Student gets tased in UCLA library o.O

[Janice]

They need to start tazering more people. Have the people at college were a bunch of dicks, taze them all just for being a prick.

At around 11:30 p.m., CSOs asked a male student using a computer in the back of the room to leave when he was unable to produce a BruinCard during a random check. The student did not exit the building immediately.

And besides, there is missing information in this story. What was the students response when he was asked to leave. Did he say he would leave? Or did he ignore it?

Pro tip: If you really have a medical condition, maybe you should keep saying it over and over, instead of flinging out insults (my apologies to people with Tourette's Syndrome ) at the officers. Then you really got them dead to rights.

[Yeargdribble]

I don't understand this whole "They are the police so you should alway do what they say" bullshit. They are there to uphold the law, not to BE the law. If they are acting outside of their authority or over-riding your rights, then I don't see why you should have to do as they say.

He was leaving and they should've let him leave. Also tasering him for extended periods of time while handcuffs are on him is more than a little overboard. He's not a threat to them by the 3rd and 4th times he's being tazed. For them to taze him and then immediately tell him to get up is ludicrous. They should know full well he may not be able to get up immediately.

Sure he caused a scene with his screaming, but the officers caused just as much of a scene. Once he's handcuffed they should've just escorted him out. I saw them pick him up without much effort several times. Drag his ass out. By the end of the thing the place is swarming with cops. You gonna tell me 4-8 cops can't carry one unarmed, handcuffed guy out of a building without tazering his ass every 30 seconds?

[Shuvo]

I'm glad I don't live in the land of the free.

[Gregorio]

Read before you type. He was leaving. They stopped him at the doors and apparently put their hands on him to escort him out. They could have easily just walked behind him.

Think before you type. Early news stories are not always accurate, especially student newspapers. Plus this is a newspaper, not a police report or eye-witness testimony. And they didn't stop him AT the doors, they stopped him when he was heading towards the doors. You could be heading towards something and still be a long distance away. And yes they could have just walked behind him, but I'd like to hear why the police put the cuffs on him in the first place.

I don't understand this whole "They are the police so you should alway do what they say" bullshit. They are there to uphold the law, not to BE the law. If they are acting outside of their authority or over-riding your rights, then I don't see why you should have to do as they say.

By escorting him out of the building when he was tresspassing, they were upholding the law. After this point it's where it gets unclear. Did he do anything to warrant the handcuffs originally? It seems pretty clear that he was resisting arrest once he was already cuffed, hence the tazing.

Nobody is saying to give the cops a blank check when doing what they think is right, but criticizing them for doing something completely within their rights is wrong.

[edgarfigaro]

They're college police...anyone that's ever dealt with such should know that there's a reason they're college police...they're fucking incompetent.

It was a fucking library, the guy was leaving, and they had no right to taser him, period. Hell, they really shouldn't have touched him at all if he was walking out, they should have just followed him and informed him as he left the building that he was not to come back without an ID card. Instead they made the scene, and fucking 4 tasers is a joke.

Those cops should be fired.

[vegetaa]

I'm glad I don't live in the land of the free.

Ditto >< What amazes me is that people in the US accept the fact the police is allowed to treat them that way.

I do agree that this guy's behaviour wasn't perfect since he didn't give his student ID, but he was leaving the room...and moreover, he was handcuffed. Seeing cops using these tazers doesn't seem very violent, but let's just imagine they had batons or stuff like that...it wouldn't be any different, and you would have cops beating down a handcuffed guy in UCLA library...

[Lordwafik]

was just on the news here

[SephYuyX]

Ok, I talked to the cop I know, in short he said these police were in the wrong.

1) Since the student was walking out, the cops had no right to touch him and should have just observed him, if something happened, they then are allowed to persue action. So this in its self made them wrong, but continuing..

2) Since the cop deemed it nessisary to act because the man seemed to get roudy after the cop tried to grab him, and then stunned him without first trying verbally to tell him to get on the ground, and secondly physically putting him on the ground, they were in the wrong. Verbally first, then physically, then tasing, in a situation like that.

3) Since the first tase happened; he was already put in handcuffs after the first stun, and even on the low setting with a small burst, it still renderes the person immobile for around 30 seconds. To ask him to stand up so soon, right after being tased and on the ground on his stomach in hand cuffs is ridiculous, so they tased him again for an even longer time. After that he said those cops are just idiots. He said that even though he could talk, he wouldnt have the power to move his legs or arms, so really they were asking him to do something that he couldnt do, but yet kept tasing him.

