HaloScan.com - Comments

Feeding the Revolution, one cellphone camera at a time. I really do wonder how much longer this BS is going to continue.
I can see for myself | 11.16.06 - 1:28 pm | #

There is NO EXCUSE for tazering that kid.
WTF is wrong with us?
Anonymous | 11.16.06 - 1:34 pm | #

Power corrupts...
danno | 11.16.06 - 1:35 pm | #

That ain't Freedom
That ain't Liberty
That's Nazi
That's For Sure | 11.16.06 - 1:35 pm | #

Using tasers to herd students. After all the data we have showing that tasers can cause serious injury and death. Hm. Sounds criminal to me.

Did you catch the cop at the very end telling the student that he would be tasered, too, if he didn't move back. This after the original "suspect" was already removed. At the very least that cop ought to be fired and brought up on charges for terroristic threats. Goose and gander.
Jeff Boatright | 11.16.06 - 1:36 pm | #

Time for another L.A. riot.
politis | 11.16.06 - 1:37 pm | #

That is a lot of witnesses for that lawsuit.
ashton | 11.16.06 - 1:37 pm | #

That was very disturbing.
Who is John Galt? | 11.16.06 - 1:37 pm | #

yeah Jeff I heard that too and thought wtf country are we in??? Bush has RUINED America, maybe it is time to move to Canada
ellie2 | 11.16.06 - 1:38 pm | #

"Torture in the name of the free, more misery for you and me..."

from "Judgement Day"
copyright 2005 Wackiavelli
Wackiavelli.com
Wackiavelli | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 1:38 pm | #

semper brutas
Samson- | 11.16.06 - 1:38 pm | #

What a bunch of loser assholes those cops are.
Like that kid was even remotely a threat.
The college keystone cops should spend AT LEAST a night in jail themselves, and also should lose their jobs.
Fucking losers.
Pete | 11.16.06 - 1:38 pm | #

[Deleted. Flame bait. Consult the commenting policy if you wish to contribute]

Edited By Siteowner
Justice | 11.16.06 - 1:39 pm | #

Did it ever occur to the policemen, having tasered the kid a half dozen times, that he might not have been able to get up? Duh...unless they were on some power trip.

Overall, excessive force from what I could see. Can't they just cuff the guy and carry him out?
Jesse James | 11.16.06 - 1:41 pm | #

That was truly upsetting.

Kerrik and Guilliani must be proud...and richer.
ezpz | 11.16.06 - 1:41 pm | #

Why use tasers? There's an overemphasis on "new and improved" now days.

Whatever happened to the cattle-prod?
ysbaddaden | 11.16.06 - 1:41 pm | #

"That moron guy deserved every bit of the Taser!"

I would imagine a jury will decide that once and for all. Perhaps you can donate to the "officers" defense fund. Should they have been able to open fire had they not had tasers? Spread your wisdom.
ashton | 11.16.06 - 1:42 pm | #

Nice try troll.

I smell at least a civil lawsuit. That was sickening and depraved. His screams of agony chilled my blood. Was that really shot in America? (rhetorical)
John Griffith | 11.16.06 - 1:42 pm | #

one wonders how a ucla computer to the back of the head stacks up against a taser
Anonymous | 11.16.06 - 1:42 pm | #

Jesse James | 11.16.06 - 1:41 pm | #

I was thinking the same thing. They taser him a few times and then demand that he stand up???!!! Then they taser him some more for NOT standing up??? Ugh!!!
ezpz | 11.16.06 - 1:43 pm | #

Two quotes:
"Get up or you'll get tazed again."
and at the end to another person.
"Get back or you'll get tazed too."

They were in no danger from this guy-especially after he was handcuffed. Zapping him to get him to comply with orders is torture-pure and simple.
rkh | 11.16.06 - 1:43 pm | #

"Did it ever occur to the policemen, having tasered the kid a half dozen times, that he might not have been able to get up? Duh...unless they were on some power trip."

Considering that the point of a taser is to render the victim unable to move, it probably should have crossed their mind.
ashton | 11.16.06 - 1:43 pm | #

UCLA top cops:
Chief of Police, Karl T. Ross 310 825-1633 kross@ucpd.ucla.edu
Captain, John Adams 310 825-4406 adamsj@ucpd.ucla.edu
Mike | 11.16.06 - 1:43 pm | #

"People decry the police when this type of stuff happens but when you really need the police you become very thankful."

WTF, and what's your point? Are you saying we should close our eyes to police brutality because we might need them someday??
Who is John Galt? | 11.16.06 - 1:44 pm | #

Stand up? While they're tasing him-what assholes.

I hope they are arrested and tried for assault and battery. And fired.
miss_kitty | 11.16.06 - 1:44 pm | #

"Justice" (yeah right), please explain your "logic" as to why this guy should be tasered for being in the library without his ID?
Jak Crow | 11.16.06 - 1:44 pm | #

Heads should roll at the LAPD for this Bull S***! This was totally uncalled for! I hope that student sues the hell out of the LAPD.
TruthSeeker | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 1:45 pm | #

That actually made me cry. what the hell is wrong with our country? What happened? Or am I just waking up to the way things have always been?
Liberal Girl | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 1:45 pm | #

Let's hope that this student isn't declared an enemy combatant and disappeared by these Gestapo.
ezpz | 11.16.06 - 1:46 pm | #

it takes brave men to taser an unarmed
kid in a college library....

