BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) – An uproar over police use of Tasers continues in Brattleboro, where a protest is being planned for Tuesday.
A group of people plan to march through downtown in a “moving picket” aimed at letting town leaders know how they feel about the use of Tasers in a July 24 incident in which two demonstrators who refused police orders to move were stunned with the devices.
“The people who supervised the police are the Selectboard and they need to know how people in town feel,” said Leo Schiff, the organizer of Tuesday’s event.
The town has already suspended the use of Tasers in the wake of the July 24 incident, which occurred when Jonathan Crowell and Samantha Kilmurray – protesting the possible development of a vacant lot – were shocked by police after refusing to leave the property. They were cited for trespassing.
Schiff said Taser use should have a place in the Brattleboro Police Department’s arsenal, but says he was appalled by the use of it against the protesters in that case. On July 30, the Selectboard imposed the moratorium on stun gun use pending a review of police policy.
Brattleboro Police Chief John Martin said Monday declined to comment on the officers’ actions pending an investigation.
He said he has heard from about a dozen people, with two-thirds supporting the officers’ use of force and one-third disapproving.
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