Pastor Steven Anderson Taser Case

Steven Anderson was beaten and tasered by U.S. Border Patrol agents and Arizona DPS officers

Steven Anderson was beaten and tasered by U.S. Border Patrol agents and Arizona DPS officers at a Homeland Security checkpoint East of Yuma in April of 2009 for refusing to answer questions. He was subsequently charged by Arizona DPS officers with several violations of state law even though he had been seized at a federal checkpoint by federal agents allegedly enforcing federal law.

Anderson, a pastor of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona made national news following the confrontation with the United States Border Patrol agents at an interior checkpoint on Interstate 8, about 70 miles (110 km) east of Yuma, Arizona. He refused to move his car or roll down his windows, triggering a 90-minute standoff and the calling of Arizona Department of Public Safety officers to the scene. The confrontation ended when authorities broke Anderson’s car windows, tased him, and forced him out of the vehicle.

At his arraignment in April of 2009, Anderson pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of resisting a lawful order. On December 16, 2009, Mr. Anderson was in Yuma, Arizona Justice Court attending a pre-trial hearing regarding those charges with his attorney Marc Victor. By the end of the day, his attorney Mr. Victor was successful in having the charges dismissed with prejudice.