Police Accused of Cover-Up in Taser Death of African American Man

[Moorbey]

* Death by Taser: Police Accused of Cover-Up in Death of African American
Man Shocked Nine Times While in Handcuffs *

Police in the city of Winnfield, Louisiana are being accused of covering up
the death of twenty-one-year-old Baron Pikes. He died in police custody on
January 21 after being shot nine times with a taser gun while in handcuffs.
The city police chief initially claimed that Pikes was high on crack cocaine
and PCP at the time of his death. But the coroner recently ruled Pikes'
death to be a homicide, after an autopsy determined there were no drugs in
his system. The coroner also determined that the police shot Pikes twice
after he lost consciousness. We speak with Chicago Tribune reporter Howard
Witt, who broke the story nationally; Kayshon Collins, Baron Pikes'
stepmother; and Winnfield Police Lieutenant Charles Curry.

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Democracy Now! | Death by Taser: Police Accused of Cover-Up in Death of African American Man Shocked Nine Times While in Handcuffs