Such brave men should be serving in Iraq.
Big E | 11.16.06 - 1:47 pm | #

The cops should be immediately fired, and then brought up on charges (legal not electrical).

If the student did anything wrong it can be handled seperatly.
ysbaddaden | 11.16.06 - 1:47 pm | #

These pigs should get tased themselves. Protect and serve, my ass.
pawlr | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 1:47 pm | #

What a peice of shit country you live in ... jeezus.
earl | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 1:47 pm | #

University Police are one step removed from security guards, only worse. They can't make it onto a real police force so they become a university cop. These guys are fairly representative of the "cops" at our local university.
Gregory | 11.16.06 - 1:48 pm | #

I feel absolutly fucking SICK watching this. I hope this makes it to every news outlet.
madcowdungbeetle | 11.16.06 - 1:49 pm | #

To be fair to the police, we don't know exactly what happened before the video was taken. There may be a context missing that would alter our perceptions. That being said, it seems that the University Police overreacted and exacerbated the matter. I'm not familiar with their policy, but it seems counter intuitive to repeadedly taser someone curled up on the ground. As was mentioned, there are many first hand witnesses to this event, so it shouldn't be difficult to find out exactly what happened and who is to blame. That's my two cents.
Oatmeal Batman | 11.16.06 - 1:49 pm | #

Sh!T is coming down in this country. I am 51 years old and I am so angry at what is happening throughout this nation.

We are in a Civil War now. There might not be Blue & Gray armies however, there are sides on this war.

Always carry a video device....always vote for "True" Freedom. The Democrats are not perfect but, They will stand up to this BullSh!t.

I don't care if this kid was or wasn't a student. This was a gross abuse of power.

Alot of these so called police are ex military. They have no people skills what so ever. No training in this regard.

Time to take a stand...
Old Dood | 11.16.06 - 1:49 pm | #

ASSULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON

Tasers have killed at least 167 people since 1999. Here they are:

http://www.azcentral.com/special...rlist24- ON.html
KEVIN SCHMIDT, STERLING VA | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 1:50 pm | #

Also, anyone who has ever been hit with tazer (a REAL tazer), especially multiple times, know's you don't just get right up.
madcowdungbeetle | 11.16.06 - 1:50 pm | #

"These pigs should get tased themselves. Protect and serve, my ass."
pawlr | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 1:47 pm

Over and over again, while they're trying to comply. Most cops get tased once, but not while they're being yelled at and dragged around by strangers from the Gestapo...
miss_kitty | 11.16.06 - 1:51 pm | #

The police are claiming that he invited nearby students to join in his resistance. Did I miss that part?
ashton | 11.16.06 - 1:52 pm | #

"Any time the authorities start ignoring procedure because of what someone said"

Please cite the procedure of which you speak. Be specific.
ashton | 11.16.06 - 1:53 pm | #

For those of you in LA:

PROTEST POLICE BRUTALITY AT KERCKHOFF STEPS
No Taser Guns PLEASE!

Date: Friday, November 17, 2006
Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Venue: UCLA Kerckhoff Steps on BruinWalk
308 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA
lauren | 11.16.06 - 1:53 pm | #

Freedom is on the march! And it looks remarkably like a goose-step.
Loonie | 11.16.06 - 1:53 pm | #

KEVIN SCHMIDT, STERLING VA | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 1:50 pm | #

Thank you for that link. And these are the ones that we KNOW about. I wonder how many more there are where the cause of death was fudged...
ezpz | 11.16.06 - 1:53 pm | #

Two words:

Kent State

How far are we from this happening again?
ShelaghC | 11.16.06 - 1:53 pm | #

Tasers should be taken out of the UC security officers hands... simple as that. Until that happens the top brass at UCLA should have their collective ass held to the fire.
No Tasers on Campus | 11.16.06 - 1:54 pm | #

Flashback 8/06: If they'll shoot an atorney...
...what chance does this guy have?
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamihe...ws/ 15228898.htm
*even on video

Fat Boy Slim | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 1:55 pm | #

That's how these tiny-dicked jack-booted fascist numbskulls get their rocks off. They're too painfully misogynistic to attract real women. So, in a pathetic act of overcompensation for obvious inadequacy in all of life, they taze the hell out of an unarmed student who is well within his rights not to obey these a$$holes. I hope this kid's family comes to own a nice little chunck of UCLA after the bodacious lawsuit. This is madness that will only end when somebody has to give up enough bank to see the stupidity of his idiot ways. As part two of the punitive action, I say we deploy these malicious LAPD rejects to Iraq, armed with only a tazer. What a bunch of vicious morons!
anan nimus | 11.16.06 - 1:55 pm | #

"To be fair to the police, we don't know exactly what happened before the video was taken..."
Oatmeal Batman | 11.16.06 - 1:49 pm

Whatever it was (not leaving the library immediately)-it did NOT require what they did to this guy. They wanted to tase him into compliance, and that's not possible when compliance="Stand Up!"
miss_kitty | 11.16.06 - 1:55 pm | #

Mortifying. In an institution of Higher Learning, where that kid is paying tons of money to be there.

