A local cop tasers a 72 great-grandmother and it's all caught on camera. How dare that nasty cop!! Which is precisely the reaction you'd get if you watched the segment on this morning's CBS's "The Early Show." The program begins the video right where the police officer tasers the woman, basically ignoring everything that transpired only moments before. "The Early Show" then shows a brief snippet of an interview with the woman:
WOMAN: I wasn't argumentative, I was not combative, OK? All of this is a lie.
All contributor Russ Mitchell noted in the cop's defense was that the cop said the woman "would not cooperate" and "swore at him." The reaction from the show's hosts is, well, not very surprising after Mitchell noted that the constable's office is standing by the officer who tasered the woman:
HOST MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: Are you kidding me?
HOST JULIE CHEN: I saw a longer piece of the tape and she said "just give me the ticket and I'll sign it." And then that happened?
It's obvious that Chen didn't view that much longer a piece of tape, else she might have come to a different conclusion. Here is a complete video of the incident via The Dallas Morning News, and it directly contradicts the 72-year old woman's claim from above that she "wasn't argumentative" and "was not combative." She at first refused to sign the speeding ticket, whereupon the officer prepared to arrest her (standard procedure) for that refusal. He asked the woman to move to the rear of her vehicle, whereupon she then agreed to sign the ticket, but with a profanity-laced response. She then attempted to push past the officer which would have put her perilously close to the highway's oncoming traffic.
The officer warned the woman that if she persisted, he would have to resort to using his taser. The woman's reply was "Go ahead -- tase me. I dare you," whereupon she said "I'm getting back into my car." She then plowed right into the officer who was in her path. It was only then that the officer resorted to his taser.
The question is: How did "The Early Show" miss all of this?
(Thanks to NB reader Brian C. for the tip!)
