Taser, Taser, Taser! 50,000 volts of fun – no thanks.

Brattleboro police “blew it” by using excessive force in two incidents last July that involved electric stun weapons, said Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell at a press conference in Montpelier Monday afternoon. In one case two peaceful protesters were shocked and in the second case a device was used against a teenage psychiatric patient at the Brattleboro Retreat.”We reached the conclusion that Taser use in (the protest) incident was not appropriate,” said Sorrell, in a telephone interview with the Reformer shortly after the press conference. In fact, he said, “We reached the conclusion that they erred in both situations.”

An attorney for protesters Jonathan Crowell and Samantha Kilmurray said the attorney general’s report, along with a report commissioned by the town of Brattleboro, would be a major component in their federal suit against the five police officers involved in a July 24, 2007 incident in which his clients were shocked with Tasers.

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