A newly released video shows a sheriff in Texas tasing a migrant teen at a shelter and calling him “el stupido.”
The video was released by Reveal News on June 8, and it shows Bexar County Deputy Sheriff Patrick Divers tasing the teen at the Southwest Key migrant shelter in San Antonio for 35 seconds.
As reported by Reveal News, a subsidiary of the Center for Investigative Reporting, the 16-year-old migrant teen staying in the Southwest Key Casa Blanca shelter broke beds and other objects in the facility. Staffers at the shelter contacted the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) for assistance.
In the video, taken from Divers’ body camera, Southwest Key Casa Blanca Program Director Ricardo Cisneros is seen attempting to calm the teen, to no avail. As pointed out by Reveal News, Diver does not investigate the broken furniture.
After his partner, Harold Schneider, arrives at the scene, Divers says, “I’mma tase this kid.” Divers proceeds to tase the teen for 35 seconds as he yells and writhes in pain.
After the teen asks where the deputies will be taking him, Schneider calls him “el stupido.” According to Reveal News, the teen was arrested and charged with criminal mischief. His grandmother told Reveal News that the incident has “made him suicidal.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Cisneros, who reportedly saw the tasing firsthand. Cisneros told the Daily Dot he is unable to “give any further statement about the incident,” because Southwest Key Casa Blanca shelter is “federally funded.” According to Reveal News, an internal affairs investigation has been launched at the BCSO. The BCSO did not immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.
This is not the first instance of the tasing of migrant peoples being caught on film. PBS’s 2012 documentary Crossing The Line reportedly showed border patrol agents tasing and beating an immigrant man, who later died.
Although border patrol agents are reportedly not subject to the same scrutiny as police officers, sheriff’s usually are.
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*First Published: Jun 9, 2021, 12:45 pm CDT
Tricia Crimmins
Tricia Crimmins is a journalist and comedian based in New York City. She is studying at Columbia Journalism School and writes for Moment magazine and Columbia News Service. Previously, she has written for Mashable, Complex Networks, and the Lewiston Sun Journal.
Source : https://www.dailydot.com/irl/sheriff-tases-migrant-teen-video/