Posted on 11/15/2007 5:39:32 PM PST by fanfan
VANCOUVER — Revulsion, anger, sadness and support have greeted the release of a video showing a Polish immigrant’s confrontation with RCMP at Vancouver International Airport, an encounter that ended in his death.
Millions of people around the world have watched the video of Robert Dziekanski’s final moments on the Internet or TV via Canadian broadcasters and foreign outlets such as CNN, ABC and BBC.
Traveller Paul Pritchard of Victoria, arriving in Canada from China, shot the footage of the Oct. 14 incident but it was not released until Wednesday evening.
The video, which spread globally within hours, triggered thousands of email responses to media outlets and filled Internet blog sites both criticizing and supporting police actions.
It also created a political storm, with opposition politicians demanding a full-blown review of Taser use and ministers warning against a rush to judgment.
“I think we should wait until all the evidence is in,” B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said while attending a meeting of provincial justice ministers in Winnipeg.
Public reaction to what some commentators have compared with the videotaped Rodney King beating in Los Angeles has been strong and varied.
“I was truly shocked and saddened by this terrible incident at the airport,” a reader wrote to The Canadian Press.
“Why was the Taser used at all?”
Wrote an Alberta man referring to the RCMP: “Mr. Dziekanski was posing no threat to these Rambo wannabes.
“Reach for your wallets folks because by the time the lawyers get through with these liars we will all be paying big bucks in a settlement.”
One comment posted on the Globe and Mail’s website read: “RCMP — A farce to reckon with.”
Added someone who identified himself as Dolby Thomas from Calgary: “This man did not deserve to die.”
“It is very shameful that our so called `finest’ can act like a bunch of hyenas, just out for a kill,” wrote one man at the PolishForum.com. “There must be a public inquiry into this. Robert Dziekanski could have been any of us.”
“I hope those RCMP officers never go on a day without thinking of the innocent they killed,” said another posting on the forum.
However, another reader wrote The Canadian Press to say it was not necessary to criticize police for doing exactly what they’ve been hired to do.
“We as citizens of this city, province, country and world rely on the efforts of the RCMP ... to protect us from those viewed as a threat to our safety.”
The video of Dziekanski’s last minutes alive could be found on the Internet everywhere from YouTube to the websites of Australia’s The Daily Telegraph.
Some people criticized the media’s widespread distribution of the video, which ends with a man in a suit bending over a now still Dziekanski to see if he has a pulse.
“I’m disgusted at Yahoo and the press for showing this video,” said someone identified as Langille-Mic posting on Yahoo.ca’s news site.
“Give the man’s family some respect. They don’t need to be reminded of this unfortunate situation by the public’s need to view others’ misfortunes. Society is crumbling!”
Piotr Ogrodzinski, Poland’s ambassador to Canada, said Thursday that he was shocked by the video and said Canada’s ambassador to Poland will meet with Polish officials on Monday.
“It requires answers immediately,” Ogrodzinski told The Associated Press. “The video creates a strong impression that the police officers’ reaction was not suitable to the circumstances.”
Ogrodzinski said Dziekanski appeared helpless and made no move that would indicate that he was trying to hit anybody.
“It is really shocking. It’s so sad,” he said.
The video drew strong exchanges in the House of Commons.
Liberal Bonnie Brown said Canadians want answers after seeing the extremely disturbing video.
“Is it standard operating procedure for the RCMP to use Tasers when there is no obvious physical threat?” she asked.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said he had already asked for a review related to the use of Tasers — something he did with little fanfare four days after Dziekanski died — and said both RCMP and the independent public complaints commission are investigating the death.
New Democrat public safety critic Penny Priddy said it made no sense that the RCMP is investigating itself.
“Has the government not learned lessons from the RCMP pension scandal, the Arar affair or the Ian Bush case?” Priddy asked, reminding politicians of recent RCMP controversies.
Oppal said he was shocked by the newly released video but still supported the use of Tasers.
“I think our system is based on fairness and I would want to hear what the police side of the incident is before any of us rush to judgment,” he said.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said he had not seen the entire video but called it disturbing.
“I think the important thing is to recognize first of all it’s a human tragedy, it’s going to affect everyone that’s involved in it,” he said.
“There are four separate investigations taking place right now. Obviously we want to find out how we can do much better in the future.”
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion told reporters in Victoria he had not seen the video but he called for the Mounties to review their use of the weapon.
Dion stopped short of calling for an all-out ban on Tasers.
“We know that the RCMP are reviewing the use of the Taser and this must be done because of unfortunate accidents and I want to carry the sympathy of our party to the family,” Dion said. “This unacceptable situation should be corrected.”
Liberal public safety critic Ujjal Dosanjh said an RCMP review of Taser policy is not enough.
“While we understand the need of law enforcement to be able to subdue suspects in dangerous situations, Mr. Dziekanski’s tragic death and other incidents have led to questions about whether Tasers are being used appropriately,” he said in a news release.