Sick animals with badges, taking pleasure in every opportunity to torture and make mayhem, everyone of their hapless victims a "terrorist" in their eyes.

Stop and look upon the monstrosity we have become. I hope that kid gets paid so much in the lawsuit he can retire at 21.
sabot | 11.16.06 - 1:55 pm | #

WTF,

He was handcuffed and on the floor, but instead of carrying/dragging him out, the cops tried to humiliate him by making him stand up and walk out. Either, A, he couldn't, or B, he wouldn't. Either way, tasering him after he was in custody is abuse. I saw at least four officers who were there for the entire episode. Those guys should at least lose their jobs.
Original Bill | 11.16.06 - 1:55 pm | #

Get used to it, New World Order you know.

First they came for the....
Then they came for...
Hawk | 11.16.06 - 1:55 pm | #

Those cops are the worse of low grade morons. Who the hell did their training?

Cops use tasers to REMOVE muscular control. You CAN'T stand up after such a shock to the system. That the whole DAMN point.

Even if the cops were to pick him up and put him on his feet, he'd probably collapse like a bunch of broccoli.

I smell class action suit here. All the witnesses in the library could claim psychological damage, and those the cops threatened could sue additionally for assault.

That University better hire a good lawyer, because any jury would watch that tape and pay through the nose. Particularly if this was a student, not someone who wandered off the street.
ysbaddaden | 11.16.06 - 1:56 pm | #

2 'tt's I know!

Welcome to the Police State:
http://www.spikedhumor.com/ artic...lice_State.html

Fat Boy Slim | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 1:56 pm | #

UCLA Campus Police...310 825-1491
Dean of Students310 825-3871

Dean is Mr.Naples

Watch Commander is Sgt. Nicks
bang | 11.16.06 - 1:56 pm | #

What a peice of shit country you live in ... jeezus.
earl | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 1:47 pm | #

Sorry folks, I was listening to that kid screaming while i typed that ...
that could've been anybody's kid.
earl | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 1:57 pm | #

I am so glad we are safe in our libraries - just follow orders and you will not be harmed. Those who cannot keep up will be shot, as incentive for others. Order will be maintained at all costs.

Seriously, I am so glad that we have started to put an end to this crap (I hope), but when do the grownups take over?
jarotra | 11.16.06 - 1:57 pm | #

"...I'm not a rent-a cop..."
common sense | 11.16.06 - 1:52 pm

Really? You certainly have the mentality of one. Perhaps you should look at a new and exciting career path...
miss_kitty | 11.16.06 - 1:58 pm | #

"To be fair to the police, we don't know exactly what happened before the video was taken..."
Oatmeal Batman | 11.16.06 - 1:49 pm"

This is true but when I last checked police carried handcuffs to deal with people should they become difficult. They could have simply handcuffed him and led him out had they felt that there was a problem.
ashton | 11.16.06 - 1:58 pm | #

The students should have fought back. I would have been busting heads.
HUH? | 11.16.06 - 1:58 pm | #

"Tasers have killed at least 167 people since 1999" So! The US population at last count is 300 million. Better yet, perhaps, we need to disband the police so we can keep people happy. So, when some criminal is robbing you...there will be no one to call. Carry your own taser or better yet a firearm.
Kyle | 11.16.06 - 1:59 pm | #

getting tasered renders one immobile, then you're ordered to stand up or get tasered again, makes a lot of sense . . .in China
common sense isn't common | 11.16.06 - 1:59 pm | #

The students just stood there in their sheeple way. Ever seen a video of the African savannah? The lions only take one at a time...
King of Kings | 11.16.06 - 1:59 pm | #

ucla is a public university...therefore the library and other facilities are open to the public at large

when did one have to start showing id to use the library?
Uncle Joe McCarthy | 11.16.06 - 2:01 pm | #

at first i thought this was just a clear case of police abusing their power. i thought the student was being a little melodramatic decrying "here's your patriot act!" not that i'm a fan of the patriot act and not that he's not entitled to a little melodrama after being tased. but then i read that student's name in the ucla newspaper: mostafa tabatabainejad. would he have been treated the same if his name had been mike smith?
apreacher | 11.16.06 - 2:02 pm | #

You know, if the government just installed remote control devices in all our heads, this kind of thing wouldn't happen.
Clavis | 11.16.06 - 2:02 pm | #

Uncle Joe McCarthy | 11.16.06 - 2:01 pm | #

"911 changed everything"

How convenient for a young dicktatorship!
ezpz | 11.16.06 - 2:03 pm | #

Again with the false dilemma. These conservative "cop supporters," merely provide the proof to Hitler's statement in Mein Kamp, that his officials could beat up on people in the streets, and the others will simply walk on by or watch it like it was entertainment.

