Rally demands justice for Jim Rogers, man who died after he was hit with Taser by Pittsburgh police

Loved ones say Jim Rogers was loving, caring, hilarious and a talented artist — traits they say have been buried as the investigation continues into Rogers’s death after he was tased by Pittsburgh police last week in Bloomfield.

Dozens of supporters gathered in Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood on Friday evening to demand answers and transparency.

Rogers died Oct. 14, about 24 hours after he was struck with a Taser deployed by a Pittsburgh police officer. About 10 a.m. the day prior, someone on Harriet Street in the city’s Bloomfield neighborhood called 911 to report a man, later identified as Rogers, was stealing a bicycle.

Police have said Rogers “became non-compliant” when confronted by officers, and someone fired a Taser. Investigators have not said how many times Rogers was tased, but supporters of his family say it was multiple times.

Supporters who gathered Friday lambasted a list of people and entities they called “enemies of the people:” the media, politicians, Pittsburgh police and the city as a whole. Supporters said they’ve determined the identity of the police officer who fired his Taser. Neither Pittsburgh police nor Allegheny County detectives have released the officer’s name.

Partial video of the incident obtained by Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV shows an officer ordering Rogers to put his hands behind his back and then firing the Taser. Rogers appears to try to move away and falls, and the officer appears to push him several times as he rolls on the ground.

The video does not capture the entirety of the incident.

Allegheny County Police are investigating Rogers’s death. The medical examiner’s office has not released a cause or manner of death.