UCLA Student tazed
Videos like this bring out the best and the worst in people. Ironically, it also brings out people who claim to have been stunned, citing a quick Google search on the "effects of stun guns" to back up a claim that you can’t get up after being hit with 40K+ volts. Here is the video via NBC News. The Iranian Truth continues to cover the story here.
The ALL CAPS entries on blogs surrounding this event above all point to one particular incident that is supposed to absolve this student- he was heading to the exit. While this might be true he did not cooperate with the rent-a-cops and became belligerent, albeit we only know as much as what the shitty cameraman caught after the incident started.
Loud, vocal outbursts of obscenity are enough to give anyone pause as to the intentions of the screamer let alone a peace officer/rent-a-cop/campus security. "Get your hands off me!" doesn't sound like a cooperative person. The police are there to investigate a person who doesn't have the ID to be there and this is what they run into.
It wasn't an abuse of the Patriot Act although that would make for some good headlines. Too bad it didn't happen before the elections and really bolster the anti-PR folk's resolve to vote. It was a bad decision one-upmanship contest that reflected poorly on everyone involved, including the students who took on the role of Citizen Patrol.
It was a poor decision by the student to act like an asshole to underpaid and under trained cops. Seriously, he had the wherewithal to scream grandstanding comments about the Patriot Act, which will now be emblazoned on a T-shirt that has Orwell rolling over in his grave, but couldn't just stand up and be escorted out by the police?
In the end, the police had to pick the pipsqueak up by his handcuffed appendages and escort him out anyway. Why couldn’t they have just done that in the first place when they realized they were dealing with a non-compliant person? Then again, why should they have to risk injury to themselves because of a non-compliant person?
It probably doesn’t matter how high of a threshold to pain you have- one blast from a stun gun is a clear message the person on the other end isn’t fucking around. Why tempt his trigger finger any more than necessary. Perhaps the crowd in the library was this student’s spinach, his courage to make a routine stop a platform to stir up trouble. Who knows. As cooler heads have pointed out on this thread, everyone lost that night.
The ALL CAPS entries on blogs surrounding this event above all point to one particular incident that is supposed to absolve this student- he was heading to the exit. While this might be true he did not cooperate with the rent-a-cops and became belligerent, albeit we only know as much as what the shitty cameraman caught after the incident started.
Loud, vocal outbursts of obscenity are enough to give anyone pause as to the intentions of the screamer let alone a peace officer/rent-a-cop/campus security. "Get your hands off me!" doesn't sound like a cooperative person. The police are there to investigate a person who doesn't have the ID to be there and this is what they run into.
It wasn't an abuse of the Patriot Act although that would make for some good headlines. Too bad it didn't happen before the elections and really bolster the anti-PR folk's resolve to vote. It was a bad decision one-upmanship contest that reflected poorly on everyone involved, including the students who took on the role of Citizen Patrol.
It was a poor decision by the student to act like an asshole to underpaid and under trained cops. Seriously, he had the wherewithal to scream grandstanding comments about the Patriot Act, which will now be emblazoned on a T-shirt that has Orwell rolling over in his grave, but couldn't just stand up and be escorted out by the police?
In the end, the police had to pick the pipsqueak up by his handcuffed appendages and escort him out anyway. Why couldn’t they have just done that in the first place when they realized they were dealing with a non-compliant person? Then again, why should they have to risk injury to themselves because of a non-compliant person?
It probably doesn’t matter how high of a threshold to pain you have- one blast from a stun gun is a clear message the person on the other end isn’t fucking around. Why tempt his trigger finger any more than necessary. Perhaps the crowd in the library was this student’s spinach, his courage to make a routine stop a platform to stir up trouble. Who knows. As cooler heads have pointed out on this thread, everyone lost that night.
I have commented on a blog that is covering this event. Here is the link to get some diffferent perspectives on the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteMid East Youth
Well, it seems Middle Eastern Youth do not care for my comments, like the one above, and have striken them from the comments section. So much for expressing an opposing point of view.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted you to know that the comment did not appear because of a technical issue which has yet to be resolved. Most people expressed opposing views and they were all published. We do not censor anything on our site.
Thanks for the link,
Esra'a
I agree with your views trickish naive & i'm iranian myself.
ReplyDeleteI think that a) there was excessive force used & the cops went around the arrest the wrong way but also b) that the student acted idiotically & only made things worse for himself.
OK, so first this guy didn't produce his proper ID (which he apparently had), and then he resists the orders of the police officers who came in to escort him out of the building. Two strikes against him right there...
ReplyDeleteOh, and how convenient that someone had the presence of mind to turn on their camera phone to record the whole thing!
Smells like the Fulton Fish Market to me -
Thank you esra'a for taking the time to come and comment. I appreciate your site giving me the opportunity to express my setiments.
ReplyDeleteMom, considering how many people carry gadgets with them nowadays, someone whipping out a camcorder to catch this whole thing does not surprise me as much as the punk's comments while being tazed.
Comparable in pain, a shot of pepper spray to the eyes will make a person think about a lot of things, none of which involving dissing the Patriot Act, unless of course you are at an anti-PA rally or a punk ass student trying to get your 15 minutes.
Then again people will shout anything when under mental stress. Just ask Michael Richards (Kramer) after angrily dropping the N-word during some stand up.
we should stand against this outrageous actions! Let's write/complain directly to the: chancellor@ucla.edu.
ReplyDeleteHe should fire those policemen. You talk and you get tazed!??!?!? Well, this is not a democracy.
Thanks for the comment Anon, however I do not think the police are totally at fault for what happened to this punk. I have not kept up with this case since it has been almost a year but I'm sure this guy is soaking up all the media and blog attention he can get.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, you make it sound like this student like this guy was just minding his own business like an innocent little lamb when all of a sudden, he was jumped by some police and tazed till he crapped himself.
This guy is a punk and was testing just how far he could go with the police in a room full of bystanders.
I said it before and I'll say it again, when the cops ask you for something- give it to them the first time. The more you procrastinate the more pissed off they get. They are already overworked, underpaid, and fed up with dealing with jackholes who try to exploit the rules of engagement.