wilson police department
Oklahoma State Bureau Of Investigation Wilson Police officers Joshua Taylor (left) and Brandon Dingman (right) were convicted of second-degree murder on Friday, Nov. 5.
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Wilson, Okla. – Two former officers with the Wilson Police Department have been found guilty of second-degree murder as well as assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after responding to a call and tasing a man more than 50 times.

Former WPD officers Brandon Dingman and Joshua Taylor were convicted last week of the charges after the court found that the repeated use of their tasers were “dangerous and unnecessary.” Court records said the taser use “greatly exceeded what would have been necessary or warranted by the attendant circumstances.”

George Floyd sculpture wilson police department
In this Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021, file photo, a sculpture of George Floyd, one of three sculptures as part of the “SEEINJUSTICE” art exhibition that also feature the likenesses of Breonna Taylor and John Lewis, is unveiled as Floyd’s brother Terrence, second from left, looks at Union Square in the Manhattan borough of New York. The statue honoring Floyd was vandalized on Sunday, Oct. 3, police said. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
In this Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021, file photo, a sculpture of George Floyd, one of three sculptures as part of the “SEEINJUSTICE” art exhibition that also feature the likenesses of Breonna Taylor and John Lewis, is unveiled as Floyd’s brother Terrence, second from left, looks at Union Square in the Manhattan borough of New York. The statue honoring Floyd was vandalized on Sunday, Oct. 3, police said. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Lakey family responds

According to the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation, the former Wilson Police Department officers were responding to a call about a man, Jared Lakey, acting in a “disorderly way.” The 28-year-old did not comply with their commands and was tased a total of 53 times. 

Dashboard-camera video obtained by The Washington Post shows the officers using their tasers on Lakey 53 times while he was detained. According to the officer’s taser data logs, Taylor deployed his taser 30 times for a total of more than two minutes, and Dingman deployed his taser 23 times for just under two minutes total. Lakey was tased for almost four minutes straight.

“The Lakey family is grateful to the jury and the District Attorney for the convictions, but the risk to the public remains,” an attorney for the Lakey family said. “These officers didn’t violate their policy or training, they tortured Jared precisely because that’s how Wilson, Oklahoma decided to police the community.”

Both officers 10 years to life in prison for the second degree murder charge, and are scheduled to be sentenced on December 2. 

Mike Creef is a fighter for equality and justice for all. Growing up bi-racial (Jamaican-American) on the east coast allowed him to experience many different cultures and beliefs that helped give him a...