DALLAS — A man was tased and arrested at Dallas Love Field Airport on Wednesday evening following a confrontation with Dallas police officers after being denied boarding.
Michael Singleton was detained, tased, and forced to pay what he says was only an outstanding traffic ticket before Dallas Police let him go.
The incident, recorded by several other passengers at Love Field on April 18, shows several officers, including two in plain clothes, trying to detain Singleton at a Love Field gate.
“Hey man. Somebody tape me. Somebody tape this,”
Singleton can be heard shouting to other passengers.
“I didn’t do nothing. My name is Michael Singleton,” he shouts.
“You have warrants,” one of the officers can be heard responding.
“I’ve got a traffic warrant,” Singleton replies.
Singleton continues to shout for other passengers to record what is happening.
“My name is Michael Singleton. I want you to please tape this,” he shouts as four officers surround him.
Then, in cell phone video, one officer can be heard telling the others to back up. In the video, you can see that Singleton is standing with his hands by his side when a DPD officer pulls his taser and fires, knocking Singleton to the ground next to the boarding gate counter.
“No, why would y’all do that he was standing still,” you can hear another passenger yell.
“No human being should have to go through this without due process. Their human rights and their civil rights. This attack just because of what? And we have to address this,” said Robert Slater with the Culture Commission Coalition, who is now representing Singleton.
“If Mr. Singleton was such a threat, if he was resisting arrest, why would you inform your officers to release him and take a step back? Mr. Singleton’s hands just fell to his side. He didn’t take a step forward. He didn’t use any threatening language.”
Slater says that Singleton was first approached by two undercover narcotics detectives at the airport who accused him of carrying drugs and wanted to search his pockets.
“Please mind you, this was after he went through a TSA security check and was approaching the gate,” Slater said.
“So he’s already been searched and things of that nature. Mr. Singleton simply replied, that I think you have the wrong person.”
After the altercation and the taser knocking him to the ground, Singleton continued to beg for help from fellow passengers.
“Hey man I didn’t try to fight you,” he yells as the officers while he is face down on the airport carpet, “why did you tase me?”
Singleton says he was taken to a holding room at Love Field, that he was never taken to jail, never charged with a crime, and that no drugs were found. But he says he was forced to pay his outstanding $500 ticket at the airport before they let him go.
He did not make his flight to Oakland and says he booked a different flight a few days later.
Late Friday, DPD released this statement:
“Dallas Police officers located Michael Singleton, who was known to have outstanding warrants, in the terminal area of Dallas Love Field, and approached him to take him into custody. Singleton displayed defensive resistance by tensing his arms and refusing to place his arms behind his back. Dallas Police policy allows the use of the taser in this situation to deescalate an arrest to prevent injury to arrested persons and officers effecting the arrest. After being taken into custody, Singleton was transported to the City Detention Center and charged with his outstanding warrants. No other charges were added or pending at this time.”
“We really want to get to the core of how this happen and what we can do as a society to make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” said Slater, who plans to hold a news conference in Dallas with Singleton next week. “And we just want human decency for all. This is not about race, politics. It’s not about it. It’s about American rights, the Constitution, and the following of the law.”
Via WFAA