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Canada Reviews Tasering Following Video of Stun Gun Death

HeadlineNov 16, 2007

The Canadian government has ordered a review of stun gun use following the release of video footage showing a fatal police tasering of an unarmed man last month. Forty-year-old Robert Dziekanski had flown in from Poland to live with his mother. He became agitated after spending hours waiting for her in a secure area at Vancouver International Airport. She had told him to wait for him by the baggage claim, when in fact he would have had to first pass through customs to see her. After 10 hours, Dziekanski picked up a small wooden table and began to act unruly. Police tasered him, killing him within minutes. Paul Pritchard is the traveler who caught the incident on tape.

Paul Pritchard: “He basically shrugged his shoulders. He put up his hands and kind of admitted defeat, if you will. And, you know, he’d been banging things. It looked like he admitted — he pointed at the computer by his side — you know, he broke something. You know, OK, do what you need to do, obviously; arrest him or whatever. He just wanted to see his mother. I mean, it’s been in there for 10 hours. And, you know, they tasered him. They used their taser at that point.”

In addition to the taser review, Canadian police say they’re conducting a separate investigation.

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