Conn. cops Tasered, beat me for giving finger
A CONNECTICUT man says police zapped him with a stun gun and beat him up, because he gave them the finger — and it was all caught on tape.
Amin Hasan said his June 5 arrest was not his first clash with the Stamford cops who took him into custody.
Hasan, 40, said one officer harassed him during a traffic stop last year, so when he saw the cop on a street several weeks ago, he flipped him the finger.
“His partner told me to stop and pull over,” Hasan said. “Next thing you know it, he told me to get out of the car and to fight him.”
Shocked by the request, Hasan said he refused to get out of his car even after another officer walked up to the passenger side with his hand on his Taser.
“I’m sick of being harassed by these officers,” said a frustrated Hasan.
After refusing a second time, Hasan said was Tased on his stomach.
“I then told the officer on my driver’s side that I’m coming out of the car slowly, I knew they were going to beat my ass,” Hasan said.
Video footage of the stop shows one officer swinging at Hasan several times, then kicking him multiple times as he lay face down on the ground.
Stamford police did not return repeated calls for comment, but reports published shortly after the incident quoted cops who said Hasan initiated the clash.
Lt. Diedrich Hohn and Officer William Petrone stopped the car after the obscene gesture to ask Hasan if he had a problem, according to the Stamford Advocate.
“I will (expletive) kill you. I will kill all you (expletive) cops,” Hasan told them, according to the paper, which quoted a police report.
As Hasan was told get out of the car — because he was being charged with threatening to kill officers — he appeared to reach for something under his coat on the passenger seat, the report said.
After a brief scuffle, Petrone Tased Hasan in the torso, but the stun gun had little effect, according to the report. That account said Hasan knocked the cops to the ground, and makes no mention of the standing cop kicking him while on the ground.
The video does not show what happened in the car before Hasan was pulled out. A tree also obscures a portion of the video when Hasan is on the ground.
Hasan was charged with breach of peace, threatening, resisting arrest and interfering with police. A witness recorded a portion of the arrest, and posted it on social media.
“Thank God for the video,” said the Rev. Kevin McCall, a minister with the National Action Network. “This would be another case that the police would get away with.We need to meet with the Stamford Police Department for them to bring justice to this innocent man.”
Hasan was taken to Stamford Hospital for psychological and physical treatment, because he still had one Taser prong in his chest.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Hassan said. “They still wanted to charge me.”