and the incidents of black lives lost because of police shootings. that s a very serious subject and certainly any unjust shooting of any individual is something that needs to be investigated and not ignored. this season it appears is it police brutality? is it racism? has it just become a political football no pun intended? and the concern is that this message has been muddled and lost and the reality of these protests is that they take a tone to suggest that every time someone is shot by the police it s unjust or it s racial. and i have been a prosecutor for over 20 years. i can tell you that the vast majority of police action shootings are determined to be justified and so the particular protest is really off base. brain brian take a look at these numbers and this is why you really are alerting us to this. black-on-black murders in 20162570.
i m so sorry for what they did to you because i didn t know. reporter: the police deny the family s allegations and say the tasings were appropriate and necessary because lambert s behavior put persons at risk. but federal guidelines say repeat tasings may increase the risk of death or serious injury. and law enforcement experts note force is only allowed on combative suspects. there s no possible justification to taser a man shackled and restrained like this in the back of a police car. reporter: lambert s family is calling it police brutality. saying the tasings caused his death. the autopsy notes tasing wounds but lists the cause of death as cocaine intoxication. gwendolyn smalls says nothing will bring her big brother back, but she hopes his story will spur action. you said you want justice. what would justice look like here? jail time. jail.
also upset over a lack of diversity and inclusion at ithaca. here s the thing. there is this tension that has been brought to the fore over the past week. minority students, faculty, staff who feel marginalized and discriminated against. then you also have colleges and universities that pride themselves on being bastions for free expression. we re going to take a look at that part of the story coming up in our next hour. craig, thank you very much. a lot more to discuss as you pointed out. coming up, an msnbc exclusive investigation. today a federal court will look at the case of an unarmed man in handcuffs who died after officers tased him repeatedly. police say it was appropriate and necessary. the man s family calls it police brutality. ari melber is up next with more on this investigation and what is expected to play out in court today. it takes a lot of work. to run this business. i m on the move all day long. and sometimes, i just don t eat the way i should. so i drink boost
i m sorry, i m so sorry for what they did to you because i didn t know. reporter: the police deny the family s allegations and say the tasings were appropriate and necessary because lambert s behavior put persons at risk. but federal guidelines say repeat tasings may increase the risk of death or serious injury, and law enforcement experts note force is only allowed on combative suspects. there s no possible justification to taser a man shackled and restrained like this in the back of a police car. reporter: lambert s family is calling it police brutality, saying the tasings caused his death. the autopsy notes tasing wounds but lists the cause of death as cocaine intoxication. we should say his name was linwood lambert, we confused that with his sister s last name. sorry about that. ari melber joins us now, who broke this story. ari, the investigation s still open. what can we see here?
suspending preorder sales of its new iphone 4, 600,000 orders already been placed, most on-line sales at&t has ever seen. all those orders created a glitch in the system so if you order a phone now, you ll have to wait three weeks to get it. the seattle police officer s guild saying the cop s actions during a jaywalking arrest were justified. we showed you this video yesterday. it s tough to watch. take a look. oh, no. are you serious? the guild president said it s wrong to call it police brutality or racism because the officer was defending himself. the department is currently conducting an internal investigation into the matter. e-mail us right now, what do you think? was it self-defense or was the guy over the line? friends at foxnews.com.