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Subscribe to RSSAn edited surveillance video of a police officer firing a Taser at a 14-year-old girl has been released as part of evidence for a federal lawsuit filed against the officer and the city of Allentown.
An edited surveillance video of a police officer firing a Taser at a 14-year-old girl has been released as part of evidence for a federal lawsuit filed against the officer and the city of Allentown.
The incident happened back on Sept. 29 outside of Dieruff High School. The video first shows Keshana Wilson, 14, walking towards a car on the street with two friends on the 800 block of Washington Street before turning to talk to another group of students, according to the Morning Call.
The video then abruptly cuts to Allentown Police Officer Jason Ammary struggling with Wilson on the side of a parked car. Ammary appears to be shoving Wilson against the car. She then appears to push her left forearm against his face. Ammary then steps back and fires his Taser at Wilson’s groin, causing her to collapse to the ground. Several security officers then arrive. One can be seen leading a teen boy away in handcuffs.
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The Morning Call reports Wilson was taken to the hospital to have probes from the Taser removed. She was charged with aggravated assault on the officer, simple assault, riot, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and walking on the highway, according to the Morning Call. The Morning Call also reports the assault and riot charges were dismissed in juvenile court.
Attorney Richard J. Orloski filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on behalf of Wilson’s mother, Victoria Geist. The suit claims the officer used excessive force against the teen girl.
One minute and 40 seconds worth of video is missing, according to the lawsuit. The video does not show the confrontation between the officer and the girl nor what prompted it. The Morning Call reports that the lawsuit and the Allentown Police Department gave different accounts.
The lawsuit claims the girl did nothing to provoke the officer. Orloski says Ammary grabbed Wilson from behind without identifying himself and violently pushed her into the car. Orloski also says Ammary made insulting remarks about the girl’s “socioeconomic status.”
Read local coverage on The Morning Call
Allentown Police claim Wilson was cursing and inciting a group of people. They say that she then twisted away from the officer when he went in to arrest her for disorderly conduct. Ammary leaned her against the trunk of the car to place handcuffs on her but she continued to resist and elbowed him in the chin, according to police.
The Morning Call reports that Allentown Assistant Police Chief Joseph Hanna claimed the officer was justified in using the Taser because of the "use-of-force continuum."
The continuum is a standard that gives law enforcement officials guidelines regarding how much force may be used against a resisting subject in a given situation. According to the Morning Call, the continuum allows officers to use non-lethal means to restrain and control an active resister after their presence and verbal commands fail. These non-lethal means include pepper spray, hands, baton or the Taser. Hanna told the Morning Call that Wilson was considered a mid-level assailant and active resister and was likely to injure herself or the officer.
Hanna also claimed that officers are trained to use the justified amount of force dictated by the actions of the resister, not their age or gender, according to the Morning Call.
According to the lawsuit, the police report claims Ammary aimed his weapon lower because Wilson was using her backpack to block the Taser. The video shows Wilson’s upper body exposed however. The suit also says the police report claims hundreds of students were blocking traffic at the time of the incident. The video only shows a small number of students on the street however.
No word yet on Ammary’s status with the police department.
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Curious as to where the rest of the video went, isn't it...
Sounds like a deal I got in Oklahoma while living in El Paso. Park Ranger approachs high rate speed after dark, I setting cruise doing 45 mph state highway to 65 limit. I thought was local drug user, so I sped up to 100 quick he turn on light I stopped, relieved it was Law enforcement. He took gave me Drug test, hos. did not send me bill. I get credit report and say I owe hos. $1,050.00 for test, not paid two years old just filed. I,m not going pay them either. Crooked Laws in Oklahoma, he had no reason to stop or appoach me in such manners.
Sounds like a deal I got in Oklahoma while living in El Paso. Park Ranger approachs high rate speed after dark, I setting cruise doing 45 mph state highway to 65 limit. I thought was local drug user, so I sped up to 100 quick he turn on light I stopped, relieved it was Law enforcement. He took gave me Drug test, hos. did not send me bill. I get credit report and say I owe hos. $1,050.00 for test, not paid two years old just filed. I,m not going pay them either. Crooked Laws in Oklahoma, he had no reason to stop or appoach me in such manners.
Actually doing 20 miles under the posted speed limit is reason enough to pull you over for suspicious activity not to mention that when you seen someone behind you you sped up to 100 MPH. Very suspicious if you ask anyone in law enforcement.
Betty, if you watch the "raw video" you see the camera pans based on a timer before rotating back, like a yard sprinkler. The extra video was edited out.
David, I agree. I live in Oklahoma and at least 80% of the cops are crooked in some manner.
