Watch: Police Defend Arrest of Black Man Reportedly Tased in Front of His Kids
An unidentified man in St. Paul,
Minn., videotaped his arrest and reported tasing by two unidentified officers.
The man claims that he was sitting in a public space when police, including the
one seen here, approached him.
TWIN CITITES DAILY PLANET SCREENSHOT
Updated Aug. 29, 9:10
a.m. EDT: St. Paul Minnesota police issued a statement on their
Facebook page defending the arrest of Chris Lollie in January of this year. The
statement was reported by the Minneapolis
City Pages.
In the statement police say they were called by a private
security company because a man had repeatedly entered a private 'employees
only' area in a bank. That man, identified as Lollie, refused to leave and
refused to cooperate. Here's a portion of the police statement.
As is often the case, the video does not show the totality
of the circumstances.
Our officers were called by private security guards on a man who was trespassing in a private area. The guards reported that the man had on repeated occasions refused to leave a private "employees only" area in the First National Bank Building.
With no information on who the man was, what he might be doing or why he refused to leave the area, responding Saint Paul police officers tried to talk to him, asking him who he was. He refused to tell them or cooperate.
Our officers were called by private security guards on a man who was trespassing in a private area. The guards reported that the man had on repeated occasions refused to leave a private "employees only" area in the First National Bank Building.
With no information on who the man was, what he might be doing or why he refused to leave the area, responding Saint Paul police officers tried to talk to him, asking him who he was. He refused to tell them or cooperate.
Our officers are called upon and required to respond to
calls for assistance and to investigate the calls. At one point, the officers
believed he might either run or fight with them. It was then that officers took
steps to take him into custody. He pulled away and resisted officers' lawful
orders. They then used the force necessary to safely take him into custody.
He was arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct. The
full statement can be read here.
Updated Aug. 28, 2:56 p.m. EDT: The man in the video
has been identified as 27-year-old Chris Lollie, according to the
Minneapolis City Pages. According to the City Pages, police were responding
to a call of a man loitering in front of the First National Bank building on
Jan. 31 at 9:43 a.m.
It’s unclear why video of the incident is just surfacing,
but a police report filed by officers on the same day and time that Lollie
would have been arrested noted that a man "was charged with trespassing,
disorderly conduct, and obstructing the legal process, but those charges were
later dropped."
Earlier:
It isn't the footage so much as the screams.
On Tuesday, video of an unidentified black man in St. Paul,
Minn., being questioned by police officers hit the Web. What isn't seen but is
heard clearly is the Taser being charged and then shot as the man is reportedly
arrested for what appears to amount to sitting in a public space waiting for
his kids to be let out from school and then refusing to give his name because,
according to him, he "hadn't done anything wrong." Read more >>
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