(ProsperNews.net) – The Birmingham Police Department is investigating an incident in which a high school band director was arrested and Tasered after he refused to follow police instructions and tell his band to stop playing, the Associated Press reported.
The band director for Minor High School was arrested after a football game at Jackson-Olin High School last Thursday night and charged with harassment, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.
Birmingham Police spokesman Truman Fitzgerald said police were clearing the stadium after the game and asked both schools’ bands to stop playing so attendees wouldn’t linger. While the Jackson-Olin band stopped playing, the director of Minor’s band disregarded the officers and instructed his band to keep playing.
Officers, accompanied by security guards from Jackson-Olin High School, proceeded to arrest the band director for disorderly conduct. According to Officer Fitzgerald, the band director got into a scuffle with officers. After he refused to place his hands behind his back and shoved one officer, another officer shocked him with a stun gun.
The band director was treated by paramedics and transported to a nearby hospital to be checked out. He was later taken to jail where he was booked and released on bail.
Jefferson County School District Superintendent Walter Gonsoulin declined to comment on the incident, saying he is still gathering the facts.
Alabama State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, an attorney representing the band director, accused the Birmingham Police of using excessive force, the Birmingham News reported.
Givan said the officer acted against her client without “justifiable cause,” and escalated the situation “to an unimaginable extent.” She said her client getting Tasered in front of his students caused “physical harm” and “emotional distress.”
Givan described the incident as an “alarming abuse of power” and a violation of her client’s civil rights.
The Birmingham Police confirmed that the Internal Affairs Division investigates any incident in which an officer uses force during an arrest.
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