The human rights abuse of Natasha McKenna should shock and disgust civilized people and those who respect justice in America and around the world. Those responsible should be held accountable for their actions. But the Fairfax County Virginia prosecutors office decided to take no action in the electrocution of Natasha McKenna, who was repeatedly shocked with a 50,000 volt Taser gun while she was subdued on the ground, by a man, Lieutenant Lucas Salzman, who also teaches our police how to use such electric shock weapons.
If there was any doubt before, watching the video released by the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office on September 10, 2015, removes any doubt about the human rights abuse of Natasha McKenna, who died after being shocked four times with this high voltage Taser gun. As she was reportedly mentally ill, there is no doubt the extreme way that she was treated not only violated any professional standards for humane law enforcement, but also it clearly would have exacerbated any difficult situation. In our commitment to universal human rights, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has repeatedly reported on the initial reports on Natasha McKenna in February 2015 (with April update), and the September 10, 2015 report of the video of her being shocked to death. We object to the treatment of Natasha McKenna as being “cruel and unusual punishment” not only against the law according to the Constitution of the United States of America (Amendment Eight and Bill of Rights), but also against the human rights standards and laws of the civilized world.
At the beginning of the video, you can see her coming out of the door peacefully, and you can hear her say “you promised you would not kill me.” She is naked, handcuffed, forced down onto her knees, and then pushed down on the ground with a police shield. She is no threat, but the Fairfax Sheriff’s Office team’s Lt. Lucas J. Salzman still has a 50,000 volt Electric Taser Gun pointed at her.
They use a police shield to immediately press her to the door and then to the ground. But let’s not use the word “they” – let’s be specific on the accountability for this.
The Fairfax County report describes a Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT) “five man team” for this 5′ 3″ woman Natasha McKenna, which was led by Lieutenant Lucas J. Salzman, Deputy Jonathan Perryman, Deputy Adam Henry, Deputy Patrick D. McPartlin, and Deputy Kenneth S. Krstulovic. They are responsible for this; they are not just nameless individuals.
The leader of the SERT team, Lieutenant Lucas J. Salzman, was also the trigger-man who shot Natasha McKenna with the Taser electric weapon gun repeatedly. The Fairfax County report describes Lucas Salzman as “experienced in the use of Taser.” He was “so experienced” that he used a 50,000 volt Taser FOUR TIMES on a woman who was restrained. The Fairfax County prosecutor report praising Lucas Salzman’s taser “experience,” states that he “first completed certification in 2006. Since then he has re-qualified every year and is currently an instructor in the use of the ECD or Taser.” Now Lucas Salzman KNEW that Natasha McKenna was mentally ill, or at least that’s what he wrote in his reports. The Fairfax County report stated that “Lt. Salzman briefed the team on Ms. McKenna’s mental illness, combativeness, history of assault on law enforcement officers and Adult Detention Center deputies” – but Lucas Salzman thought the right way to approach someone who is mentally ill and combative would be extremely agitate them by mobbing that person with a group of officers in white Tyvek suits and armor. Lucas Salzman thought that electrocuting Natasha McKenna FOUR TIMES with a 50,000 volt taser was the way to treat someone who he told his team is “mentally ill.”
But there are no consequences for the killing of Natasha McKenna for Lt. Lucas Salzman who was a Sergeant two years ago, and recently got promoted to Lieutenant. Even with the video release by the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, there are no consequences for Lucas Salzman’s electrocution of a woman who was restrained by a team of five police officers, led by Lucas Salzman. If any part of Natasha McKenna sought to be unrestrained a leg, anything, there was another electrocution of her by Lucas Salzman’s Taser gun.
They call the Taser a “Conducted Energy Weapon” or a “CEW.” In the Fairfax County report, it states that “It appears from the video that CEW was used drive stun mode at approximately seventeen minutes and twenty seconds (17:20 video), probe mode at approximately eighteen minutes and one second (18:01 video), drive stun and probe mode at approximately nineteen minutes fifteen seconds (19:15 video), and drive stun and probe mode at approximately twenty minutes (20:00 video).”
