Early on Wednesday, Nov. 21, Howard Hyde was shot with a taser "once or twice" by Halifax Police. Hyde had been arrested and was being fingerprinted in the booking area at headquarters when he attempted to escape. He was subdued with a taser and "went into medical distress". Hyde was transported by ambulance to the hospital where he was assessed, and then released back to police custody. He appeared fine Wednesday afternoon, attended court, and was remanded to the Burnside Correctional Center.
It seems he was being transported by corrections around 10:00 Thursday morning when he collapsed. He was then taken to Dartmouth General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Howard Hyde was a schizophrenic. He had a "terrible fear" of Taser guns after being shot with one by police in 2005. It is possible the threat of being tasered again was what caused him to flee.
It is difficult to understand what is becoming of Canada. For whatever reason - perhaps due to geography and our physical proximity to the US, or perhaps due to the links between "Canada's New Government" and the American Neoconservative movement - Canada is now a country where police can use deadly force on people who's only crime is suffering from a mental illness, or being lost in an airport and unable to speak English - and a spokesman will be trotted out to say "police just did their job".
Am I the only one wondering "Who's Canada is this?"
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