(Note: following article posted in Crime section @ WaPo)

One protester tased, arrested at Occupy D.C.

View Photo Gallery: Demonstrators have entrenched themselves in Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square downtown. Patience with the protests seems to be wearing thin for some officials, and the National Park Service director says Park Police soon will begin to enforce the ban on camping in McPherson Square.

Tensions between Occupy DC protesters and law enforcement increased Sunday afternoon with the arrest of a demonstrator and the approach of Monday’s noon deadline to enforce a ban on overnight camping.

Tempers flared around midday after police subdued a protester in McPherson Square with an electric shock. Several protesters accused the police of using excessive force, saying the demonstrator had been handcuffed by two police officers before a third used the electronic device to stun him.

Police on scene confirmed that a person had been subdued with a Taser and arrested but gave no further details.

The encounter occurred as Park Police passed out flyers warning of the deadline to begin enforcing a longstanding ban on camping overnight in the square and Freedom Plaza. A protester, who is known as “Lash,” became angry when police entered his tent, other demonstrators said.

“He told them: ‘Get out of here, get out of my tent. You’ve already given us enough of these,’” said Tracy Keith, 49, a researcher from Raleigh, N.C. who has been in the square for months. Keith said the protester ripped up the flyer and followed the police around the encampment tearing down other flyers as the confrontation escalated .

Ellie Milne, 23, of the District, said three officers used excessive force by using a taser on him after he was already in handcuffs.

“My mother is a police officer, and I grew up trusting the police, but this was blatant police brutality,” Milne said.

Milne, who works as a nanny, said the officers then dragged Lash out of the park as he pleaded for an ambulance. Other protesters became angry when police instead put him in a police vehicle.

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