Man set alight after being hit with Taser

Man set alight after being hit with Taser

www.theaustralian.news.com.au

AN Aboriginal man from a remote western desert community was last night being airlifted to a Perth hospital after he was shot by police with a Taser gun and engulfed in flames.

The incident happened about midday yesterday at the West Australian community of Warburton after police went to a house where Ronald Mitchell and others were sniffing petrol.

Last night a crew from the Royal Flying Doctor Service airlifted Mr Mitchell to a Perth hospital to be treated for burns to 20 per cent of his body.

It is unclear exactly how the 36-year-old was set alight but family members told The Austr

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.news.com.au

Yeah, tasers are nonlethal weapons, they might blow you up a bit, but its still nonlethal.
If the guy put petrol (gas) on his face then I guess that's how he ended up on fire. Problem is imo this is just another case of the cops using a taser instead of doing what they were trained to do, it's not that hard for a trained police officer to take down an unarmed man without using a taser.

www.theaustralian.news.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

The saddest part is that when I read that he was native, I automatically assumed he was huffing. Only to be proven 100% correct moments later. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry haha.

reply to post by king9072


Yeah I agree. But couldnt they have used pepper spray or some other defense system? I mean, if you realise they have been huffing petrol, the last thing I would do as use a weapon that could cause ignition, in which this case it did.

Poor old Aussie cops are learning as they go.

This will be educational for them. One of them will probably get promotion for writing up the report: ' Danger to Police When Tasering Petrol Sniffers'. Guess half a dozen cops will have to receive counselling now.

Gee, cops in the US and UK have tasers and now the Aussie cops have them too. Makes them feel so grown up, tough and kewl. They swagger around, armed to the teeth, just looking for someone to zap. They killed a guy with a taser in Far North Queensland the other week. The Police chief went on tv to announce gravely to the public that no, tasers would not be withdrawn and yes, he supported his taser gang to the hilt, blah blah.

Who got the contract to supply tasers to Aussie cops ?

Who ordered front-guy Rudd to authorise the purchase ?

How much did the tasers cost the Aussie public ?

How much found its way into secret pockets ?

Same goes for the 'Swine Flu Vaccine' which the msm announced Rudd had bought 10 million hits of. I read in one of the conspiracy boards not that long ago that Rumsfeld and Cheyney earned billions out of the vaccine. And they wonder why we don't trust them ...

So this guy was huffing gas and the cop thought tazing him was the right idea.

How bright is that cop. I guess it was bound to happen eventually. Cops have become to lazy to use common sense when playing with their toys.

Next thing you know a cop will discharge his firearm in a plane ar curising altitude.

Just ridiculous.

[edit on 21-7-2009 by titorite]

Yeah this cops a idiot. But this dudes a idiot too... huffing gas? What the hell. Whatever happened to normal drugs?

Gas huffing is the most pathetic thing I ever heard of, lol.

I dont care if people wanna get high, to each his own, but c'mon inhalants are so dumb.

peace

[edit on 21-7-2009 by jeasahtheseer]

Originally posted by jeasahtheseer
Yeah this cops a idiot. But this dudes a idiot too... huffing gas? What the hell. Whatever happened to normal drugs?

Gas huffing is the most pathetic thing I ever heard of, lol.

I dont care if people wanna get high, to each his own, but c'mon inhalants are so dumb.

peace

[edit on 21-7-2009 by jeasahtheseer]

My buddy moved up to an interior town in BC called Williams Lake. I went to visit him and they have a store thats alot like costco but some different name that I forget. Regardless, he was saying that you'll often see natives come out with carts loaded full of inhalants. It's actually pretty sad, but it's a reality. That was the triggered memory when I read "An aboriginal man was set on fire after being tasered".

I wonder if the cop looked at his taser and said holy #...

Sorry had to..

further updates

WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said Mr Mitchell was a known petrol sniffer and violent offender in the Aboriginal community.

Mr Mitchell ran from a house at police officers carrying a cigarette lighter and a container believed to contain fuel, police said.

They said he was asked to stop but he continued running toward them before the Taser was used.