The other students fighting are more American than these conservative Nazi-lite.
ysbaddaden | 11.16.06 - 2:03 pm | #

At the very end - after the student has been removed from the building you can actually hear the cops say to another student, "step back or you're going to get tasered too." Amazing.

My wife works at UCLA, I'm going to find out what they are saying about this
da | 11.16.06 - 2:04 pm | #

apreacher | 11.16.06 - 2:02 pm | #

Hmmmm.....Interesting
ezpz | 11.16.06 - 2:05 pm | #

Hey Kyle, it isn't either-or.

We can have a police that use their brains. The man was not doing anything wrong. If they needed to do anything they should have just let him sit there while they called in about 20 more cops AND university officials. They should have tried to discuss the situation, and find out what the situation was. The man was not doing anything truly wrong.
King of Kings | 11.16.06 - 2:06 pm | #

just stop these people who seem
to know no bounds. this is truly
disgusting, they need to be stopped
bugsy | 11.16.06 - 2:07 pm | #

There will come a time when people will have had enough of this police corruption and abuse...

and shoot back.
Controlled Demolition | 11.16.06 - 2:08 pm | #

The purpose of the Taser is to provide a non-lethal method to prevent an attack against the officer.

This was a clearly illegal act. The suspect was on the ground. Despite the fact that he was not cooperating with the officers, he was not threatening or attacking them. The officers repeatedly Tased him anyway.

These officers should be prosecuted for assault & battery.
.
Jaycubed | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 2:08 pm | #

They asked him to stand up like 10 times. He deserved it. Doesn't matter who the fuck he is, the cops are doing their jobs. If you fucking listen to tme then I doubt you get tazed. And having been tazed myself, I'd much rather they taze him than hit him.

If they ask you 50 times to stand up, fucking stand up.

Asshat.
Anonymous | 11.16.06 - 2:08 pm | #

Kyle,

If tasers have been shown to kill, as they have, then the user must balance risk to benefit and consider alternatives.

I wonder if you understand that for your analysis to hold any weight, all 300 million Americans would have had to have been tasered.

Something tells me you don't understand that.

Along with many other things.
Jeff Boatright | 11.16.06 - 2:09 pm | #

"And having been tazed myself, I'd much rather they taze him than hit him."

I hadn't thought of the brain damage that could occur. Thank you for pointing that out so well.
ashton | 11.16.06 - 2:09 pm | #

Maybe someone can post a link to UCLA head offices, so we can express outrage at this incident.

If the MSM can ignore the arrest of the Faux anthrax terrorist, they'll ignore this too.

We've all been guilty of using hyperbole and maybe overusing the fascist moniker, but if it doesn't fit here where would it fit?
ysbaddaden | 11.16.06 - 2:09 pm | #

Anonymous | 11.16.06 - 2:08 pm | #

Maybe you'll have your chance to do that trick - stand up after being tased several times.
ezpz | 11.16.06 - 2:10 pm | #

Time to cut off donations to the UCLA Alumni fund. Hit 'em back where it hurts.
Anonymous | 11.16.06 - 2:10 pm | #

Tasers have been also known to cause heart attacks. They're not foolproof. Additionally, there was no cause to even hit the student unless he struck at them first, and such was not the case.
ysbaddaden | 11.16.06 - 2:11 pm | #

Not to mention the guy keeping yelling "I'm not resisting, I....WILL....LEAVE".
*sarcasm* I am so glad that their are hard-line cops like these men to keep the drug-totting, very violent students at UCLA in order. *sarcasm*

And Thank you Mr. Uncle Joe McCarthy for asking that question. I am not a student at Christopher Newport University here in Virginia, but I have never been ID'ed before. Thats like having to show you ID before you can eat at their cafeteria.

I just reliefed that the guy beening tasered wasn't black.
Angry Black Man | 11.16.06 - 2:11 pm | #

What stereotypical college students. Get a freaking clue. He got what he deserved. Any time the authorities start ignoring procedure because of what someone said ("I said I was going to leave"), they're compromising the situation and putting people at risk. I'm not a rent-a cop, but if I walked up and told that dude to get out, and he wanted to pretend he was gonna do it on his own sweet time, I'd kick his ass all the way out the door too.
common sense | 11.16.06 - 1:52 pm | #
??????????????????????????????????????????????????

Puting other students at risk if they don´t taser this poor kid?

Man, you´re so full of shit!

This was just a kid believing that he lives in the "home of the brave & the land of the free" country and that nothing could happen to him if he hadn´t done anything wrong.

Afterwords he was just like a scared woonded animal - and these assholes wanted him to react like a fucking machine he never had a chance to become yet.

Looks like America won´t do without another sixties like movement.

