Taser International Inc. is critical of the media and says the death of the Polish man, Robert Dziekanski, at the Vancouver airport was not caused by the Taser but rather his behavior and health conditions.
Tom Smith, founder and chairman of Arizona-based TASER International Inc., is lashing out at the media for trying to blame Polish immigrant,
Dziekanski’s death, on the taser. His company has sent 60 legal letters demanding corrections to ‘false and misleading headlines’.
His
statement to the public says the following:
"An amateur video of the incident that was released earlier this week has received sensational coverage from the media with many reports drawing an unsubstantiated and uninformed conclusion as to the cause of Mr. Dziekanski's death."
He said there are many documents that prove tasers are safe and many of the in-custody deaths or deaths during a confrontation with police are attributed to other factors and not the low energy electrical discharge of the taser. He cites a Bagnell in-custody death in Vancouver where a taser was cleared by an inquest jury.
He said cardiac arrest due to an electrical shock is immediate, whereas video evidence showed Dziekanski was struggling even after the initial taser shock. Thus, his death cannot be blamed on a taser device.
Smith said the video showed symptoms
"of excited delirium, a fatal condition marked by symptoms of exhaustion and mania such as heavy breathing, profuse sweating, confusion, disorientation and violence toward inanimate objects".
It seems Smith has become a doctor in addition to his position as chairman of the company.
Smith is very critical of media outlets for judging quickly against the taser device without a completion of the investigation.
The video shows he died of excited delirium and not because of Cardiac arrest. Smith said his company will be transmitting more than 60 legal demand letters requiring corrections of false and misleading headlines and warns his company will take other actions as well.
It looks like Smith is threatening the media rather than trying to find out what is wrong with the device.
I would recommend he show proof the device is safe by demonstrating it in a 10-minute video where they taser him under similar circumstances.
The media not only blamed the device, but also blamed airport authorities for detaining Dziekanski for 10 hours away from his mother needlessly.
Canadian's death not caused by Taser, says Taser Inc.
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