I tried to find a video of the news report but wasn’t able to… yet… so I’m quoting the article. (I’m sure there’ll be a video somewhere on the net… maybe later?)
[EDIT 09/01/10] Thanks to a commenter, I have a video to attach to this story. It is from ABC News: [the rest of the original post is continued below the video]
[Quote INSIDE EDITION:]
An elderly man writhes in agony on his own living room floor as he’s being tasered by cops. And if you think this sounds like an unbelievable sight, wait until you hear the story behind the tasing.
His name is Peter McFarland. He’s a 64-year-old cancer survivor with a heart condition. His lawyer John Scott explains what happened, saying, “My client and his wife were returning from a fundraiser. And as he was going home, he tripped and fell. He was so injured he couldn’t get up.”
McFarland’s wife called 911 and asked for medical asssitance. Paramedics helped him into his house in Marin County outside San Francisco and treated him on the scene.
“As the paramedics were leaving, two Sherriff deputies came into the home uninvited. And basically what happened after that is on the videotape,” said Scott.
Images were captured by a camera mounted on the taser gun. The light beam from the gun could be seen trained straight at McFarland’s heart as a cop speaks with him. McFarland’s pants are ripped at the knee from the fall.
“It appears that one of the officers believed that Mr. McFarland was somehow suicidal,” said Scott.
McFarland insisted he was not suicidal. That he was merely tired and in pain. But that’s when things really got heated.
On the video, the officer said, “Stand up. Put your hands behind your back or you’re going to be tased.”
McFarland said, “What the (expletive deleted) are you doing in my house? I didn’t ask you in my house. Get out of here!”
“Sit down! Put your hands behind your back! Put your hands behind your back,” exclaimed the officer.
McFarland ignores the command and gets to his feet. And that’s when it happens. McFarland is tased a total of three times. The video actually shows the current surrounding his body as his wife pleads for the cops to stop.
“Stop resisting! Stop resisting! Stop resisting or you’ll get it again,” said the officer.
McFarland was charged with resisting arrest—a charge that was later dismissed. He’s now suing the Marin County Sheriff’s Department.
The Marin County Sherrif’s Department told INSIDE EDITION they are taking this allegation of excessive force and misconduct seriously, and they are confident the deputies acted within the law.
[end quote]
I keep hearing more and more stories like this. Not of people being tased in general, but of people being unnecessarily tased. Police brutality? I believe so. In fact, I believe it’s down right assault. Why were they even there? They weren’t needed. (Maybe it’s routine for officers to respond to 911 ambulance calls. Who knows.) And what exactly was this man resisting? If he was resisting arrest, what was he being arrested for? Falling down in his own yard and calling for help?
Law enforcement in this country is getting out of hand. Sure there are good officers out there– but there are so many who carry a holier-than-thou attitude just because they wear a badge that they make ALL law enforcement look bad. I have personally met and witnessed officers who think and act as if they are above the law simply because they wear a badge. On the other side of that coin, I have personally met and witnessed officers who take their job ‘to serve and protect’ very seriously and do their absolute best to uphold the law. They deserve to be commended for being upstanding officers, to say the least. The rest… they should have their badges stripped away, charges brought against them, and reduced to nothing but a common citizen– just like the very ones they are mistreating!
What would have happened if the man in this case had had a pace maker? Would being tased three times have killed him? When I googled to try and find this article, I found hundreds of articles (maybe even thousands, but I didn’t look that deep) of people, helpless people, being tased for seemingly no reason at all! Who is going to be held responsible in these instances? Obviously not the officers because they continue to wear a badge and operate in an official capacity. But when is enough, enough?
What is this country coming to when we get to a point that we can’t even trust those who are sworn to uphold the law and protect us? I have to wonder…
First and foremost, the 
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