Colin Farmer, 63, is a blind stroke victim who uses a standard white stick to walk. Farmer suddenly found himself on the ground in Lancashire, England after a police officer thought he was brandishing a samurai sword. He shot Farmer in the back with a 50,000-volt Taser stun gun.
Farmer, 63, was on his way to a pub to meet friends and, due to two prior strokes, moved quite slowly. He fell to the ground in shock on October 12th and only found out later that an officer had shot him.
He is seeking damages for assault, false imprisonment and a breach of his human rights. The police department is still investigating though all of the staring at the cane is unlikely to turn into anything that looks like a samurai sword.
Source: Independent
What a joke of an excuse for the abuse of an elderly, handicapped man. You can never be too careful about those blind Samurai warriors sneaking around Lancashire!
“Farmer suddenly found himself on the ground in Lancashire, England after a police officer thought he was brandishing a samurai sword.”
*********************
A katana? It’s a shillelagh, of course.
Mespo,
It might be a worse outcome if they thought it was a shillelagh!
rafflaw, you’re right!
A “Samurai Sword”? Surely they jest. I hope he sues the police and anyone else for all they’re worth! Tasered in the back because the police “thought” he “might” have had a long, sharp, dangerous weapon? Will someone please take tasers away from all so-called law enforcement before they kill us all with their new toy – or give the blind stroke victim a second stroke, seizure, or heart attack. Must be time for a new version of “Mondo Cane.”
They are real tough guys huh?
That is odd. I don’t know how they do it in the UK, but I failed my driver’s permit test many years ago by one question:
How can you identify a blind person?
I answered “all of the above”, but the actual correct answer was that you can identify them BY THEIR CANE WITH ITS ORANGE AND WHITE MARKINGS…
Was the cop blind too, or just stupid!
junctionshamus
c all of the above
Attach the electrodes to the cops balls and send the charge…….
In the officer’s defense, he also once identified a nuclear warhead as an espresso machine. The lad is a wee bit confused. A katana? Really?
It would be good to read the police report on this. But I would say the officer just lit the man up right off the bat. Had he waited 2 seconds, it should have been obvious that a samaurai sword is not standard issue for the blind.
How many incidences like this will it take to convince people that the police force is not here to protect anyone?
Maybe the cop had watched too much of Rutger Hauer’s movie, Blind Fury. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096945/
Folks, I have found a valuable training video that can help these English police officers determine what a samauri sword and a real criminal looks like.
Watch the full Training Video here
Well he was blind and soon to be a blind drunk….. They are just doing preventative measures……it’s all in the report I’m sure….
Rutger Hauer was an inept imitator of the original, Zatoichi.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363226/
and some 30 more.
I agree with East Broadway above. Except do not call this igPay a cop.
As Bugs Bunny used to say, “Only a big fat rat would shoot a guy in the back” (especially a blind and disabled one)
SHAME
This isn’t the first time blind people have been attacked without provocation, and the gang members not identifying themselves as such before attacking.
http://articles.latimes.com/1989-05-17/news/mn-225_1_officers-beat-blind-man-batons-cane
Are they simply incompetent and blind? Are they ignorant of how to identify walking sticks of the blind? Or are they just thugs who enjoy beating up people who cannot defend themselves? Given the history of their willingness to commit violence (and the lack of any accountability, the legal immunity they get), it’s probably all of the above.
Please explain again why members of the world’s largest criminal street gang cannot be referred to with a certain word, despite the fact that it’s so apt.
No cop ever f@cked w/ John Belushi and his Samurai sword.
After reading the many incidents of Police Abuse on this blog, I’m starting to wonder if there isn’t some sort of Undiagnosed Stress related Psychological Condition that some Police officers develop that unhinges their Reasoning Skills.
Add to that a Culture of Militarized Power and we end up with a Volatile Mixture where the Police become a Menace to Society.
… Also, it wouldn’t hurt to include annual Optician Visits to their Health Insurance plans.
thank god there are not English policeman on golf courses.
ospreysun – “I’m starting to wonder if there isn’t some sort of Undiagnosed Stress related Psychological Condition that some Police officers develop that unhinges their Reasoning Skills.”