Glad I live in a country with real freedom and not the freedom of cops to taser student kids!
gladnottobeamerican! | 11.16.06 - 2:11 pm | #

Get over it! This guy was sooo melodramatic. He cries out about the Patriotic Act. Makes you wonder if this was done to get attention. I agree. Lets get rid of cops, all together. Let citizens arm and protect themselves. Who needs cops! When my trusty .357 can handle the job. Enjoy this cruel world.
Zapper | 11.16.06 - 2:12 pm | #

i don't think the issue is that they were checking for student IDs, that's an understandable precaution that they only do after 11pm for the safety of the students. the issue is that a kid by the name of mostafa was leaving the library but apparently not quickly enough for the campus police. the issue is that this culture of terror has made it justifiable in the minds of those police officers to taser an iranian student multiple times for simply not leaving in a prompt manner.
apreacher | 11.16.06 - 2:12 pm | #

I just reliefed that the guy beening tasered wasn't black.
Angry Black Man | 11.16.06 - 2:11 pm | #

Based on his name, it is unclear what he background is.
ashton | 11.16.06 - 2:12 pm | #

That is just sick,a sign of what the times have become,i pray to god,the democrats clean this crap up,and I hope the rent a cops are fired.
Texasdemo | 11.16.06 - 2:12 pm | #

Angry Black Man | 11.16.06 - 2:11 pm | #

No, but it seems he was brown.
ezpz | 11.16.06 - 2:13 pm | #

Anonymous Asshat,

Have you asked yourself why they tased him?

Apparently they wanted him to stand up. Apparently they tased this person because they wanted him to stand up and he did not stand up. So they tased him. Over and over and over.

Try, try really hard, to think about what actually happened.
Jeff Boatright | 11.16.06 - 2:13 pm | #

"Makes you wonder if this was done to get attention"

You know, I drew the same conclusion from your post.
ashton | 11.16.06 - 2:13 pm | #

The students just stood there in their sheeple way.

King of Kings | 11.16.06 - 1:59 pm

They were yelling at a couple of armed cops to stop? What would you have done, Lord Jesus?
dhimmi | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 2:15 pm | #

Apparently, a student answers the phone at the Dean's office. The Police Captain's office sends you to Public Affairs to leave a message.
bamage | 11.16.06 - 2:15 pm | #

The student's name is Mostafa Tabatabainejad. (http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/ articles/ call_for_probe_of_ucla_muslim_student_taser_incide nt/0011752)

He's Muslim.

Hmmmmm... How interesting.
erasmattack! | 11.16.06 - 2:15 pm | #

i just read the daily bruin article about the incident...one of the individuals who witnessed the event was an alumnus...i was right, you dont have to be a student to use the library for research...now one may need to get a pass, but i have been on the campus and have used the library without a pass, and without incident

if the rules have changed in the wake of 9/11 that is one thing...but i dont think that included using a taser for a non combative individual

no hearing...no trial...these cops need to be terminated and the student needs to file a suit against the university, the uc system and gov grabinator
Uncle Joe McCarthy | 11.16.06 - 2:15 pm | #

Once tasered a person can't stand. The cops know this. They get trained to use tasers.

The cops tortured him with a taser him for fun.
Weaseldog | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 2:16 pm | #

I like how the freeper creepers pop in to troll as if that's going to change anyone's mind and we shouldn't think the kid has RIGHTS in america. The kid was 100% right, power isn't a cudgel to be wielded, it's a responsibility to respect others rights. I hope these fool cops face justice for not knowing how to behave responsibly with power.
wondersnevercease | 11.16.06 - 2:16 pm | #

http://www.ucpd.ucla.edu/ucpd/co...pd/ contact.html
Daithí | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 2:16 pm | #

The Rentacops must go to jail.
HUH? | 11.16.06 - 2:17 pm | #

Heil Bush !!!!
Chuck | 11.16.06 - 2:17 pm | #

What an embarrassing event for the old alma Mater.
lost_nacf_gop | 11.16.06 - 2:17 pm | #

There is NO EXCUSE for tazering that kid.
WTF is wrong with us?
- - - - - - - - - - - -

Oh bullshit.

To quote Chris Rock: "There's a reason to kick an old man down a flight of stairs. Ya just don't do it."

If the kid was being belligerant to the cops, then the cops are justified in retaliation, they used non lethal means and they told the kid what was going to happen if he didn't comply with them.

I think they went a little taser happy, yeah and they should be reprimanded for that, but they were justified in tasing him at least the first time.

Since we don't know what happened BEFORE the video was shot it's hard to say what was going on. So don't just assume that the cops were being assholes. Yeah that does happen and when it does you need to stomp the assholes down hard - legally -. But if you're a cop and you've got some punk asshole telling you to go fuck yourself when you tell him he needs to leave you're not going to just stand there and take it either.

Your job as a police officer is to protect the public trust and uphold th e law. This includes protecting the public from authorized intruders ( which is what this kid was if he didn't have an ID and that was the law/rule for the building ).
E in MD | 11.16.06 - 2:18 pm | #

Geeze, the lizard brains have really come out from under their rocks.

Zapper, as with nearly everything in life, this is not an absolute either-or situation. What are you, four years old? The police had a lot of options here. They chose a very bad one. They performed their duties poorly. Now, does this mean we should get rid of all cops? Is anyone except you and the other Darryl Dumshits saying that? No.

Please, crawl back under your rocks, guys. You've somehow wandered into the adult section of the library and we have cops who'll taser your little asses back to the kiddie section if you don't leave pronto.

