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Loading...21-Year-Old Brazilian Dies After Being Tasered By Australian Police – Demand Justice!
21 year-old Roberto Laudisio Curti, a Brazilian student, was killed by police in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, in the early hours of March 18. According to reports, at around 5:30 AM, Laudisio was shot at least three times by police taser guns before collapsing on the street. He was unable to be revived and died at the scene.
What could have caused police to act this way? It turns out the Brazilian man allegedly stole a packet of biscuits.
Executed On Suspicion Of Stealing Biscuits
That’s right: Laudisio Curti was tasered merely on suspicion of taking biscuits from a convenience story in Sydney. According to eyewitness reports the man who stole the biscuits was confused and rambling. He reportedly asked for someone to “Help me” before fleeing with the item.
From The Rio Times:
Workers at the convenience store who saw the security footage told The Telegraph Australia,”He came in once and then was told to get out. He came back about ten minutes later and climbed over the security door and was inside the area where the attendant is supposed to be safe,” one worker said.
“You can see him in the footage talking a lot. He said the world was going to end and to help him. He doesn’t have a shirt on. He grabs a packet of biscuits before opening the door and going out.”
According to several news sources, after hearing from the shop attendant that Curti had acted strangely at the store and run out without paying for a small package, six police officers chased him down and used deadly force, even though Curti was unarmed and did nothing to threaten anyone’s life. Following a set of three shocks, he was knocked to the pavement and could not be revived.
Remember Unarmed Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes Killed By Police In London?
This sounds chillingly like the fatal shooting by police of Jean Charles de Menezes, also an unarmed Brazilian national, at Stockwell underground station in London in 2005. In that case, the family eventually received compensation money from the police, along with an apology and the declaration that de Menezes was totally innocent and in no way to blame for his death.
Like the de Menezes family, Curti’s family are demanding a full inquiry into the circumstances of death. Joao Eduardo Laudisio, Curti’s uncle and a financier from a well-known and powerful family in Brazil, hit at NSW police as the family hired a team of Australian investigators to find out how his nephew died.
Roberto “Very Healthy”
He said he had personally taken Roberto for a thorough health check before Roberto left for Australia last year. Doctors at the hospital, one of the best in South America, had declared him “very healthy”. Roberto had no pre-existing condition that could have been aggravated by taser jolts or capsicum spray.
Brazilian consulate officials in Sydney confirmed his family was “extremely wealthy and well connected” and would not let the matter rest.
Whatever it takes, this killing is an outrageous event, and the police must be held accountable, however long it takes.
Indymedia in Sydney says this is one incident “that cannot be allowed to pass without a strong response.”
Take Action Now!
If you agree that the New South Wales police must be held accountable, please sign our petition demanding justice for Roberto Laudisio Curti and strict control of police taser use.
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Read more: australia, brazilian student, new south wales, police brutality, roberto laudisio curti, tasering, tasers
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Recent Comments from Causes
This is getting totally out of hand. None of this would be happening if parents were parents the way…
interesting.
john h, I don't like murderers but don't believe in the death penalty. It does not exist in my country…
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123 comments
+ add your ownSigned.
More light MUST be shone on this case.
The police kill a man for stealing a packet of biscuits - the shop keeper knew the thief was not of a sound mind.
Did he need to be killed off, could he not been brought down without excessive force being used?
Would they do the same thing to a white man --- perhaps not
Noted and signed.
Signed
Wait for the results of the investigation before blaming anyone!
The punishment should fit the crime.
This is English Common Law from way back.
No harm done; no crime committed.
Stealing biscuits is not a capitol offense.
(I doubt the cops would have tasered him if he knew his family were wealthies.)
Still, an obviously mentally ill person in the act of stealing biscuits should have been taken to a hospital for a psych eval, not shot dead in the street.
And these people are the ones we are supposed to trust and who are supposed to protect us???? NSW Police have long lost my trust and respect! They are bullies. It takes a certain type of person to become a police officer.
What a sad tragic story. The NSW police should have shown more constraint. The guy was no treat to anyone, Not only in America are there vicious police thugs.
If the boy were poor and unconnected, this wouldn't have seen the light of day. I suppose it will take high-profile cases to demonstrate just how out of control police are everywhere.
This is outrageous. I hope those responsible will have to pay one way or another.
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