NAACP Wants Independent Probe into Frederick County Police Taser Death of Black Man

A call for a federal investigation by the family of a Frederick man who was tasered by law enforcement and later died.  This is days after a grand jury cleared the sheriff's deputy of wrongdoing.  Dennis Edwards has more on who's upset and why. A Frederick County grand jury found Cpl. Rudy Torres justified in his use of a taser twice on 20-year-old Jarel Gray, but a separate NAACP investigation produced witnesses that say there was an ongoing dispute between Gray and Torres and that he posed no threat when Torres tasered him a second time. "It hurts.  It really hurts.  You know, he was young and it's just like I lost a part of me and nobody seems to understand this," said Anna Thomas, Jarel's grandmother. Gray's family and the NAACP want the FBI and the Maryland attorney general's office to do an independent investigation.  At an NAACP news conference, Frederick County's state's attorney faced tough questions about the grand jury and the county's use of a weapon that's claimed more than 200 lives nationally.

"If we change the law and we say tasers aren't to be deployed, that's the law I'll deal with and that's the law I'll enforce.  So I think for me to take a political statement is inappropriate," Charlie Smith said.

A spokesperson for the Frederick County Sheriff's Department was not available for on-camera interviews but so far, the department has given no indication of plans to change its procedures.

A spokesperson confirms Frederick police are conducting their own investigation and the sheriff is gathering information about taser safety.

But Anna Thomas, who also works at the county detention center, says that's not enough.

"Better training or just to stop using them, because you don't know anybody's medical history or anything," she said.

The family is consulting legal counsel and considering options in a legal battle that appears to be just getting started. [MORE]