Vigil Held For Jim Rogers, Pittsburgh Man Who Died After Being Tased By Police During Arrest
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Community members held a vigil to remember the man who died after police used a stun gun on him during an arrest in Pittsburgh.
The man has been identified as 54-year-old Jim Rogers. His cause of death has not been released.
Family members shared an old photo of Jim Rogers. Rogers died in a hospital a day after an incident where police tased him. His family said they want answers. @KDKA pic.twitter.com/TLTuLUg4m8
— Jessica Guay (@JessicaGuayTV) October 15, 2021
Members of his family spoke to KDKA's Jessica Guay at the vigil on Friday night. Rogers' nieces couldn't hold back their tears while talking about their uncle. They were surrounded by community members at Friendship Park in Bloomfield.
"We need answers. There's a lot of stuff we don't even know," Mykala Rogers, Jim Rogers' niece, said.
Mykala Rogers shared an old photo of her uncle. She said there are many questions they want to be answered, and she explained what their biggest question is.
"Why did they, just why? They didn't have to tase him that many times," she said.
After a short vigil in the park, Jim Rogers' family members led a march to Harriet Street, where he was tased by Pittsburgh Police on Wednesday morning. People were holding signs and chanting "no justice, no peace."
Diamond Rogers said her uncle would have loved seeing people coming together like this.
"He loved people, and this is the type of thing he would do for somebody else so he just. I wish he was here to see it," Diamond Rogers said.
WATCH: Jessica Guay Reports
A witness shared a cell phone video with KDKA that shows some of what happened during the incident.
According to investigators, Jim Rogers became "non-compliant" while police tried to take him into custody after a 911 call came in for "a suspicious person involved with a theft."
Some witnesses said Jim Rogers was tased two or three times, but that has not been confirmed.
Neighbors said they believe he was experiencing homelessness. They said prior to the incident, Jim Rogers took a bike that was for sale for a ride around the block, returned the bike and smoked a cigarette on someone's porch.
"He's not a bad person at all," Mykala Rogers said.
According to police, Jim Rogers became unresponsive while being transported to the hospital for medical clearance prior to incarceration. He died in the hospital the next day.
His family members said they feel like something else could have been done.
"There was just enough of them, it didn't have to get taken that far, it didn't," Mykala Rogers.
The Allegheny County Police Department is investigating the incident