I'm wondering why the camera was specifically zeroed in on that section of the street-notice the zoom action? Too specific and much too clear to have been a standard street cam. Who's the source of the video?
Seems something was planned to happen...altercation with the students the three girls turned and spoke to? Someone from the group on the sidewalk calling out to the girls and challenging them? Perhaps that's what the missing video is about .. and hence why the boy is led away in cuffs?
But .. but .. it's much more fun to assume police brutality for the heck of it... because we all know that teenagers are perfectly innocent in every way and never ever talk back, cuss, act badly, beat on each other and post those videos on youtube...no .. can't be that.... must be totally random police officer driving by who jumped out of his cruiser to taser someone because he got the wrong donut and he just had to let off steam....except..do you notice no cruiser in the frame? Hmm, wonder if security had called him in because of some matter that was edited out ... hmmmmmm
Come on people .. make decisions based on ALL the facts. This video is proof that we don't have all the facts plus there's no audio so ....
Is this just another episode of look at me I have a badge and you will respect me? All to often you put a person in blue/black and a badge and they become above the law and feel they can do whatever it is they want to do. There mindset goes to everyone is criminal.
I saw nothing in that that warranted tasering. This bigger policeman could not get her under control without a taser? I think maybe he needs to hit the gym and get in shape.
just big brother being big brother!!!!
The officer was not using the "use-of-force continuum" that the article mentions. Her hands were raised in surrender when he pointed his taser at her. At that point he had no justification to fire. She was unarmed, unprotected (her bag was under her left arm - not covering her chest as alleged in the statement) and surrendering.
While I am generally a supporter of police, this was clearly unjustified.
Betty, I would be interested in seeing the missing 1:40 too. Shades of Nixon?
And Sheila, you are right. unless the officer is about to give birth, he needs some gym time.
Does it remind you of Rodney King video, somewhat/ Big Policeman afraid of a 14 year old Girl. Police State is getting Crasy!
14 or 44 - she got what she asked for.
I think the missing footage, according to JoeConservative, will show her pleading, "Please officer, taser the hell out of this 14 year old girl, you manly man!" Yeah. I'm sure that's what the footage will show.
I love cops.
Officer Jason Amarry
Officer Jason Amarry.
Officer Jason Amarry.
Did your father beat you as a child?
Have a nice day, officer.
Everybody's a victim these days. Belligerent, cops are bad, we're good, we never do anything wrong, I can do what I want because I think it's OK, in your face attitude to police or anyone else in authority is what leads to uncaring, disrespectful people getting into situations like this.
But let's wait till the rest of the video comes out on this. My guess it will reflect what I have just said.
My guess is that you believe the cop is the victim, Chris-3130621.
And, no matter what the video evidence, you'll stick to that belief because you think that most cops are benevolent beings and you really don't care if a 200 lb trained officer is incapable of subduing a 14 year old girl who has her hands in the air.
I'm gonna say that "in your face," I can do anything to you attitude on the part of COPS is what leads to these situations. AND it's what leads, sometimes, to the occasional "I don't have to put my hands behind my back because you're just trying a false arrest, you bully" attitude by citizens who don't trust cops because of that attitude.
I know. It's a lot to digest for a person like yourself.
The more "officers" behave like this, the more they're gonna be met with resistance from people who won't take it. And, next time, it might not be from a 14 year old girl, officer.
Tell me, where in history has an unjust authority ever ended up on top?
Have a nice day.
Here's the most important part of the whole story:
"One minute and 40 seconds worth of video is missing, according to the lawsuit. The video does not show the confrontation between the officer and the girl nor what prompted it."
The officer is lying. How do I know? Because of the one minute and forty seconds "missing" from the video. The fourteen year old victim and her family don't have the power to make this video disappear. The "authorities" do.
There's going to be a lawsuit, and the guilty parties are already playing the CYA game. I hope the courts award this mother and daughter a huge settlement. I hope the case is decided in their favor because of the "missing" one minute and forty seconds of video.
The "missing" video is the most damning piece of evidence against the police, school and city officials. It shows collusion on the part of authorities to hide the truth and persecute the victim. These colluding school, city and police officials are scum. They deserve to loose their shirts as well as their jobs.
Imagine what would happen to a parent who tasered his or her 14 year old daughter. Puts it into perspective for you, doesn't it?
We call these acts child abuse. We prosecute people for this. In most cases we remove children from the custody of such perpetrators based on the mere suspicion of such behavior. So why is it OK for police to gin up an excuse for assaulting a 14 year old girl with a taser?
The Police officer pointed his taser at the child's groin area. In spite of the fact that the girl was wearing heavy winter pants, the taser's prongs had to be removed by a doctor at the local hospital.
