Andrew Grande, the adult film star who performed under the name Dustin Michaels, died after being tasered by police, who were responding to a report of violence. Grande, who ingested a bag of marijuana before the police encounter and appears to have choked on it, appeared on sites including Broke Straight Boys and Naked Kombat, as well as his own Xtube.com channel (link NSFW), which has since been deleted. His last Twitter was posted Dec. 7.
rudy
Death sentence for resisting arrest for a misdemeanor.
When will the tasering madness end?
AlwaysGay
These heterosexual officers need to be put in prison for LIFE! I am so f#cking tired of these heterosexual police officers who want to rough up gay people. This is the second reported murder of a gay man by heterosexual police this year in the United States that I recall.
FakeName
Um, this was not murder and there is no indication that this was motivated by animus against gay people. Grande allegedly assaulted a female friend and the police were called. He resisted arrest and was tasered. He did not die as a result of being tasered. He died because he tried to swallow a plastic bag and choked on it. Painting this as “straight cops murder gay man” is ridiculous, since for all we know one or more of the cops is gay and Grande apparently identified as straight.
Keith Kimmel
Well, now this IS a shame. He was one hot little twinkie on the BSB site.
I agree, this is not a hate crime. But the cops should not have tasered him if they thought he had swallowed something, as any idiot knows tasers are designed to paralize and that would have prevented him from getting his airway clear. None the less, pot should be legal anyway. This arrest never should have happened.
Dwayne
Why blame the cops? His stupidity claimed his life. When police officers tell you to do something you must comply—they put their lives at risk daily—they are always on edge and when someone doesnt comply they have an adrenaline rush—He swallowed the weed, he wrestled with police officers. He ended his own life.
Jake the libertarian
This is a perfect example of police refusing to not continually raise the level of conflict. There are no winners here. I am sure these police officers are good people trying to help their communities. However it is plainly obvious that this could have been worked out while attempting to calm the situation down.
Taser v. no taser, gay v not gay… its all irrelevant if the cops would simply work to lower the level of conflict in situations like this instead of raising it. A calm but strong tone and refusing to get baited into a fight are musts for cops. The fact is that this kid was probably baiting those police officers, but it is their job to protect all of us. A job they did not do well that night. A formerly healthy young man is now dead. Had it been handled differently, perhaps he would still be alive. No winners here…
AlwaysGay
There is no evidence he resisted arrest. Did you see the heterosexual police hold him down twice on his stomach with the bag of marijuana in his airway? Then only one heterosexual police officer gives Andrew inadequate help while the others who had no problem sitting on him back away. This was a murder.
FakeName
The evidence that he apparently resisted arrest is that he struggled to get away from the cops after they had him on the ground. Was he really resisting or was he trying to clear his airway? I don’t know, and neither do you. Did the cops know he had tried to swallow something? I don’t know, and neither do you. Are all of the cops heterosexual? I don’t know, and neither do you.
It is important to remember that we are not seeing the complete incident. The camera crew joins the encounter when Grande was already on the ground with one wrist shackled. None of us were there and none of us can say what happened from the time the cops got there to the time the cameras got there. It is also important to remember that the cops quickly realized that he was choking and took action to save his life.
AlwaysGay, your responses are exactly the sort of half-cocked shoot-from-the-lip idiocy that makes it that much harder for actual victims of actual hate crimes to be taken seriously. There is nothing that indicates any bias whatsoever on the part of the police. Your straight-baiting is pointless and stupid. It makes you look like a hysterical idiot and makes all of us look bad by association.
TommyOC
There’s NO reason to think this was a hate crime! All you paranoids need to recognize that though a lot of police have a problem with us, that wasn’t the issue this time. Remember, the police call was for a disturbance, not for some gay-associated behavior. Remember, gays can be dicks, too.
On to the tasering incident… to copy what I wrote elsewhere:
1) Tasers are supposed to be gun alternatives. That means, in situations where the use of a gun would otherwise be justified (e.g., an officer’s safety is in danger) a Taser is used as a life-saving alternative. Tasers ARE NOT meant to be pacification devices!!! They were never introduced as such yet they’re continually used in that manner.
2) Escalation in force: a) Strength (this includes baton use). b) Strength in Numbers. c) Pepper Spray. d) Taser. e) Gun.
What steps were missed in this encounter?
