Police Tased & Used Unapproved Chokehold On Unarmed Vegas Man Who Died

Fact checked

A video has been released showing police officers in Las Vegas using excessive and deadly force against an unarmed man.

Several officers attacked the victim, who was tased seven times and put in an unapproved chokehold.

Had he survived the ordeal he would not be facing criminal charges.

RT reports:

The man, identified as 40-year-old Tashi Farmer, died in custody on May 14, but the video clearly showing the details of the incident has only recently been released.




An officer’s body camera video, as well as outside security camera footage, feature the chase and attack on the unarmed man. At first Farmer is seen running from a police officer, later identified as Kenneth Lopera, and approaching a white pickup when the first stun gunshot comes.

Lopera was trying to prevent Farmer from carrying out what he believed was a carjacking, according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) statement. However the driver then said that he did not suspect those intentions, Review Journal reports.

Farmer is then seen lying on the ground as the policeman is heard yelling “Don’t move! Get on your stomach!” While the man cried out “I will,” still lying on the ground and attempting to pull the Taser probe out of his back, he was struck several more times.

The stun gun was used seven times in total during the incident, according to police.

During the tussle on the ground Lopera, assisted by up to three other officers, also punched Farmer in the face and head. As the victim continued to struggle, the policeman applied a “rear naked choke,” a martial arts tactic which is not approved by police authorities, the LVMPD statement says.

The neck hold is not seen on the body camera footage, but it was better captured by the outside camera. Three people are seen assisting the officer during the attack on Farmer, who are subsequently replaced by three arriving police officers.

Emergency Services were called to the scene, when “it was realized he [Tashi Farmer] wasn’t breathing,” according to the LVMPD. Some 40 minutes after the incident, Farmer was declared dead at the Sunrise Trauma Center. The official cause of the death has not been announced so far.

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