Why Dziekanski's Killers MUST Be Charged!!
- RCMP Officer Millington claimed in his Oct. 14, 2007, report on the Taser discharge that "The male swung the stapler wildly with his arm at the members."
- Shown the video, Millington admitted Dziekanski never raised his arms above his waist and the stapler can only be seen when it flies out of his hand after the first blast of the Taser.
- Millington claimed Dziekanski was "defiant," that he disobeyed the officers and moved away from them.
- Shown the video, Millington had to admit Dziekanski moved toward a counter because Robinson pointed him to it. "I didn't see the hand [pointing]," admitted Millington.
- Millington claimed on his Oct. 14 Taser report that "the [Taser] was cycled once for the full five seconds, which stopped the male from moving, but he continued to walk towards members with his arms raised once the cycle was completed."
- Shown the video, Millington admitted Dziekanski is seen to hit the floor after the first employment of the Taser. The Taser record shows Millington waited one second, then gave Dziekanski another 50,000-volt "probe," another, and then two in "push-stun" mode while the man was on the ground, for a combined 31 seconds of electrical jolts.
- In his Oct. 15 statement to investigators, Millington claims: "I believed I cycled [the Taser] twice when he was standing . . . once it stopped, the members moved in because he hadn't gone to the ground, and were able to wrestle him to the ground."
- The RCMP did not "wrestle the male to the ground," despite claims by RCMP Officers Bentley, Rundel and Millington that they did.
The video clearly shows Dziekanski falls after the first Taser blast and is howling and writhing in pain on the floor.
- Millington told investigators: "He was on his stomach and Const. Bentley said something about his ears turning blue. So I said, 'Let's turn him into the recovery position,' which is a better position to allow for breathing and circulation. We just basically stayed with him in the recovery position until EHS arrived. Periodically checking."
- The video does not show any RCMP officer checking Dziekanski's pulse or monitoring him. The only person seen on the video to check the pulse, once, is airport security guard Trevor Enchelmaier.
Shown the video, Millington admitted that he saw Enchelmaier check Dziekanski, but not any RCMP officer, nor did he see any of the officers remove their black gloves, which he admitted would make checking a pulse "difficult."
As for the recovery position, Dziekanski is shown motionless on the video, face down, hands cuffed behind his back.
(The first-aid recovery position involves putting a victim on their side, head tilted, arms raising the body, legs slightly bent and crossed below the knee.)
"He wasn't in anything remotely resembling the recovery position," testified Richmond Fire Capt. Kirby Graeme, the first responder to reach Dziekanski.
- Rundel testified that Dziekanski "picked up a stapler and clenched his fists, put the stapler above his head . . . and took an aggressive, combative stance."
- None of the officers could identify on the video where Dziekanski raises the stapler, nor does it show raised fists.
Millington and Bentley tried to show on the video Dziekanski advancing on them, but that action could not be seen.
- The RCMP officers testified they tried to "calm" and communicate with Dziekanski, but had to Taser him.
- The video shows the four RCMP officers hopping over a railing to get to Dziekanski and the first Taser jolt hitting the man within less than 30 seconds of their arrival.
It shows little or no attempt to calm Dziekanski.
- The RCMP said Dziekanski was howling incomprehensibly, but they knew he spoke no English and didn't try to find someone who could communicate with him.
- Polish translator Kris Barski testified at the inquiry, based on enhanced audio from the Pritchard video, that Dziekanski first welcomed the officers, calling out "Polizia, polizia!" to get them to help him.
Then he shouted at the first Taser jolt: "Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Are you out of your minds?"
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- Shown the video, Millington admitted Dziekanski never raised his arms above his waist and the stapler can only be seen when it flies out of his hand after the first blast of the Taser.
- Millington claimed Dziekanski was "defiant," that he disobeyed the officers and moved away from them.
- Shown the video, Millington had to admit Dziekanski moved toward a counter because Robinson pointed him to it. "I didn't see the hand [pointing]," admitted Millington.