3) Tear gas, rubber bullets, “mosquito” sirens, and microwave emitters are pacification and dispersal devices. Tasers are not.
4) A few months back, national news was made when an otherwise healthy person suffered cardiac arrest at the end of a taser. It turns out the good folks who make Tasers released a usage bulletin telling officers they should AVOID using a taser in the torso area and, if it’s unavoidable, to aim for the lower torso. Watch the video. The guy was pulling the barbs out of his chest. Someone didn’t get the memo.
Tasers are a real problem. They’re a problem because they’re being abused by cops on a daily basis. Cops who forget that they were taught hand-to-hand combat in academy; cops who don’t want to deal with the inconvenience of blowback from pepperspray; cops who view a 5000-Volt jolt as acceptable pain to inflict on someone who doesn’t heed their instructions; cops who may be advised that tasers are acceptable alternatives to leaving lasting bruises on a suspect.
And this is all unacceptable. Their use has to stop.
Brad
@AlwaysGay
While I sympathize with your frustration, I do want to point out that we don’t actually know the sexual orientation of the police officers (whom you repeatedly refer to as “heterosexual”). I think it’s important to keep in mind that LGBT people are everywhere, including within the ranks of the police force.
I also think it wise to exercise some restraint before jumping to any conclusions that this man’s death was in any way related to his sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is not always immediately apparent, and since I didn’t hear anything in the report about the victim being at a gay bar or in any other similar circumstances, I think it’s important to keep in mind that this was probably just another case of police officers using tasers in a way that resulted in someone’s death.
I think that’s the real crime: the use of tasers. There are too many factors that could contribute to someone’s death, most of them related to ingesting an illegal substance, and tasers are simply overused.
TommyOC
Also keep in mind that those who resist arrest aren’t really looking to fight cops; they’re looking to RUN AWAY from cops. As Tasers are supposed to be gun alternatives, you don’t shoot someone for trying to run away – so why tase them?
A guy hopped up on dust, on the other hand, will attempt to tear the face off of any man – cop or not. The drunk belligerent that wants to prove his manliness by challenging an officer will also make his intentions clear. The behavior of these people is easy to discern. It’s for those people tasers were designed.
Cops forget these simple facts.
Brad
Whoops- I meant to write: most of them NOT related to ingesting an illegal substance.
Such as heart conditions.
That makes a big difference.
Cam
If he was beating up some girl when the police got there it doesn’t sound like he was the type to sit down and meekly take orders.
jimmy
Proof positive that stupid is a fatal condition. Was he on ‘Jersey Shore’?
Oh, and AlwaysGay – enough with the anti-hetero nonsense. My parents are awesome and heterosexual which, as it turns out, was quite advantageous for me when they hooked up 43 years ago.
mr. Pam
I love my gay/porn community… but I have to admit most of these postings are horrible, insensitive and cruel. :((
I AM SO SAD FOR DUSTIN AND FOR ALL HIS FRIENDS, FAMILY, GIOVANNI SUMMERS AND MANY MANY MORE PEOPLE WHO’S LIVES HE TOUCHED.
You all are in my heart & sending all the love and hugs to you in the difficult time.
I had been emailing with Dustin about possibly working together and I’m sad I never got to meet him in person. He seems like a super cool, cute boy & sweetie.
We lost 2 beautiful boys in the past few days, Dustin Michaels & Todd Welch. wow…its a time.
HUGS TO ALL WHO ARE HURTING RIGHT NOW!
love… your fan…
mr. Pam
Schteve
Oh shut up if you think it was anyone’s fault but his own. He died from suffocation from swallowing a plastic bag. Stop trying to blame the cops for doing their job.
Jay
Wow AlwaysGay is so painfully idiotic he actually made me sympathize wit the the cops. First of all, there’s nothing accidental about this, nor was this a murder; he died because he was a dumb ass who tried to swallow a freaking bag of weed. I’m sorry but if you assault a woman, try to eat an entire bag of weed and then resist justified arrest, I’m not gonna feel sorry for you.
Second, even if you think the cops didn’t act well, how can anyone look at this and see a hate crime?How could they have known what his sexual orientation was? And even if he had told them, as far as I recall he was GAY FOR PAY. So, it’s ok for them not to accept themselves as gay men but then their defenders want to portray them as such to make their suicide look like a murder? Fuck that. He was a straight junkie, I won’t miss him.
