The Metro Transit Police are asking the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. to review the evidence in the case of a man whom the transit police struck by a stun gun and arrested on Saturday night.
The police said on Tuesday that Chief Ron Pavlik has asked for the review in the case of Tapiwa Musonza, 29.
On Saturday evening at about 6 p.m., the transit police detained several boys after a report of juveniles allegedly threatening people with sticks on the platform of the U Street station. Musonza spoke with police officers while resting his hands on one of the detained boys.
Another officer intervened; he quickly struck Musonza with the stun gun, and he was arrested. The police claimed in a statement Monday that he “exhibited behavior consistent with preparing to fight the officer.”
The incident was caught on a cellphone:
Its Black Joy Sunday & we still demanding @councilofdc have @wmata & @DCPoliceDept stop criminalizing & brutally beating Black children & people @charlesallen @CM_McDuffie @RobertWhite_DC @trayonwhite the kids were innocent yet handcuffed & made to look like a criminal @ACLU_DC pic.twitter.com/nogAGNITvF
— BlackLivesMatter DC (@DMVBlackLives) June 23, 2019
Musonza was released Monday without being charged, although the U.S. Attorney’s Office said he still could be; none of the boys was arrested, since the transit police couldn’t find any victims, the police said.
Several members of the D.C. Council — including Charles Allen, David Grosso and Brianne Nadeau, in whose ward the incident happened — have commented that the officer in question should be removed from duty while the investigation continues. Robert White, an at-large member, has called for a public discussion of the transit police’s tactics when dealing with minors.