4) As for the cop threating the people asking for the badge # is another loss, he could of either said "I will give you my # as soon as the situation is under control" or he should have seen that the other 3 cops had it under control and he should have given it our right away. A cops ID number is like their phone #, its a part of you, it doesnt change and it can be easily said at any time.


He said they went about the whole thing wrong, and none of it was right.

What they should of done was let him walk out on his own and should have just observed him. If the man did something to provoke them, they could have asked him to get on the ground, if he resisted, they could of put him on the ground, if he still resisted, they could of tased him. After putting the cuffs on him, they are not to tase him again unless he is physically attacking someone. After cuffing him, and having 4 cops there, they should of just picked him up and draged him out. Tasing him that many times is not the right way.

So, words from an actual cop, that those cops are idiots.

[Norelco]

I didn't see the video, did the kid have a turban on his head? :D

[Don Katsu]

1 cop is probably going to get fired and 2 suspended with pay, the other will just get a slap on the wrist.

Powell Library is open 24 hours during Finals Week during that time they are very strict about ID. However this is a bit over the top, you don't taze someone once they are in handcuffs.

Had they followed proper proceedure when they were aresting him then there wouldnt' have been a big deal made about this. The issue isn't that they tasered him , the issue is they tasered him 5 times. The fact that he is a minority is going to make it one ugly case should he file charges.

[RustyMetal]

The fact that the kid was leaving the library before the police showed up makes everything the police did wrong. Sure the college kid may have been a prick during the police's assault, but nothing can justify being tasered while your on the floor in handcuffs. And being tasered a total of 4+ times is just plain abuse and assault.

I hope the kid sues the fuck outta them; I sure would.

[Correction]

3 days later, the kid has a lawyer and is suing in Federal court.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?secti ... id=4771323

Aaaaaand there's a student rally protesting the actions of the police. Ahhh, college days. Even when there's exams going on they still love that marching.

[Tilo]

Wow, I just watched that video. It gave me chills. Obviously there wasn't a whole lot to see, but the screaming from the guy being tased was enough.

Whether or not the student was being a dick, that was police brutality anyway you slice it.

[Saphirea]

http://members.aol.com/goopard/downloads/pict0045.jpg


And thats what I think about it.

[Haelian]

The first article sympathizes with the student a little too much, it made it seem like the student was a victim of an almost random Taser..ing... But the video showed otherwise really; I think right before he gets Taser'd for the second time, one of the officers says, "Stand up" and you hear the student say, "Fuck off." Seemed like the student was looking to try and get Tased continuously so that he could screw over the officers later on. Not saying that the Tasing was justified; obviously the officers should've just let him leave and avoided the whole incident.

Hmm, I wonder if this is really that big of a deal. I mean, the kid got some serious pain, but if he's not injured in any way, what's the difference? Obviously the cops were being dildos and decided to try out the Taser frivolously, but by the end they were probably trying to get the hell out of there as quick as possible.

[Tilo]

With that mentality, if a cop stops your mom down the street for J-walking and she tells him to "mind your own business, sonny" which leads to getting tased 4 times, its ok because no permanent harm was done ?

[Haelian]

With that mentality, if a cop stops your mom down the street for J-walking and she tells him to "mind your own business, sonny" which leads to getting tased 4 times, its ok because no permanent harm was done ?

Completely different and you know it. The student was already doing something wrong by being in the library without ID. I'm not really on the cops side, but my point before was that it's not like the student isn't going to be able to do all the things he did before; hell he's probably gonna be getting plenty of money out of this so he'll have plenty more to do.

Edit: and actually now that I've re-read your post, I'd say my mom got what was coming to her by breaking the law and then resisting. You know you shouldn't be doing either, so why are you doing it?

[Norelco]

http://members.aol.com/goopard/downloads/pict0045.jpg


And thats what I think about it.

WIN!

[NynJa]

It was a fucking library, the guy was leaving, and they had no right to taser him, period.

Did he leave after the person in charge of the library asked him to leave, or did he leave after the cops showed up ??

BIG FUCKING DIFFERENCE IMO

[Norelco]

I hope a YTMND is made of this soon.