Paul
The cops performed the heimlich maneuver on this guy as soon as it was clear to them he couldn’t breathe. I saw nothing in this video that suggests homophobic actions by the police. We gotta stop crying Wolf
Coltan
Writhing in pain from multiple kicks to the groin and chest = “resisting arrest”, which is why cops always beat the crap out of “perps” (if there aren’t any credible witnesses around). Cops prejudge the suspect; if you’re in their crosshairs, they figure you’re guilty. They figure there’s nothing morally wrong with adding as many fraudulent charges they can in order to ensure something sticks and they can see you imprisoned.
And naturally, since the reputation of the constable is magnanimous, it’s no excuse to run from them because you were afraid of getting the beatdown.
Then there’s the arguement about how most police officers are fine, outstanding dedicated protectors of the thankless citizenry. How about that Blue Wall? If you’re not moral enough to turn in your corrupt co-workers, then you’re corrupt too. End of Line.
AlwaysGay
You don’t sit on someone’s back when they are choking. These heterosexual police did it twice as far as we can tell. On top of that they tasered him in the chest which is advised against. The heterosexual police killed Andrew.
Helga von ornstein
I remeber back in the day when police cruised the book/video stores just to beat the hell out of gay men and give them the choice of going to jail or shutting up about it. Many had no choice but to shut up because they were married.
The majority of those officers assigned to that type of detail are there becaue they pissed off their sergeant and he (the sergeant)is getting even with them by assigning them to “fag” patrol. It probably still goes on in many other cities too, not just NYC.
That notwithstanding this is one jury I would not want to be on. I will keep why not to myself.
Ricky
I think this had nothing to do with the young man’s sexuality and everything to do with the police officers making an ill judgement call. This point about the tasers is interesting… I’ve watched Cops a couple of times and there isn’t an episode that doesn’t feature someone getting tased. Sad. Furthermore, from what is seen in the video, it appears he was struggeling to breath while he was pinned to the ground, which is why he struggled. He was dying and he knew it.
I doubt it comes down to cops being gay bashers… as someone else pointed out, there could very well ahve been a gay cop present. More than likely, the officials were unaware of the young man’s career either. It is just a case of poor judgement and stupidit… both mixing together to produce a tragic end.
scottportraits
A great tragedy. Terrible MJ laws in Fla.
Support Medical Cannabis Access
Florida Voters: Download Florida petition at:
http://www.pufmm.org/petition.php
In California: vote YES on Legalizing Marijuana at:
http://www.yes390.org
Support Leap.cc – Police Against Prohibition
Support MPP.org – MJ Lobby in Wash, DC
Schteve
@Coltan, or how about not cooperating with the officers trying to arrest you = resisting arrest. Seriously, what part of this is so hard to understand? If you’re not sitting there quietly and doing as you’re told, you’re by definition resisting arrest.
mb00
@Schteve
Exactly. The guy was resisting arrest while at the same time shoving a bag of pot down his throat. It wasn’t the tasering that killed him. It was his self induced stupidity.
Coltan
@Schteve and, um… MB00
*kick* Sir, stop resisting!
*punch-punch-punch-punch* Sir, stop resisting!
*pound pound kick punch kick kick* Sir, stop resisting!
*ZZAPP! ZZZAPP!* Sir, stop resisting!
*punch-kick-stomp-kick-pound-kick-stomp* Sir, stop resisting!
…oh look, another one’s gone off and died on us.
Ok guys, to our horror, he committed suicide in front of us, and we were unable to stop him although we tried valiantly, right? Right. See ya at Dunkin’ Doughnuts.
alex
Oh i see….Hmmmm! I found something with the picture,you see the cop TASERING HIM behind the back of upper neck one fucking cop taser him waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay toooooo damn close?!?! watch again, plz think about it.
FakeName
You don’t sit on someone’s back when they are choking.
You don’t know when they knew he was choking.
heterosexual police
You don’t know that they’re heterosexual.
You’re an embarrassment.
FakeName
Coltan makes up: *kick* Sir, stop resisting!
*punch-punch-punch-punch* Sir, stop resisting!
*pound pound kick punch kick kick* Sir, stop resisting!
*ZZAPP! ZZZAPP!* Sir, stop resisting!