.
Jeff Boatright | 11.16.06 - 2:18 pm | #

Kyle

There is a huge difference between someone committing a violent crime, such as robbery, and showing a nonviolent resist to arrest. I would have resisted arrest to. If he was tasered only once, then the cops would have been right.

However, after being tasered and Handicuffed, the police felt that it was necessary to taser him over and over again (I counted 4 times).

And the cops can't use the excuse that they didn't know the the taser gun immobilizes you, because in training, they get tasered to show the cause and effects of if.
Angry Black Man | 11.16.06 - 2:18 pm | #

"They asked him to stand up like 10 times. He deserved it. Doesn't matter who the fuck he is, the cops are doing their jobs. If you fucking listen to tme then I doubt you get tazed. And having been tazed myself, I'd much rather they taze him than hit him."

So high-voltage, sometimes-lethal electric shock is an appropriate tool to ensure compliance with police instructions?

Since I can't comment on the "doing their jobs" bit without invoking Godwin's Law I'll just stop there.
rkh | 11.16.06 - 2:19 pm | #

I had a hard time seeing what was actually happening on that video but the sound was perfect. One thing that came over loud and clear was the request for compliance and specific warnings given for non-compliance.

Was it abuse, maybe, after the second taser probably. But why the hell did the kid not comply with the request to step outside when first asked and thereby avoid the consequences?
aquarius2 | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 2:19 pm | #

When they're in the main hall it looks like there are about five cops. All that for one kid using a computer without proper ID? Jesus, if you smack a vending machine that ate your dollar on that campus what do they do, shoot you? Those cops were way out of line and stupid (or just plain sadistic). They keep telling him to get up after they've shot jolts of electricity through his body. How's he supposed to comply? There's so much rotten stuff going out there that this is obviously trivial by comparison, but in miniature it's emblematic of how uniforms + small brains = abuse of power. I hope those cops' badge numbers were taken down.
Bob Fingerman | 11.16.06 - 2:20 pm | #

Don't do what an authorative figure says and they electricute you until you comply. That sounds a lot like torture to me.
jfbguy | 11.16.06 - 2:20 pm | #

Those kids should have piled onto those cops ant beaten the living shit out of them. I would have. fucking dicks.
President PNACcio | 11.16.06 - 2:20 pm | #

I have never seen a situation in a library that a librarian couldn't handle. I have seen ejections of semi-unruly homeless people by small women without a posse and without tasers. Just using a firm tone and an appeal to civility. Maybe it's time to turn things over to the professionals.

Does anyone see the parallel to our Iraq adventure? Security checks produced an unsatisfactory result. The perp could not prove that he was harmless. The strict letter of the law allowed for sanctions. We had the ability to use force for compliance, so instead of waiting around for further resistance to build, we used force. The excessive use of force did create the "situation" of disruption we had feared, therefore more force was required. A situation that required more force and more threats. Otherwise chaos might ensue. And on and on and on.

So now the library is secured, and the people are able to go on with their lives. And they understand failure to follow orders has consequences. Hopefully we will be able to remove armed personnel from the library some day and leave things to the librarians.
jarotra | 11.16.06 - 2:20 pm | #

apreacher | 11.16.06 - 2:02 pm

the plot thickens..
"oh its just another sand negro.. Tase him again Bubba!"

These chickenshit asshole rentacops should be fired and charged with a crime. But that won't happen. Do you think ANY cop likes arresting another cop, even rentacops for abusive actions? Hell no. In a just world, those students would have stood up to the cops, but it's just america- sit back and watch your freedoms being stolen by the fascists, your tax money being funnelled to corporations and the underpriveleged being kicked to the curb so that some rich asshole who inherited all his money from his daddy's daddy can afford to have two illegal immigrant gardeners..
Fade | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 2:20 pm | #

OMFG. People die from being tasered. This was so traumitizing to watch that I feel like I will throw up. Was this student African American?

Stand up? How could he stand up? He was incapacitated. This is horrifying.

These security officers are the types they recruit to work in Abu Graib and Guantanamo Bay. America is ugly in it's core. Brutal, violent thugs and sheeple, that's us.
Charles Granger 101 | 11.16.06 - 2:20 pm | #

Beyond just tasering the kid over and over because its fun, it also sends a message to the other students, that they can do the same to anyone they want.

They sent a message that they can torture anyone on campus for fun, anytime anywhere.

They want the students to fear and hate them.
Weaseldog | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 2:21 pm | #

E in Maryland

So you have to show ID in order to go into a library? What part of the US of A do you live in? China?
Angry Black Man | 11.16.06 - 2:21 pm | #

I just sent the links for this to Huffington Post and Michael Moore, and posted them to my blog and a progressive message board I'm on.
ShelaghC | 11.16.06 - 2:22 pm | #

common sense | 11.16.06 - 1:52 pm | #

"I'm not a rent-a cop"

From your guilty-until-proven-otherwise attitude, and your love of "procedure", I'm surprised you're not a rent-a-cop. Maybe you flunked the physical.

Anyway, you and I don't know what happened either way, other than that someone got tasered 4-5 times for being in a library without student ID.