Think people! Please think about what happened to this child! Do we want this type of assault on our daughters to become routine?
@Elizabeth .. heavy winter pants? In September? Look again, several kids are wearing short sleeve shirts - no jackets. A few kids are wearing hoodies. Everyone is lingering in the sunshine...no one is rushing to get out of the cold .. and she was wearing standard jeans...and it's not unusual for the prongs to be removed by a doctor.
I think before we all pass judgement that we need to wait and see the rest of the video. Strange that it is missing......makes me really wonder what happened.
Who needs to see what happened beyond an officer brutalizing a fourteen year old girl, then tasing her while she has her hands in the air?
Please.
Officer, my a$$.
Don't disgrace that word.
@shut yer yap..if you notice, this 14 year old girl is about the same height and weight as the officer. She's pushing against him and at one point one of her hands is pushing against his throat. She looks like she's resisting.
I know, I'm an idiot for pointing out that the 14 year old isn't a tiny petite helpless girl ...
Again, who's behind the camera? Who edited the video and why? My guess is that a brawl was planned and someone was videotaping it to post it online. Then security and the police got involved and a tasering happened. This is obviously way cooler so with a little editing and voila! Or perhaps it was edited for the sole purpose of bringing a lawsuit against the officer to make it appear that there was no reason for the tasering. Except, we're smart and can notice things like missing video .. oops .. amateur videographer.
Isn't it fun how there's always two sides to every story?
Was the cop right to taze her? Not my decision to make.
However, if a cop tells you to do something and you don't do it, don't be surprised when something like this happens. I'm not saying all police orders are justified and should be blindly followed. But in a tense situation, it's best to follow instructions and let the tension diffuse a bit instead of fighting the officer.
If the officer wasn't justified in using the force he did, he should be charged with aggravated assault. But, we don't know what happened in the missing video. Maybe she did something to warrant her arrest, maybe she didn't. One thing that was clear on the video though is, she was resisting arrest. When you resist arrest, you will be tazed or pepper sprayed or hit with a baton. That's what they are trained to do.
Wow, you people are nuts! She tried to wrestle her way away from a cop - she is lucky she didn't get shot. Why don't parents teach their kids to NOT FIGHT COPS, if they are innocent, they will be released, if they are guilty they will be brought to justice in court, if they fight back, they will get shot, tasered, tackled, whatever it takes. It's simple, when he tells you to put your hands behind your back, do it. When he tells you to raise your hands in the air, do it. Otherwise suffer the consequence - your choice. This 14 yr old 'girl' made her choice & now her mom wants to cash in - that is the injustice!
You are kidding, right? "If you are innocent you'll be released"? Dream on! It doesn't work like that; if they want to make an example of you, if they need the arrest for their quota, or if the DA just plain doesn't like you, you are so fried. That's how it works in the real world.
1. Obviously, she was resisting arrested. The backpack is in front of her chest, as clearly seen in the video. Tazing is actually a safer option than having an officer physically detain her, much less force.
2. Really? People decide what is a 14 year old? If this young lady had shot a person, you would be trying to charge her as an adult for murder. If she was driving drunk and killed a mother of two, you would be rioting in the streets to put her in jail. Is it the level of the crime that determines whether a 14 year old is adult enough to be treated as an adult criminal or not? Jaywalking? 14 year old kid or 14 year old adult? Drug dealing? kid or adult? Pick one standard and stick with it.
I will not even get into the same age debate when race is brought into it!
It looked to me like she was just trying to defend herself against an unprovoked physical assault; it's not OK just because it's a police officer- it's worse! Most police officers are racist jerks (I know, I have 2 of them in my immediate family, and none of the others I've known were any better).
100 seconds are missing from the surveillance video; that tells me that the police are hiding something. It looked to me like the girl was just defending herself against a physical assault - it's worse that the assailant was a police officer. Anyone who thinks that police officers are generally above that sort of thing is extremely naive and/or has never known any police officers.
She got what she deserved! You can tell she WAS resisting in the video. Like it or not, kids have to learn they have to listen to the police. If this was an adult no one would say a thing but just remember a kid can shoot you just as fast as an adult.
What traffic? And what is on that shield , blocking incomming traffic ? With other words, the police is using force for something that girl was not even poseble to do.Blocking traffic. Also is using such force on a 14 year student not saying that those cop is fit for the job? He assaulted the girl, and not the girl him. And btw even when he is rite , was the walking on the street so dangerus for her and others that an police office is alowed to use such force ?Is writing a simple ticket not more the thing to do? The cop is showing more to me that they realy have lost all there trust and now try to get some prestige by terror and fear.
When i was there as an tourist and see such thing happening in front of me, i attacked the officer and filed an complain for abuse of power.