Clear guidelines for the use of Tasers need to be formulated, said Dosanjh.
He waited in the baggage area for 10 hours for her growing increasingly agitated.
His mother was trying to reach him or get a message to him for hours, but the airport staff said they couldn't find him.
He didn't speak the language. Couldn't find out what was going on. Didn't know where to go or what to do. I also wonder if he had other issues, and might have missed taking his meds while waiting for that long after a long flight from Poland.
It's a really messed up story to which the police came in at the tail end of and really couldn't have known what was going on. However, the officer that tased him sure seems to have had an itchy trigger finger.
I had seen an accident up my street to a wheelchair user. A vehicle had knocked him over. I almost lost it. Yelling "you have killed that poor devil". Only two young girls heard me. The local paper said he was in serious condition. Two weeks later he was at the local Tim Hortons - coffee as usual. He had bombed through a stop sign.
One lives and learns. We can all learn a lesson from this post on excited delirium. Perhaps good can come of this tragedy. I do hope the authorities will get this message.
You have the story wrong. He mother told him she’d meet him in an area of the airport that she could not enter because it was secure. She waited for him outside of that area and when he never appeared thought he’d missed his flight and went home. He waited for hours on end on his own accord.
I said in a previous post that I did see the tape. I saw him throw a table towards passengers. I found out today he also tossed a computer. Definitely out of control.
Would it have been too much for him to have had a letter, (in English), requesting help locating his mother in the New Country? A rudimentary introduction letter on him would have prevented this mess.
Just some after the fact suggestions.
Back when I traveled abroad I found that a pencil and paper went a long ways in bridging the language gap.
“He waited for hours on end on his own accord.”
Somehow that still doesn’t seem to make it alright for them to just walk up and tase the guy without trying to communicate with him. I mean if the guy went up to an airport official with his hat in his hand I think they’d be obliged to get someone who could speak Polish.
i understand there was an 'expert' of some sort on the news here this morning saying that excited delirium was just something for the cops for fall back on when something like this happens. i wonder how he would explain the fact that autopsies can't find a cause a death?
It didn’t have to happen.
I suspect this might have been avoided if just a single airport employee had taken a minute to find out what was wrong.
He was waiting in the baggage area, his mother was looking for him. and she was sent home, told that her son was either not there, or had arrived, and left.
She drove in from Kamloops, BC.
“Keep in mind also, that - according to Polish media - that was his first fly by plane ever in his life, and he traveled overseas, which probably took him another several hours (+ the time he spent at the airport.”
Yes I did have that in mind. When I was stuck at Sea/Tac, I had just arrived from Fairbanks Alaska and was on my way to New York State.
I understand he became agitated because he was stranded at the airport for 10 hours, but in all I have read on the incident and all the news casts I have seen no one explains WHY he had been at the airport for 10 hours. Does anyone know why? Was he mentally ill?
He thought he was to meet his mother in the baggage claim area, so that’s where he stayed.
His mother didn’t realize that it was a secure area,so she asked staff to go in and get him, but was told he wasn’t there.
“so she asked staff to go in and get him, but was told he wasn’t there.”
oops... looks like the airport is going to be paying her millions as well. Thx for the info.
To cut to the chase and this is most important. It seems the man could have quite easily walked out of the area. The man,Paul Pritchard, saw him in the EARLY STAGES of agitation. He pointed his camera toward the man. We are told the man saw him. The agitated man was said to have put up a stool, to ward off the pointing camera.
After that, the man lost it. Pritchard is Canada's hero, a George Holliday of Rodney King fame. Pritchard making money and his Warhol moment. Playing holier than thou.
Thats sort of why I was wondering if the guy had a mental illness. That isn’t the reaction most people have when being filmed. Indeed if someone is acting like an @sshole, pointing a camera at them would likely make them calm down, instead of lose it. No sane person wants to look like an idiot on camera. I suspect the guy wasn’t playing with a full deck.
I don’t know anything about Pritchard and frankly couldn’t care less. If I had been in his position I would have done the same thing. If something interesting happens it’s pretty much to be expected that someone will be recording it. Everyone has camera phones, and digital recorders these days.
Anyway, you shouldn’t hesitate to post. If people disagree with you, it’s ok. You shouldn’t take it personally.
The officers in my mind used excessive force, shame on them. The Polish man had mental issues, but he was willing to give up when the airport officers arrived. The Polish man lifted his hands. Those officers used excessive force, I mean they were acting like they were wrestling an elepant. They should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. What they did is inhumane, disgusting, and vile to treat another human being like that. They are supposed to use equal force to combat equal force. This deranged Polish man was willing to give up. A man is dead because those %$#& officers overpowered him with unreasonable-excessive force. I’m not saying the Polish man was in his right mind throwing chairs. He didn’t deserve to die. Shame, Shame on those bullies.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.