CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
There have been multiple moments over the last couple years that have caused a collective dropped jaw from the entire Australian population.
Whether it’s the NSW Government’s Ruby Princess cruise ship disaster, the Hawaii holiday, the Christchurch shooting, the first ever lockdowns – or the death of Kobe Bryant.
Some moments in history just don’t make sense. And they make less sense the more you think about them.
The entire nation of Australia are currently grappling with one of those moments, as we attempt to understand why in the fuck a 95-year-old Cooma woman remains hospitalised – following incident with police at the Yallambee Lodge facility on Wednesday morning.
The elderly citizen was found allegedly holding a steak knife and standing with her walking frame by nursing staff – who tried to persuade the 45 kilogram dementia patient to hand it back.
They then called emergency services, with paramedics responding first before police officers arrived as they tried to de-escalate the situation for several minutes – before de-holstering a fucking taser and firing it at the elderly woman – causing her to fall to the ground and strike her head on the floor.
Australians are still really having trouble with this one, with an entire nation wondering why the police didn’t consider the 1000 different other ways available to deal with this exact scenario.
Like, for example: turning the fan on really high, or turning up the radio really high. Or just…. Leaving the room?
No one can really understand why things have transpired the way they have. But the emergence of similar treatment of distressed elderly women confirms it’s not a one off. This is not even scraping the surface on the treatment of other, more historically brutalised, demographics within New South Wales – like Indigenous teenagers – who are very familiar with unnecessary tasers and leg sweeps.
Police have ruled out releasing the bodycam footage publicly, with police commissioner, Karen Webb, saying on Monday that she has chosen not to watch it – while also refuting suggestions that she isn’t brave enough to watch it, by arguing that it is braver to not watch it. Or something like that. This whole thing makes so little sense.