"The police officers were concerned that they were going to be burnt so they deployed a Taser," Mr O'Callaghan said.

"The only other choice they would have had is to use a police issue firearm and the circumstances would almost certainly have been far more grave."

www.news.com.au...

reply to post by SG-1-9er


Quite disgusting how some people brandish ALL cops as thugs and meatheads.

A police spokeswoman said last night that a male police officer fired the Taser when Mr Mitchell ran at police with the petrol container and refused to stop when asked.

Understand that?

A copper orderd him to cease, yet he ran at the copper with a petrol can and a lighter. You do the math.
He couldnt take him down with force, because the suspect was covered in petrol, had petrol in his posession and a lighter. It could of put them ALL up in flames.

She said Mr Mitchell then caught alight and the police officer immediately went to his aid, smothering the flames with his arms.

Definately sounds like a cop who wanted to do nothing but shoot off his taseer..

She said at the same time the male officer was hit in the head with rocks thrown by an 18-year-old woman.

Typical bloody aboriginal behaviour.
Throwing rocks at a policemans head while he's trying to save someone.


For those people who are commenting and have never had to deal with the aboriginals, you have no bloody clue what your talking about.

These wernt innocent people just minding there business having a friendly sniff and a chat.

This man had a lighter, and a bottle of petrol, and he himself was covered in petrol. If he ran at me, i would feel at immediate danger and I would have shot him instead.

reply to post by king9072


My friend builds the housing the government supplies for aboriginals in really remote regions, he's spent a lot of time amongst them.

The kids walk around town, with a coathanger around there neck and a tin can tied to one end. The cans full of petrol and its placed under the chin.
the idea is, you simply tild your head down wards, you get a wiff....


its so quick and easy!

Originally posted by dallas18
further updates

"The only other choice they would have had is to use a police issue firearm and the circumstances would almost certainly have been far more grave."

Last time I check, police were still learning hand to hand combat as part of their training, if you can't take down one man armed only with some fuel and a lighter then you shouldn't be a cop.

I'm not sure about WA but most cops in Victoria have pepper spray.

NSW will introduce Tasers to general-duty police this month, while Western Australia already issues them to general-duty police.

Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT have restricted the weapons to specialist tactical response squads.

I work for the local fire brigade and see cops all the time, most of the cops I see are carrying a taser so I'd really like to know more about these "specialist tactical response squads" we must have a lot of them.

He has been charged with assault to prevent arrest and possession of a sniffing substance.

Two other people at the house were also charged with possessing a sniffing substance.

Excuse me? Possessing a sniffing substance? WTF you can be charged for possessing petrol, when put into prospective this law gives the cops the ability to charge anyone who owns a car. The next thing you know they'll charge the poor guy for arson. I also think that the police response would of been a lot different if he wasn't Aboriginal.
As for the assault charge, well he was tased before he got close enough to the officers to commit an assault so I would love to know how their going to make that one stick.

hey have you ever seen a native off his or her face on petrol glue or whatever the score for the day is? im pretty sure those cops didnt want to tangle with them. people that far gone on drugs are unpredictable to say the least. why should the cop who is doing his job put himself at risk because of someone who isnt following the rules. granted they should be just left alone to do whatever the hell they want but if the cop is given an order to do something he has to do it. thats his job. dont hate the cop or the poor guy that got set on fire blame the justice system that both these people are victims of.

Originally posted by Agit8dChop
Understand that?

A copper orderd him to cease, yet he ran at the copper with a petrol can and a lighter. You do the math.
He couldnt take him down with force, because the suspect was covered in petrol, had petrol in his posession and a lighter. It could of put them ALL up in flames.

Two cops could easily of taken him down without incident, if they couldn't they shouldn't be on the job. And the "suspect" was not covered in petrol, he had petrol on his face, try reading whats written instead of reading what you want to see.

She said Mr Mitchell then caught alight and the police officer immediately went to his aid, smothering the flames with his arms.

Definately sounds like a cop who wanted to do nothing but shoot off his taseer..

Sounds like a cop who was to quick to use the taser when the situation could of been controlled without it and then very quickly realized how majorly he screwed up after seeing the result of the taser use.

