READ THIS ****
Family, friends and community supporters of Jared Lakey, 28, will be marching today in rural Wilson, Oklahoma to demand “Justice for Jared,” sparked by the release of harrowing video of his brutalization by Oklahoma police little more than a year ago this month.

Lakey was sadistically tortured and electrocuted with a “less lethal” Taser-X26P 53 times over a nine-minute period beginning the morning of July 5 by Wilson police officers Joshua Taylor, 25, and Brandon Dingman, 34, before being choked unconscious by Carter County Sheriff's Dep David Duggan.

Officers ignored Lakey’s pained pleas of “Please, help me God!” as Taylor and Dingman coolly zapped Lakey repeatedly in between half-hearted commands for Lakey to “put his hands behind his back.” Lakey was naked and unarmed throughout the sickening ordeal that ended with his death on July 6, 2019.

Demonstrating once again the primary factor in determining whether or not one will become a victim of police violence is which class they belong to, and not their race, Lakey was white, as are all the officers involved in the assault.

The autopsy revealed that Lakey was not under the influence of any illegal drugs, with the only irregularity being his elevated blood sugar levels..

Writing in his official report following the incident, Taylor stated that Lakey “appeared agitated,” and was only wearing socks when he first encountered the young man. After inquiring as to where his clothes were, Taylor alleged that Lakey, became “aggressive,” before declaring “Okay, we’re going to do this,” at which point Taylor states he then unsheathed his taser and kept Lakey at “taser point” waiting for Dingman to arrive.

Taylor’s report then states that Dingman arrived and attempted to put handcuffs on Lakey, at which point “the individual went to raise up in an aggressive manner,” causing Taylor to deploy his taser for the “first time” with Dingman following shortly thereafter. Both officers claimed in their reports that they had only fired their tasers “four times.”

Taser data logs submitted in court filings confirm that Taylor deployed his Taser 30 times for over two minutes while Dingman sent 50,000 volts surging through Lakey 23 times in just under two minutes. Axon, sells the “directed energy weapon,” advises against using the taser against a subject for more than “15 seconds” or deploying multiple devices against the same person that could result in death.

Officers Taylor and Dingman were finally arrested and charged with second-degree murder at the beginning of this month.

The two cops were briefly held on $250,000 bonds, before being released on house arrest. Both officers remained on duty during the entire investigation and are on administrative leave as they continue to be employed with the department.

The OSBI report does not substantiate any of the officers’ claims nor does the video footage available. The report noted that “Lakey is tased numerous times while merely lying naked in the ditch, presumably for not rolling onto his stomach and complying with the officers’ commands to ‘Put your hands behind your back.’”

Carter County Sheriff Deputy David Duggan arrives on the scene and proceeds to sneak behind Lakey, who is sitting in the ditch breathing heavily with his hands in front of him and proceeds to put him in a chokehold for 40 seconds.

After placing handcuffs on Lakey, body cam footage shows officers pressed down on Lakey’s neck while he labored to breathe. Lakey stopped breathing due to the cumulative effect of repeated electrocution, strangulation and officers pushing down on his neck, further impeding breathing.

Even though it was clear to the multiple officers on the scene that Lakey was no longer breathing, not a single officer made an effort to begin CPR or chest compressions.

Court documents submitted in Clark County, Oklahoma, by District Attorney Craig Ladd attest that the officers’ use of force represented a “substantial factor” in Lakey’s death and that the tasing of Lakey “greatly exceeded what would have been necessary or warranted.”

Carter County court records obtained by the Daily Ardmoreite hypothesize that Lakey’s probable cause of death was due to “complications of myocardial infarction (clinical) in the setting of cardiomegaly and critical coronary atherosclerosis and law enforcement use of electrical weapon and restraint.” Despite “restraint” being referenced as a probable cause of death, Duggan has yet to be charged with a crime, which the family is strongly protesting.

A 2017 Reuters investigation found that at least 1,005 people have died after police electrocuted them with a “less lethal” stun gun. As was the case with Lakey, Reuters found that nine out of 10 of those killed by tasers were unarmed and one out of four suffered a mental illness or neurological disorder.

#EarnTheHate
@Think Like A Horse
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