It’s called standard training procedures. Militaries and para-military groups brainwash recruits into having a superiority complex and viewing non-members as worth less than themselves or even as subhuman. They are not just taught but encouraged to use excessive violence against those weaker than themselves, and only to protect fellow terrorists who wear the same uniform.
This video well explains the brainwashing and military mentalities:
“War with Gwynne Dyer, Part 2: Anybody’s Son Will Do”
I saw first hand the encouragement of hypocrisy and violence in “police training”, It’s why I quit, it contradicted with my own sense of right and wrong, my view that all people have the same rights. And why I have absolutely no trust for any of them.
How can the cop who’s close enough to taser the guy cannot see the difference between a cane and a samurai sword? Why did the cop not call out to the guy before tasering him in the back? Even if it was a samurai sword, is it illegal to possess one in public if you’re not brandishing it against someone?
Hope he wins a million bucks like these college students (although I do not think this settlement was big or painful enough:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/01/09/18729789.php
shano,
So do I. (And I agree that the student settlement wasn’t sufficient.)
Taser is a deadly weapon. Stop. Taser is a deadly weapon. Stop. Taser is a deadly weapon.
The use of deadly force is only justified when?
a. Old guy with cane is too slow?
b. Guy named Adam has an automatic weapon and is shooting kids.
c. Kids are frolicking in the park where there is a “no frolicking” sign.
Get the Police Superintendent and put the Taser barrel in his arse until he cannot see straight.
Preventative measures like a fear giving pharisee. They were at odds with Jesus. The police are taught to be an atheist in action. Legal; system, military, and police are the real atheists
Fear makes people hallucinate.
The Royals are evidently worried about major league killings that are going on.
That is, if a scientific paper in The Proceedings of The Royal Society are an indication.
The wisdom of the furry is being spoken.
You are right. Even the commoner knowing nothing recognizes a blind man with a walking can.
You are right. Even the commoner knowing nothing recognizes a blind man with a walking cane.
The people that came up with illegal are mentally ill.
dredd:
did you know that bacteria communicate?
Bron, What do they say? “Let’s give this a$$hole the clap.”
If the hiring agent, whoever that is, cannot choose and instruct officers better than this –maybe there are two positions that need filling.
OK, that’s the second one I’ve seen where the cops in England attacked someone they thought had a sword. What’s the deal? Does everyone in England carry a sword now since they can’t carry heat? So the cops are EXPECTING a sword around every corner? Maybe they should just outlaw swords like they outlawed guns over there, and then the cops won’t have to worry about all these swordwielding old men!
Not to mention! Since they got him in the back, why didn’t they just ”step back a step or two” and tell him to gently lay his ”sword” on the ground?
It won’t end there. Have fearful paranoid police, and things will get worse, and no matter what anyone does getting rid of weapons. The police will continue to hallucinate.
That would have confused the blind man thinking; can that officer be talking to me thinking Nah he can’t can’t be. talking to me. The police thinks the blind man is not complying. He then pulls out his gun to kill him. Caption reads; Police tell man to put down Samurai sword. Irate out of control Man brandishes wreapon threatening a police officer. Man refuses to obey the repeated commands to throw down the weapon. Officer of the law. open fire. Police are Justified in killing a man with deadly Samurai sword.
That would have confused the blind man thinking; can that officer be talking to me thinking, Nah he can’t can’t be talking to me. The police thinks the blind man is not complying. He then pulls out his gun to kill him. Caption reads; police tell man to put down Samurai sword. Irate out of control Man brandishes wreapon threatening a police officer. Man refuses to obey the repeated commands to throw down the weapon. Officer of the law opens fire. Police are Justified in killing a man with deadly Samurai sword.
cop thought my video camera was a bazooka!
Reposting:
Posted to Corrections by:
John 1, January 25, 2013 at 10:53 am
It’s not just Chicago-area police who are out of hand: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130124/NEWS01/301240038/Lieutenant-colonel-sues-Louisville-police-alleging-assault
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Thanks, John.
Minna, please go away and never come back. Thank you.