Texas police tase young, black councilman while he kneels peacefully

Video footage from Prairie View, Texas shows local councilman Jonathan Miller being tased by police while he peacefully kneels, facing away from the officers.

Miller encountered the cops outside of his home when they began questioning his guests, who were visiting to plan a project for homecoming at Miller's alma mater, Prairie View A&M University. Miller, who is black, attempted to find out what was happening, only to be accused of and arrested for interfering with police actions.

Witnesses say they believe the force used against Miller was excessive given the circumstances, but Prairie View Police Chief Larry Johnson maintains he has seen nothing that gives him "cause for concern."

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This incident occurred in the same town where earlier this year Sandra Bland was arrested during a routine traffic stop and later found dead in her jail cell under disputed circumstances. The female officer shown in the video of Miller's arrest was responsible for transporting Bland to jail.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.