I suppose you thing the SOB was lucky he wasn't shot. At Kent State, that was the "procedure" used on unarmed students peaceably exercising their First Amendment rights.
Annoyed Canuck | 11.16.06 - 2:22 pm | #

To all the police involved, Goddamn you all.

Yes folks, here is your fucking Patriot Act at work.

Thanks W!
Robert | 11.16.06 - 2:22 pm | #

E in MD stated:

"the cops are justified in retaliation"

And another lizard brain checks in.

E, you are truly, deeply, profoundly stupid. Please turn off mommy's computer and go outside and play. In traffic.

Police are not allowed to "retaliate", you idiot. It's not their job AND it's illegal.

Christahmighty you trolls are stupid. Do you even understand the definitions of the words you use?

.
Jeff Boatright | 11.16.06 - 2:23 pm | #

I wonder if the fact that the kid's Middle Eastern had anything to do with the excessive use of violence?
erasmattack! | 11.16.06 - 2:23 pm | #

You people make make it sound as though he was waterboarded. Dollars to doughnuts he won't forget his Bruin card again, either.
North Bay | 11.16.06 - 2:24 pm | #

Every cops a criminal
Mick Jagger | 11.16.06 - 2:26 pm | #

5 cops for one defiant kid? Gosh, they must have been bored?
Angry Black Man | 11.16.06 - 2:26 pm | #

This is absolutely disgusting. And what is more disgusting is all the trolls that have come to the defense of the police. We have become a very disturbing nation. And there are too many people on the left and right that have no problem with it.
navyswan | 11.16.06 - 2:26 pm | #

I need to preface my comments with the admission that I am shaking nearly uncontrollably hearing the events play out on the video. The audio in this case is chilling.

This isn't torture. It's corporal punishment being dispensed by officers of the law who had an assailant already under control if he was indeed handcuffed.

The inconvenience of officers having to subdue and carry off an assailant is mitigated by an additional charge or charges being brought against an offender resulting in additional penalties to be decided by a judge: resisting arrest and in some cases, assaulting an officer.

Instead of calmly removing the student physically from the premisis the officers taunted him [eg: "stand up or you get tasered again!". repeatedly], and then inflicted punishment. They caused a public disturbance of the worst kind - a beat down spectacle by those in power.

The infliction of punishement, whether a fist to the head, a kick to the stomach, a fire hose to peaceful protesters or tasering of a restrained individual is a crime. In this case it's a gross one.

The introduction of tasers into the police arsenal has had the horrible side effect of legalizing corporal punishment. In "less civilized" societies, a good flogging or caning is all that is required to call it even. This is just gross abuse.

If this doesn't result in a civil rights case brought against the use of tasers and police behavior it's a goddamned sin.

Anyone who reads In These Times [and you should] tasers were their cover story this month:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site...n/article/2894/

A goddamned sin
Grasshopper | 11.16.06 - 2:26 pm | #

I was upset with what I heard but I could not really see on the video what was happening or what started this altercation. I do want to say that we need to give the police the benefit of the doubt and provide them support for what they do. They are keeping us safe.
Janet | 11.16.06 - 2:27 pm | #

ucla is a public university...therefore the library and other facilities are open to the public at large

when did one have to start showing id to use the library?
- - - - - - - -

My local community college is a 'public' university. But you can't be wandering around there without some sort of visitor tag or something either. That way we don't have unnaccounted for people wandering about.
E in MD | 11.16.06 - 2:27 pm | #

Tasers Kill?

11/01/06

"Holyfield, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 130 pounds, carried a Bible and a cordless house phone. He was described by a friend as a committed Baptist who never got into a scrap. But when police approached him, he struggled. They shot the teen twice with a Taser, according to the Jerseyville Police Department.

Holyfield died a day later.

Redditt Hudson, racial justice manager for the ACLU of Eastern Missouri and a former St. Louis police officer, believes the use of Tasers should be suspended.

"What a tragedy for a 17-year-old boy to be dead today," Hudson said. "We don't know enough about Tasers, and I think because we don't know enough about them it could give an officer a false sense that he is using something that is safer than it is."
Alma | 11.16.06 - 2:28 pm | #

Its time for folks to start finding a safe school to attend.
Weaseldog | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 2:28 pm | #

Add Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow from Air America to the list of those I've forwarded the info to.
ShelaghC | 11.16.06 - 2:28 pm | #

Welcome to the new and extra safe America!!!
True Patriotte | 11.16.06 - 2:29 pm | #

I've been to various Universities in Texas for different functions and have visited the libraries. I've never been asked to show ID.
Weaseldog | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 2:29 pm | #

When you are defending students without proper ID, you are allowing the terrorist to win.
Angry Black Man | 11.16.06 - 2:30 pm | #

some items from the ucpd report on the incident http://www.ucpd.ucla.edu/ucpd/zi...%2011-15- 06.pdf

"tabatebainejab encouraged library patrons to join his resistance." so he was an insurgent, now i get it!