*punch-kick-stomp-kick-pound-kick-stomp* Sir, stop resisting!
Yeah, too bad none of that was actually shown on tape other than the taser, which he knocked out of himself within seconds.
alex
I don’t know why dustin swallowed the baggie and began choking. I want to know why you have to swallow the baggie.why man? The dumb ass police tasered him DID YOU SEE THAT? The show must go on, there is no turning back.
scott ny'er
1. this is terrible.
2. i’m totally against tasering. And I think cops rely on tasers when they could use other types of force. It’s one dude and 3 guys. Look at the cop who is ready to taser him again. Gimme a break.
3. the dude was pushed back down as he is choking.
why the dude swallowed a plastic bag with pot… well, that’s just panicky crazy.
this is sad.
Ricky
@ Schteve, yes he was resisting arrest BUT it appears that he was doing so because he was choking on what he swallowed (stupid, yes, I know). Granted the cops did not know that… but in all honesty, would you resist arrest if you were choking to death? What he did was in panic… (notice how the tazing actually seemed to have little effect at that moment… why? becuase of the adrenaline rush as he was trying to fight for his life)
I am not saying the cops are in the wrong and the young man is in the right… (and I certainly do not see this as the US against THEM kind of situation that some far-reaching poster’s have ranted on and on and on about) I am simply saying a little situational awareness would have probably been more benneficial. Some cops don’t listen to the people they take down and sometimes (sometimes) that can be a mistake. And the use of tasers should be a last resort. They get used entirely too often. (Being that they were recording the incident for a show… it could even be that the taser was used to flesh the incident out even more. God knows the American public loves to see real violence!)
Rick
I don’t know why everyone is bagging on the police officers. This idiot shoved a plastic bag down his throat! What was he expecting to happen? It’s a plastic bag, not a cock…of course it’s going to choke him to death. Not to mention he was hiding drugs–so who perpetrated the crime, here? Not the cops!
I’m sick of these drugged-up idiots being made out to be the victims when, in fact, they are the victims of their own stupidity and reckless behavior. Just because they’re in porn doesn’t make them gods.
staciegirlie
As much as I don’t trust cops, the video clearly shows that the cops were trying to save this guy’s life after he idiotically swallowed a plastic bag filled with dope. Even most children know they’ll suffocate from playing with plastic bags.
Scott in NYC
I have to say, I agree with most of the posts. We can all agree that this is a tragedy, the guy did not deserve to die. From what I can tell, there can be no doubt about that.
But there is also not a shred of evidence that these cops were going after him because he was gay – or that they even knew he was gay at all. He shoved a girl and then shoved a bag of pot down his throat. The moment they realized what was happening, they tried to help him but couldn’t. Tragic, yes. Hate crime? No.
There are people for whom it’s always true that cops are bunch of dumb assholes on a power trip looking to beat the shit out of or kill any minority group. For a very minute group of cops, this I am sure is true. But the truth is that cops prevent or stop far more violence on minority groups than they commit. It’s a fairly thankless job that doesn’t pay well and puts them at risk every single day.
James P. P.
It took me a while to post on this for two reasons:
(1) this is clearly not a gay issue. people who are making it a gay issue are self-righteous heterophobes looking for their next “i’m a victim” chorus line to dance in. there is no gay issue here at all.
(2) the guy was scared and feared… to the point of trying to swallow a small bag of POT. Pot. it’s so ridiculous. he wasn’t scoring a brick of smack, he wasn’t drunk driving, he wasn’t buying coke from a homo-hating reggae singer… he just wanted to smoke some weed, fuck his girl, and have a good night.
yes, there are SEVERAL things that went wrong. but out of everything that could have prevented this incident the main one is that someone would be in such fear of being caught with minimal pot, that they would attempt to swallow such blulging plastic, unswallowable object.
and that’s where my heart sinks the most. it’s just such a damn shame.
Keith Kimmel
Not a gay issue? The guy did gay porn. How much more of a gay connection do you need?
staciegirlie
@Keith…If the cops are straight, they probably would not have recognized this guy as a gay porn star. It’s safe to say that about 98% of straight men don’t watch gay porn. If the cops are gay, no one would be able to accuse them of committing homophobic actions.