The Fairfax County report clearly states that it was Lucas Salzman who fired the 50,000 volt Taser gun into Natash McKenna FOUR TIMES:
— “Lt. Salzman removed the cartridge from the Taser and placed the Taser on her right upper leg and pulled the trigger in drive stun mode one time holding it in place for five seconds. He deployed the Taser in drive stun as a method of obtaining pain compliance in order to get her legs secured into the chair”
— “Lt. Salzman decided to re-deploy the Taser, this time using the darts along with the drive stun. He intended to put both darts in her right leg and press the Taser elsewhere on her body in order to get a greater spread and gain compliance. Lt.Salzman announced, “Taser” (18:02 video). He fired the darts into her leg at close quarters resulting in a very small spread between the two prongs. At that point, the Taser began cycling (administering current). The Taser cycles for five seconds with each deployment.”
— “Lt. Salzman decided to drive stun Ms. McKenna in the middle of her outside right bicep.” “Lt. Salzman placed the Taser against Ms. McKenna’s outside right bicep and pulled the trigger one time, letting it cycle for five seconds as he counted aloud from five to zero (19:18 video).”
— “Lt. Salzman again applied the Taser Ms. McKenna’s to upper outer right arm (20:00 video)”
Let’s be clear, Lucas Salzman TEACHES our police how to use a Taser gun.
The Constitution of the United States of America (Amendment Eight and Bill of Rights) forbids the infliction of “cruel and unusual punishments.”
Our support for human rights must include our commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) Article 5, which states that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 7, which states “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” The United States of America is a signatory to both the UDHR and the ICCPR and should be held accountable for following international human rights covenants. Its ratification of the ICCPR includes a specific support for the ICCPR Article 7 to be consistent with the U.S. Constitution.
There should be NO QUESTION for civilized people in America and in the world.
We urge people of conscience in America and around the world to SIGN OUR PETITION calling for action to get JUSTICE for Natasha McKenna.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) calls for an investigation of this by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) regarding the unconstitutional actions in the electrocution of Natasha McKenna by Lucas Salzman, which clearly resulted in her death.
We call for American citizens to ask the U.S. DoJ Civil Rights Department’s Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta (Vanita.Gupta@usdoj.gov, 202-514-4609) to act to defend the Constitutional rights of Natasha McKenna under the Eighth Amendment to be protected from “cruel and unusual punishment.”
But further, we call upon the United Nations to intervene, as we have been in contact with the United Nations for many months, and we know that the United Nations is monitoring the degrading human rights conditions in the United States of America on African-American human rights. The killing of this restrained woman with multiple electrocution gun attacks on a helpless individual is clearly “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment” which should involve action by the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Responsible for Equality And Liberty calls once again for the U.N. OHCHR to review and investigate this human rights atrocity. We call upon the U.N. OHCHR to communicate with the U.S. Department of State, Department of Justice, and the President of the United States on the growing concerns by the U.N. and the civilized world regarding human rights violations against American citizens, and in particular, African-American citizens.
We call for American citizens and civilized people around the world to contact the United Nations (U.N.) Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to ask the OHCHR’s Americas Section to monitor this human rights abuse, and to act in communicating to the United States of America government that such human rights abuses are unacceptable to the United Nation and the world under the UDHR and ICCPR, which forbids such “cruel and unusual punishment.” We urge people of the world to contact the U.N. OHCHR’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein (InfoDesk@ohchr.org) and the U.N. OHCHR’s Americas Section Human Rights Officer Carlos de la Torre Martinez (cdelatorre@ohchr.org , Tel: +41 22 917 9535, Fax: +41 22 928 90 18, Mailing Address: Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland) to let the U.N. know that the American people and civilized people around the world, are counting on the U.N. to be a voice for the shared universal human rights of ALL people, including Americans, and especially African-Americans in the United States of America.
We call upon the OHCHR to act to condemn such human rights violations in the United States of America, which are violations of the international human rights covenants ratified by the U.S. government, and to call for international sanctions should such human rights violators not be brought to justice
We live in a civilized world of laws and standards, not just for one person, one city, one state, or even one nation, but laws and standard the civilized world adheres too. When we stand for our universal human rights, we stand for all of those laws and standards, not just in some place, but in all places, including the United States of America. The law is the law – not only for private individuals, but also for nations.
We call for the United States government leaders, the United Nations, and our brothers and sisters in humanity across the world to speak out on the abuse of authority which resulted in the death of Natasha McKenna, and to hold those responsible for her death accountable.
We call for the human rights abuses against African-Americans to end, and for the U.S. DoJ and the international world human rights organizations to hold such human rights abusers accountable and responsible for their actions.