She said at the same time the male officer was hit in the head with rocks thrown by an 18-year-old woman.

Typical bloody aboriginal behaviour.
Throwing rocks at a policemans head while he's trying to save someone.

Typical bloody redneck response. If someone had just shot your friend with a taser then started belting into them would you not try to protect them? The cop might of been trying to put the fire out, but I'd bet money that's not what it looked like to his mates and family.

For those people who are commenting and have never had to deal with the aboriginals, you have no bloody clue what your talking about.

Your clearly nothing more than a racist and I have no more time for your stupid comments.

These wernt innocent people just minding there business having a friendly sniff and a chat.

Yes they were, until the cops got involved in something that only became a police matter because of the color of their skin.

This man had a lighter, and a bottle of petrol, and he himself was covered in petrol. If he ran at me, i would feel at immediate danger and I would have shot him instead.

You'd make a good cop over in the US


btw try using your spell checker

Originally posted by TiM3LoRd
why should the cop who is doing his job put himself at risk because of someone who isnt following the rules.

Because that IS HIS JOB

Originally posted by TiM3LoRdhey have you ever seen a native off his or her face on petrol glue or whatever the score for the day is? im pretty sure those cops didnt want to tangle with them.

Yes I have quite a few times and unlike the cops I didn't have a taser to help me out when one tried to jump me, but the guy still ended up in hospital after the fight because I have some basic hand to hand combat training, a lot less then the cops have.

Originally posted by SG-1-9er
unlike the cops I didn't have a taser to help me out when one tried to jump me, but the guy still ended up in hospital after the fight because I have some basic hand to hand combat training, a lot less then the cops have.

Well maybe we should teach the cops some hand to hand combat instead of having them rely on weapons.

Not always ideal (for offenders with weapons), but perfect for taking down an "unarmed" opponent.

For those of you non-Aussies who don't know this, petrol (and aerosol) sniffing is a BIG problem amoungst our Aboriginal people. It is well known by both governmnt and civilian alike that many Aboriginal people use petrol or aerosols to get high in replacement of alcohol.

This is why this case is so disgraceful, the cops knew FULL WELL that there was a great possibility that this bloke had been sniffing the petrol he was brandishing and therefore it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what would happen if you add a spark to those fumes. What the hell is wrong with those cops?

I know there will be people coming here and saying that "if he hadn't have been sniffing petrol there wouldn't be an issue". Well I say that you are clueless about what goes on with our Aboriginal people, the hardships they face and the reasons they turned to substances to escape the tragic reality they were living in. Go and read up about the plight of the Australian Aboriginals over the last 200 years and you will have your eyes opened to the grim reality.

[edit on 21/7/2009 by Kryties]

Originally posted by SG-1-9er

Originally posted by TiM3LoRd
why should the cop who is doing his job put himself at risk because of someone who isnt following the rules.

Because that IS HIS JOB

Originally posted by TiM3LoRdhey have you ever seen a native off his or her face on petrol glue or whatever the score for the day is? im pretty sure those cops didnt want to tangle with them.

Yes I have quite a few times and unlike the cops I didn't have a taser to help me out when one tried to jump me, but the guy still ended up in hospital after the fight because I have some basic hand to hand combat training, a lot less then the cops have.

It is their job to accept a certain amount of risk. Taking unnecessary risks, like tackling a guy poised to turn into a roman candle is not a necessary risk.

Calculated risks are acceptable. Wrestling with a human torch is stupid.

You can stop bragging about how you can beat up a few drunk or high natives. Nobody is impressed.

Originally posted by king9072
The saddest part is that when I read that he was native, I automatically assumed he was huffing. Only to be proven 100% correct moments later. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry haha.

You shouldnt assume they're all like that

I recently just moved from Darwin after 3 and a half years and there are plenty of whites that abuse substances, as well as the natives

Likewise, there are many aborigines with jobs who havent resorted to petrols sniffing claiming they do it because of poor treatment over history. Saying that, it is a chocie, it just a sad fact that its natives that are often assumed to be the only offenders.