"A Taser is used to incapacitate subjects who are resistant..." so is it common procedure to "incapacitate someone and then immediately demand they stand up.

also in their report they say he refused to leave, however the school newspaper said he was leaving the library when a police officer grabbed him by the arm and stopped him.
apreacher | 11.16.06 - 2:30 pm | #

Here is the article from the student newspaper:

Mostafa Tabatabainejad, a UCLA student, was repeatedly stunned with a Taser and then taken into custody when he did not exit the CLICC Lab in Powell Library in a timely manner. Community Service Officers had asked Tabatabainejad to leave after he failed to produce his BruinCard during a random check at around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

UCPD Assistant Chief of Police Jeff Young said the checks are a standard procedure in the library after 11 p.m.

"Because of the safety of the students we limit the use after 11 to just students, staff and faculty," Young said.

Young said the CSOs on duty in the library at the time went to get UCPD officers when Tabatabainejad did not immediately leave, and UCPD officers resorted to use of the Taser when Tabatabainejad did not do as he was told.

A six-minute video showed Tabatabainejad audibly screaming in pain as he was stunned several times with a Taser, each time for three to five seconds. He was told repeatedly to stand up and stop fighting, and was told that if he did not do so he would "get Tased again."

Tabatabainejad was also stunned with the Taser when he was already handcuffed, said Carlos Zaragoza, a third-year English and history student who witnessed the incident.

"(He was) no possible danger to any of the police," Zaragoza said. "(He was) getting shocked and Tasered as he was handcuffed."

But Young said at the time the police likely had no way of knowing whether the individual was armed or that he was a student.

As Tabatabainejad was being dragged through the room by two officers, he repeated in a strained scream, "I'm not fighting you" and "I said I would leave."

Here is the link to the whole article:

http://dailybruin.com/news/artic...es.asp? id=38960
Boring Scott | 11.16.06 - 2:31 pm | #

Tazer is the worst device of torture ever produced. It gives the sadists in law enforcement a way to torture people without (hopefully) killing them.
raker | 11.16.06 - 2:31 pm | #

UCLA just bought someone a huge fucking mansion.
Whiplash | 11.16.06 - 2:32 pm | #

Liberal parents should equip their children with a video camera to be carried at all times.

Seriously, video and the internet will be the downfall of the violent right-wing in this country. It's already started. And these cameras just get smaller and smaller.
DemocracyHatinGOP | 11.16.06 - 2:32 pm | #

Freedom is on the march! And it looks remarkably like a goose-step.

Thank you Loonie for that remark, it is apt!

Remember Kent State! Now George W. Bush has taken away the authority of governors relative to the National Guard, and can order them to action himself. How nice for the country, we can have guardsmen pulling Kent States at the behest of a madman intent of establishing a full-blown fascist state in this country. And, in spite of our Democratic success on November 7, the Military Commissions Act, and the Patriot Act will continue to be the law of the land as the legislature will be helpless to repeal them as Bush can simply veto any law he doesn't like. God are we in for some serious shit friends, cover your asses and watch your back. It is to the point where we seriously should consider whether we can trust our neighbors or not, as they may be our worst enemies.

The terrorists we should be fearful of are those within our own government, as they have bigger guns, are pathological sociopaths and will use them gleefully against us!
webegeek | Homepage | 11.16.06 - 2:33 pm | #

It's amazing to me how many people here are claiming to have been tasered, and can't even spell the word.

I can't be certain since I'm not a high-school drop out rent-a-cop, but I daresay once capacity to endure a taser shock may, like alcohol, be dependent on their height and weight as well.
ysbaddaden | 11.16.06 - 2:34 pm | #

Anonymous | 11.16.06 - 2:08 pm | #

So, Anonymous -

Since you're an expert on getting tazed: after you were tazed, did you immediately jump right up on your feet?

This guy was tazed at least 4-5 times.

If I understand you correctly, the more you're tazed, the more agility and control you have over your body.

Who's the Asshat here?
Annoyed Canuck | 11.16.06 - 2:35 pm | #

I wish that everyone would agree that this is a shame. It pains me to see all of these people writing negative comments about the suffering this boy had to endure, regardless if you agree with his stance.

There is no doubt the police went to far. It seems that some people think you can either have police brutality and social intimidation, or anarchy.

I believe our country should demand better then that, conservative or liberal.
Rings | 11.16.06 - 2:36 pm | #

This is the most telling sentence in the Daily Bruin student newspaper:

"Neither the video footage nor eyewitness accounts of the events confirmed that Tabatabainejad encouraged resistance, and he repeatedly told the officers he was not fighting and would leave."

So all you pro-tortured, basement-dwelling, Walmart greetin' rejects ... STFU!
Boring Scott | 11.16.06 - 2:37 pm | #

"That way we don't have unaccounted for people wandering around about."-E in MD

Right, because people wandering about unaccounted for is so dangerous, that we need 5 cops and taser guns. I mean, who the f*ck do this wandering people think they are? Wandering around in our library doing God know what!!!

If you let people wander around unaccounted for, then the terrorist win. The next thing you know, people would want to sit in public bathroom unaccounted for, then they would wander around in our malls, and eat in our restautant without proper ID. I am so glad there are cops tasering people 4 times to show people that you can't wander around unaccounted for.
Angry Black Man | 11.16.06 - 2:37 pm | #