I can only guess that they tased this guy because of past transgressions or maybe something is happening that the video camera just didn’t catch. Watching the video I see him doing nothing wrong, other than a little light talking where he asks them to let him take off his backpack at the station. I don’t know… what do you think? Was this uncalled for? Video shows the officers handcuffing Stephenson, who doesn’t appear to struggle with the officers.
Officers were responding to a call about a man carrying a gun around the neighborhood, and at the end… they learned he was carrying around a BB gun.
The guy, Marco Stephenson, asked if he could spit out a toothpick which, for some reason, prompted the officer to pull out his taser and stun him.
“Don’t pull away. You understand? You understand? Don’t pull away. You get it? You get it? Because I ain’t playing with you today. Do you understand?” the sergeant says in the video, tasing Stephenson a second time.
The video comes as another Balch Springs police officer, Roy Oliver, faces murder charges for fatally shooting 15-year-old Jordan Edwards with an AR-15 in April. The department swiftly fired Oliver after reviewing body camera footage from the incident.
“We understand people are upset and angry from the video that occurred in 2016 and we have made changes and corrections to better serve our community,” the department said in a statement.
Were these officers justified? You decide.