- Millington claimed on his Oct. 14 Taser report that "the [Taser] was cycled once for the full five seconds, which stopped the male from moving, but he continued to walk towards members with his arms raised once the cycle was completed."
- Shown the video, Millington admitted Dziekanski is seen to hit the floor after the first employment of the Taser. The Taser record shows Millington waited one second, then gave Dziekanski another 50,000-volt "probe," another, and then two in "push-stun" mode while the man was on the ground, for a combined 31 seconds of electrical jolts.
- In his Oct. 15 statement to investigators, Millington claims: "I believed I cycled [the Taser] twice when he was standing . . . once it stopped, the members moved in because he hadn't gone to the ground, and were able to wrestle him to the ground."
- The RCMP did not "wrestle the male to the ground," despite claims by RCMP Officers Bentley, Rundel and Millington that they did.
The video clearly shows Dziekanski falls after the first Taser blast and is howling and writhing in pain on the floor.
- Millington told investigators: "He was on his stomach and Const. Bentley said something about his ears turning blue. So I said, 'Let's turn him into the recovery position,' which is a better position to allow for breathing and circulation. We just basically stayed with him in the recovery position until EHS arrived. Periodically checking."
- The video does not show any RCMP officer checking Dziekanski's pulse or monitoring him. The only person seen on the video to check the pulse, once, is airport security guard Trevor Enchelmaier.
Shown the video, Millington admitted that he saw Enchelmaier check Dziekanski, but not any RCMP officer, nor did he see any of the officers remove their black gloves, which he admitted would make checking a pulse "difficult."
As for the recovery position, Dziekanski is shown motionless on the video, face down, hands cuffed behind his back.
(The first-aid recovery position involves putting a victim on their side, head tilted, arms raising the body, legs slightly bent and crossed below the knee.)
"He wasn't in anything remotely resembling the recovery position," testified Richmond Fire Capt. Kirby Graeme, the first responder to reach Dziekanski.
- Rundel testified that Dziekanski "picked up a stapler and clenched his fists, put the stapler above his head . . . and took an aggressive, combative stance."
- None of the officers could identify on the video where Dziekanski raises the stapler, nor does it show raised fists.
Millington and Bentley tried to show on the video Dziekanski advancing on them, but that action could not be seen.
- The RCMP officers testified they tried to "calm" and communicate with Dziekanski, but had to Taser him.
- The video shows the four RCMP officers hopping over a railing to get to Dziekanski and the first Taser jolt hitting the man within less than 30 seconds of their arrival.
It shows little or no attempt to calm Dziekanski.
- The RCMP said Dziekanski was howling incomprehensibly, but they knew he spoke no English and didn't try to find someone who could communicate with him.
- Polish translator Kris Barski testified at the inquiry, based on enhanced audio from the Pritchard video, that Dziekanski first welcomed the officers, calling out "Polizia, polizia!" to get them to help him.
Then he shouted at the first Taser jolt: "Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Are you out of your minds?"
© Copyright (c) The Province
You are absolutely correct - charges must be laid. At the very least these officers are guilty of manslaughter. There is no doubt that their collective disregard for the welfare of Mr. Dziekanski was criminal. Little boys with toys - their actions demonstrated they were more inclined to deploy than diffuse. Bad policing all around - they must be charged.
Posted by
1eyedpecker |
12:05 pm, March 08, 2009
They shouldn't be held responsible for operating within what it clearly a broken system.
Posted by
Robert McClelland |
1:07 pm, March 08, 2009
Millington has demonstrated that his training was lacking. It's hard to tell though how much of Millington's folly is a result of bad training and how much is bad judgment and panic. It seems obvious he fudged the facts on his report. He can't be that incompetent to have forgotten such salient details. The fact that he feels he did nothing wrong is especially disturbing. The system indeed failed but this officer failed as well.
Posted by
Jim Parrett |
3:47 pm, March 08, 2009
Millington lied time and time again. He has been caught in every lie he has told. Charges should be laid but with the screwed up judicial system we have, all four will likely walk.
Posted by
Jafo |
10:28 pm, March 08, 2009