Black council member Tasered in the street by Texas police officers
The officers were from the same force responsible for the arrest of Sandra Bland, the black woman found dead in her cell
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Your support makes all the difference.A black Texas city councilman was shocked by a Taser as he knelt in the street by police from the same force responsible for the arrest of Sandra Bland, the woman who was later found dead in her jail cell.
Video footage shows newly-elected Councilman Jonathan Miller identifying himself to officers who are speaking to four of his friends performing a step routine. The officers tell Mr Miller to back away or else he will be sent to jail for “interfering”.
The footage shot by one of Mr Miller’s friends and published by local media at the weekend then shows the councillor on his knees, as two officers try to pull his hands behind his back.
“It went from me asking questions to me basically being put face down on the ground,” Mr Miller told KHOU-TV.
Mr Miller spent one night in jail and was charged with interfering with public duties and resisting arrest, according to a press release from the Prairie View Police Department.
“In that situation officers were conducting an investigation,” Police Chief Larry Johnson told CBS.
“They asked him, can you step away from the scene and allow them to finish what they were doing out of safety for all concerned.”
Mr Johnson added that a female officer involved in Mr Miller’s arrest was the same one who brought Ms Bland to the Waller County jail when she was arrested in July.
She was later found dead in her cell and police claimed she took her own life. Ms Bland’s family does not accept the claim.
Mr Johnson said it was a coincidence that the same officer had been involved in both arrests.
“We have six police officers. The probability of having the same officer involved in multiple types of incidences is probable,” he said. “I haven’t seen anything that gave me any cause for concern as far as this officer’s conduct at this point.”
According to KHOU, Prairie View police are now investigating whether the officers in Mr Miller’s case did anything wrong. The officers involved are not on leave, since they did not use deadly force.
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