Death Involving Stun Gun Protested

Six members of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression protested Friday the death of Duane Johnson, a psychiatric patient with heart disease who died in February after being shocked with stun guns by Ventura police officers while tethered to a hospital gurney.

The protesters, representing a group formed in 1973 to seek the release of black activist Angela Davis from jail, demanded imprisonment of the two officers who shocked the 24-year-old Johnson to get him to comply with their orders.

Spokesman S. Deacon Alexander of Los Angeles said he would ask the district attorney to prosecute the officers for murder, so they would be “made accountable just like any other citizens.”

The district attorney is conducting a criminal investigation of the case. The Police Department has cleared the officers of any wrongdoing.

Alexander claimed a familiarity with the case because he had read the county coroner’s reports on the incident.

“Duane Johnson’s death must not be covered up and forgotten,” Alexander said. “We join the family of Duane Johnson in demanding justice.”

In February, police officers were called to the county hospital to restrain Johnson, who was slamming himself against walls in his hospital room. Once he was tied to a bed, one officer has said he used a stun gun to stop the patient from grabbing at an attendant and then jolted him again to force him to submit to handcuffing.

Police spokesman Lt. Pat Rooney had no comment on the protest.