New video shows suspect hit with Taser in Chicago police lockup

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Amid a growing crisis over the Chicago Police Department's use of force, the city late Monday released a video that shows officers in a Far South Side police lockup repeatedly using a Taser on a University of Chicago graduate and dragging him out of his cell in handcuffs.

The release of the video was accompanied by a prepared statement from embattled Mayor Rahm Emanuel saying that the treatment of Philip Coleman while he was in custody in December 2012 was unacceptable. Coleman died following a reaction to an antipsychotic drug, but an autopsy showed that Coleman had experienced severe trauma, including more than 50 bruises and scrapes on his body from the top of his head to his lower legs.

"I do not see how the manner in which Mr. Coleman was physically treated could possibly be acceptable," Emanuel said. "While the Medical Examiner ruled that Mr. Coleman died accidentally as a result of treatment he received in the hospital, it does not excuse the way he was treated when he was in custody. Something is wrong here — either the actions of the officers who dragged Mr. Coleman, or the policies of the department."

In spite of the mayor's condemnation, police oversight officials last year ruled the officers' actions with Coleman were justified.

Just a reminder, the next time a liberal tells you only the police should have handguns and tasers.