White and black crosses to lead Taser march on Saturday

A sea of white and black crosses will lead the Campaign Against The Taser.Com march this Saturday.

Over the past six years 197 people have died following being tasered in the US and Canada. Campaign Against The Taser.Com has prepared a cross for each death with the name and age of the person written on the cross.

“We have used white crosses for people who died before the launch of Campaign Against The Taser.Com on May 11th this year and black crosses for those who have died since”, says Campaign Against The Taser.Com spokesperson Marie Dyhrberg.

There are 175 white crosses and 22 black crosses.

Most are males but there are 5 females which includes one foetus.

The black crosses mean that at last count 22 people have died since May 11th this year. The rapid rise in taser-related deaths has led to a US Justice Department federal level investigation in the United States.

“The New Zealand government should be waiting for the results of this investigation before approving taser use. To do otherwise is to play Russian roulette with mental health patients and other groups the police have identified as target groups for the taser”, says Campaign Against The Taser.Com spokesperson Marie Dyhrberg.

We want to get across to the public just how lethal these weapons are. It is a nonsense for the police to describe them as “less lethal” when they will not replace guns but instead will be used in place of pepper spray and batons. They are therefore a more lethal option and the sea of crosses will show this clearly.

(The taser stun gun fires two barbed metal darts at the victim and delivers a 50,000volt electric shock. It is excruciatingly painful. Similar devices are used around the world as instruments of torture)

The march takes place from the bottom of Queen Street, Auckland at 12 noon this Saturday August 19th.

Following this release is a list of the people who have died following being tasered in the past 6 years.

Marie Dyhrberg

CATT Spokesperson

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