Unarmed black man tasered by police in the back while sitting on a curb

Police say they are investigating the incident

Clark Mindock
New York
Friday 29 June 2018 03:02 BST
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Unarmed black man tased by police in the back while sitting on a curb

A Pennsylvania mayor has responded to a viral video showing a police officer tasing an unarmed black man who was siting down on a sidewalk curb in the back.

Danene Sorace, the mayor of Lancaster, said that an investigation into the incident on Thursday made her upset, and that the video has reaffirmed her commitment to deploy body cameras to all officers in the City of Lancaster.

“Like you, when I saw the video I was upset by it and it is of great concern to me,” Ms Sorace said in her statement. “We take the use of force very seriously”.

A video of the incident captured by a bystander shows the man, later identified as 27-year-old Sean Williams, sitting down on the curb with his arms outstretched and resting on his knees.

Officers repeatedly tell him to extend his legs straight out, and he then extends them slightly. When an officer tells him to cross his legs, his feet move towards each other and the officer shoots the electric charge into his back.

The video, posted originally on Facebook, quickly went viral online, attracting more than 115,000 views and 3,600 shares.

A post by the police department indicated that they had been called to the site, and were warned that Mr Williams had been threatening individuals in the area, including with a bat. The post notes that a bat was not found nearby.

The police continued to say that Mr Williams refused to comply with an initial officer, who does not appear to be in the video, before a second arrived and instructed Mr Williams again to sit, which he did.

“Non-compliance is often a precursor to someone that is preparing to flee or fight with Officers,” the police statement said.

Mr Williams was evaluated by medical professionals after he was tased, and was then arrested on an outstanding criminal warrant for his arrest on charges of possession of a controlled substance and public drunkenness.

He was later released on unsecured $5,000 bail.

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