Teen Allegedly Tasered Four Times by NYPD for Disorderly Conduct

Pam tipped me off to this story of a black teen in NYC who was allegedly tasered four times, in addition to being hit with a nightstick and put in a choke hold. His father, a 20-year veteran of the NYPD, says that the cops used excessive force.

Retired Lt. Alexander Lombard said his son, Alexander Lombard 3rd, 17, was beaten by cops after they arrived at a "community sponsored" barbecue at 126th St. and Park Ave. last month.

"He's truly dismayed by the whole thing," Lombard said, standing next to his son in front of Police Headquarters in lower Manhattan. "He grew up with cops. He was raised to trust cops."

But Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said in a statement that a police sergeant "employed a Taser against the suspect's ankle" to subdue him after responding to a large disturbance at about 3:30 a.m.

As you'll see in the video, however, Lombard appears to have burns and bruising on his torso and face. And this despite the fact that the only citation issued was a disorderly conduct charge.

"The mere fact that he was hit with a Taser four times," [Noel Leader, co-founder of the advocacy group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care] said, "and there's no resisting arrest charge, no criminal possession of a weapons charge - it's evident to me that this incident did not justify use of a stun gun."

No kidding.

I certainly hope the rightwingers who are totally up in arms about the incident involving a white guy—and Senator Kerry standing idly by as he's tasered once—will next turn their attention to this story. As will the media, who, as PortlyDyke pointed out, also seem to be giving the UoF story a lot of attention—while the Lomabard story brings up exactly six results.