UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA–Multiple witnesses are saying the same thing about the death of their neighbor. “They just weren’t done until he was dead.”
44-year-old Ron Hillstrom‘s life was cut short following a brutal encounter with police. According to dozens of witnesses, Hillstrom was pacing in a circle in the parking lot of his apartment complex early last week. “They’re out to get me! They’re trying to set me up,” one witness heard Hillstrom cry.
He also asked for help during the episode, and someone must have called the police. “I see four officers walking up on him and they’re like, ‘It’s the police,’ and he’s like ‘You’re not the police’, and he goes to run in the circle and as soon as he comes back the police use four tasers at one time,” neighbor Ashley Patterson told KOMO.
After that, several cell phone videos show Hillstrom screaming as officers repeatedly beat him. Patterson told KOMO one officer was repeatedly hitting the subdued man with a flashlight. Witnesses did say Hillstorm was holding a screwdriver in one hand at the time of the altercation, but didn’t threaten anyone with it.
“No, he did not charge the police,” one of the eyewitnesses reported. “He was just doing what he was doing before the police came.” All the officers are on paid administrative leave, but Ed Troyer of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office is defending their actions pending an investigation.
“Without seeing the whole entire incident in context, you’re not going to know why that was happening,” he stated. Troyer’s casual dismissal of Hillstrom’s death has angered many who knew the deceased man.
On Troyer’s personal Facebook page, one acquaintance of Hillstrom’s posted: “He did not deserve to be MURDERED by those piece of Shit officers. With all the witnesses and videos I hope those bastards get charged with murder and go straight to prison. Stop making excuses for these bullies with badges!!”
While the police in Pierce County are contesting that Hillstrom was resisting arrest and had a history with the law, their track record for excessive force is blatant. Just hours after Hillstrom’s death, a SWAT team officer used a taser to subdue an 80-year-old man who was threatening to kill himself. Police also shot and killed a 25-year-old soldier at the same apartment complex where Hillstrom’s life ended. According to their report, Brian McLeod was threatening them with a shotgun, but his family suspects foul play and have held rallies at the police station.
Troyer claims the Pierce County Medical Examiner found no blows to Hillstrom’s head. However, the Medical Examiner’s Office said the autopsy is not complete.
[about_faith]
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