The news story I found interesting and though provoking this week was a story reported in the NY Daily News. The story is of a man in Tuscaloosa Alabama, who died after a scuffle with the Alabama police and the use of pepper spray to help subdue the man. The 911 call reported the man was Anthony Ware, he had a warrant for previously attempting to elude police and he had a gun in his possession. When the police arrived at the apartment complex, Mr. Ware fled into the woods, fought with the police and eventually was pepper sprayed. As the police were leading him from the woods, he collapsed and died at the hospital an hour later.
The reason I found this story so interesting is because of the unknown factors contributing to Mr. Ware’s death. The details in the story made it apparent he was familiar with police interaction and had previously attempted to evade the police, so police evasion does not appear to be part of the problem. The news story appears to be contributing his death to contact with the pepper spray; however, while pepper spray is a terrible substance with negative disabling effects, it usually does not kill the perpetrators. As part of their training Police Officers have to receive a dosage of pepper spray so they are aware of the consequences of its use and they do not die from the effects. Lastly, pepper spray is a common tool of law enforcement nationwide which would not be allowed if it had the common effect of causing deaths.
This leads me to wonder about the real cause of Mr. Ware’s death. Was he allergic to a chemical in the pepper spray? Was he overweight and the action combined with the pepper spray was too overwhelming for his heart? Did he have some other medical or health problem which was exacerbated by the struggle and pepper spray? The article did not mention a clear reason for his death, but made an inference to the use of pepper spray as a factor in the death. This article caused me to wonder about the actual cause and not simply an inference to one element of the story – the pepper spray.
Works Cited
NY Daily News. "Man Dies After Alabama Police Pepper Spray Him." NY Daily News. N.p., 11 July 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.