MinneapolisRyan
I think this is just simply a tragedy. A life was ended over something so ridiculous. I don’t think it was his fault necessarily. It was just an unfortunate sequence of events. It’s chilling, really. I can’t even finish watching that video knowing that he dies shortly after or maybe right there.
By the way, he was gay in real life as well. Just to clear that up.
Mario
Really shocking. They’ve could have saved him by doing their work properly. It’s a pity such a young life. But please, he was NOT 23 y.o.
so what he died
this was not “gay racism” from the cops…lighten the phuck up. They tried savin his life ffs after he resisted and tried destroying evidence. He made a foolish choice and paid dearly.
I’m a straight guy (Here we go..people are gonna start saying I’m anti gay) but the truth of the matter is..no matter who it is..coulda even been a damn priest..the cops did their best to save a guy from an unfortunate incident.
It’s becoming more apparant that a majority of gay individuals base their whole lifestyle on how they have sex..
I’m a straight guy..i don’t make it everyone elses business or act differently or expect any different treatment because I prefer vag…and NO I’m not “anti-gay” or “gay bashing”..got a few gay friends..
Like what if the guy was into beastiality?…
would the police recognize him because he made animal porn or smelt like a barn?
Could we call the cops “beastiality racists”?
Thank god Andrew wasn’t into puerto rican circus midgets or had any twisted amish butter churning fetishes…lol
Lighten up ladies…those cops might be savin your arse some day
LAD
@Ricky: I agree with you, the video cuts in too late to tell what happened prior.. but it does appear that the dude was struggling to breath before the cops sat on him and it definately looks like he knew he was gonna die if they got his other hand in the lock.. so sad he was fighting for his life and not resisting arrest..
Lifesstrand.net
Memorial for Andrew Grande. Express your thoughts
http://lifestrand.net/andrew_grande
Yet Another
@so what he died:
Your name is insensitive as hell.
Your point is sound.
Then you called us ladies. #anti-gay
JD
@Schteve:
Simple and sweet. To the point.
The blame here lies in the actions of Andrew Grande. Nobody forced him to swallow a bag of pot. The cops didn’t know he had swallowed the bag and they thought his actions were of someone resisting arrest, not the actions of a man who was choking. If you didn’t know he was choking would you have thought anything different? NO.
Stop blaming the cops. If they had known beforehand, they would have helped. They tried to help once they realized what was taking place, did they not?
Yes, it’s terrible. It’s a horrible thing that happened. What a frightening and helpless feeling that must have been…. but it was through fault of his own and nobody else that he is not alive today.
For most of you, you could stand to learn from the adage: Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. A lot of FOOLS posting on this page.
Living
He deserved to die! LOL What an idiot!
Scott
It’s horrible to say he deserved to die, but it’s difficult to say the police were at fault. From what I’ve read about Andrew, the life he was leading led to his unfortunate demise. He had not only been consuming drugs, but had been dealing them as well which is probably why he was so desperate to avoid being caught with them. Unfortunately, his terrible idea to attempt to swallow the bag was his action and his alone and one he paid dearly for — with his own life. I had read over at the BSB forums that Dustin (as he was known on screen) had grown quite cocky from his work and they had tried to help him turn his life around, but he was using a lot of people (guys, girls, and “sugardaddies”). I still feel absolutely horrible about Andrew’s death and the video just sickens me. Police obviously didn’t know he was choking before they tasered him. Btw, there some misconception here.. they officers did try to cuff him before all of this started and he tried to get away so he wasn’t innocent nor was this a homophobic arrest of any kind. Andrew lived his life in the fast lane and it ended in his demise sadly. I don’t know what would have possessed him to try to swallow that, but stranger things have happened.
elizabeth grande
I love u brother for all of u that don’t know my brother Andrew was intoxicated drunk that night coming from a friends birthday party the girl that he was riding with in the backseat wouldn’t let him out of the car for he just wanted to call a cab and go back to his motel where he could peacefully sleep wake up and get in his own car and come home my brother was my best friend and because he pushed the seat in a sports car up so he could get out this bitch wanted to call the police and say he hit her you guys will never feel the pain me and my family do it is now almost two years later Thanksgiving day and I can’t do nothing the same without him
max brenner
little kids can now sleep that little bit safer!
Rob
Jorge Lopez, 3 times model of next magazine and first Latin model for the Pines Party dead at 31 year of age. What a shame!!!