QUEENS: Hate Crime Charge After Gay Slurs Precede Taser Attack

The Queens County District Attorney has filed hate crimes charges against a man accused of using a Taser against another man after shouting anti-gay slurs. 

Joseph Desmond, 23, of the 0-99 block of Eldert Street in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, was arraigned Tuesday on an indictment charging him with second-degree assault as a hate crime, and three other felony charges. Around 8:10 p.m. Sept. 25, the 23-year-old victim was standing at Gates and Fairview avenues in Queens, when Desmond allegedly walked up to him, hurled an anti-gay slur, shocked him with a Taser to his torso, and ran off. The victim suffered chest pains, but was able to call police. Desmond was arrested soon afterward in the courtyard of a building nearby, prosecutors said.

The DA told CBS News: "Every person has the right to feel safe to walk the streets without being harassed or assaulted based on race, religion, gender or sexual orientation." (The actual sexual orientation of the victim has not been disclosed.)

RELATED: Civilian possession of a Taser or similar "shock gun weapon" is a felony in New York state. Only four other states have such bans: Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

New York Transit Workers Union: Give Tasers To City Bus Drivers

What could possibly go wrong?

Here's a stunning idea — arming transit workers with Tasers so they can zap bad guys who menace them. It’s the brainchild of state Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn), who wants bus drivers, subway conductors and other transit workers to be able to protect themselves and passengers from crazy riders, criminals and even would-be terrorists. Transport Workers Union Local 100 is supporting Adams’ legislative effort because it is tired of its members being “treated like punching bags” by irate riders, said the local’s president, John Samuelsen. “Equipping and training our members to responsibly use Tasers will end the assaults that are currently plaguing our members,” Samuelsen said. “Additionally, it will act as a strong deterrent against crime against our riders on the buses and trains.”

The MTA and the NYPD both say they oppose the idea. The 37,000 member union says it plans to make Adams' bill the centerpiece of their upcoming convention.

PHILADELPHIA: Cop Tasers Fan Who Ran Onto Baseball Field

Really? A tasering?

A police officer used a Taser gun to apprehend a fan who ran onto the field during a Phillies game Monday night, and the team and the police are investigating whether it was an appropriate use of force. The fan, wearing a baseball cap, red T-shirt and khaki shorts, hopped a fence and scurried around the outfield, eluding two security officers in the bottom of the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals. One officer used a Taser and the fan went down in a heap. Several Phillies placed gloves over their faces and appeared to be stifling laughter at the wild scene. Phillies spokeswomen Bonnie Clark said the police department is investigating the matter and discussing with the team whether using the stun gun was appropriate

FLORIDA: Gay Porn Actor Dies After After Tasering During Arrest

Towleroad reports that gay porn actor Dustin Michaels, 23, real name Andrew Grande, has died in Florida after being tasered by police as he attempted to swallow a baggie of marijuana. The entire incident was captured by a reality television crew riding with the police.

Just after 2AM Friday deputies responded to a disturbance call at the Executive Inn on front beach road. They say Grande pushed a female friend. A camera crew from Zoo Productions filmed what happened when deputies arrived. When one of the deputies tried to arrest him they say he resisted and stuffed something in his mouth. That's when at least one of the deputies shot him with a taser. They say he pulled the taser probes out of his body, that's when deputies noticed he was choking. Deputies performed the Hiemlich maneuver but could not dislodge the item. By the time EMS arrived, he was unconscious. One of the paramedics pulled a large bag of marijuana from his throat. He was pronounced dead at Bay Medical Center. "It's a tragic situation for our officers, a tragic situation for this young man and his family. What started out to be a simple disturbance call, could have been handled by compliance by this individual, simply giving the officers the marijuana," explained Sheriff Frank McKeithen.

You may not want to watch the disturbing video.

NYPD Considers Tasers For Cops

The NYPD is considering equipping all cops with Tasers. However:

Four days before a consultant suggested the NYPD expand its use of Tasers, the country's biggest stun gun manufacturer was hit with a $6 million verdict for the death of a California man. A federal jury found that Arizona-based Taser International should have better warned Salinas, Calif., police that the weapon's shocks were potentially dangerous.

The jury held Salinas police financially blameless in the death of a 40-year-old drug user whose enlarged heart gave out after repeated shocks. Just Tuesday, Suffolk County cops reported that a 26-year-old man died Monday after being shocked twice with a Taser while trying to swallow a bag of cocaine.

Such deaths are why the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International USA have called for a moratorium on Tasers, and why Rand Corp. recommended that the NYPD try a pilot program to test wider use.

Retired NYPD Lt. Alexander Lombard is one of those who say some cops authorized to carry the Tasers misuse them. Lombard's son Alexander 3rd, 18, was Tasered four times and hit with a nightstick when cops responded to a disturbance at a Harlem barbecue last August, according to the teen's lawsuit against the city. NYPD officials declined to comment.

The NYPD has about 500 Tasers in use, assigned to supervisors and specially trained Emergency Service Unit officers. A pilot program would put Tasers on the hips of rank-and-file cops in targeted police precincts, and results would be monitored. Rand Corp. estimated that 25 of the 455 police-related shootings it reviewed might have been prevented if cops had Tasers.

I think I'd side with Amnesty International and the ACLU before the NYPD.