UCLA Student Tasered...
If you haven't read by now, or even seen the video... a student was tasered at UCLA the other day.
The links are here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3CdNgoC0cE (Video)
http://dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=38958 (UCLA news site, might be biased)
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/10325914/detail.html (LA news station w/video)
I have watched the video several times over, and I have concluded several things.
First, there was excessive force.
Second, the 'student' was in the wrong.
Third, the student might been been trying to start something.
---explained---
Supposedly, before the video, the student was asked to produce identification. After 11pm, students must have ID to be in the library. When he wouldn't show ID, he was asked to leave, but he refused. With that, the campus police were called in to handle the situation.
The video starts off with someone shouting "Get off me" excessively. The fact that he was yelling and screaming before anything really happened, leads me to believe he wanted to put on a show. If you listen closely, before we hear the first taser, you can hear the police telling him to get up. He refuses, and they tased him.
"Here's your patriot act! Here's your fucking abuse of power!" Was he trying to send a message? Was he setting this up?
Once he is hit, he gets angry, shouting the above. When they tell him to get up and comply, he yells that he said he would leave. (However, just a moment before that, they were telling him to get up and he wasn't).
"I want their badge numbers." "Yeah, their badge numbers!"
Notice how calm he sounds just after that? "...you're abusing your power..."
When they start telling him to get up, again, he tells them to fuck off. Way to show you are complying! Hell, they kept warning him that it would happen again, if he didn't get up and comply...
And then he was shocked again! How many times must they say stand up before he is going to do it? Why wouldn't he comply?
Lots more shouting; "Stand up". The students of course not making matters better by continuing to shout that they require the officers' badge numbers. Of course you can't tell, but I am sure the crowd is getting quite close to the action, each moment taking one more step forward. With the stress of the kid on the floor refusing to comply, and the crowd continuing to yell at them... I am sure the officers are feeling at least a bit threatened.
It's hard to make out what is happening towards the last few minutes, but I can hear some more "Don't touch me" and some other kids saying "Stop this shit right now".
First, there should have been no more then 2 uses of the taser. After that, they should have cuffed him and threw him down the stairs.
Second... no ID after 11pm, refusing to comply with the first person who asked him to leave, and then continuing to refuse to comply with the police after they try to bring him out.
Third.... what's with the script? "Here's your patriot act. Here's your fucking abuse of power!" What does the patriot act have to do with him not obeying the written rules, and those who enforce them?
In my opinion, he deserved everything he got. That's the bottom line. If the officers need to be punished for performing their job, then this kid needs to spend a bit of time in jail for his part.
The links are here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3CdNgoC0cE (Video)
http://dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=38958 (UCLA news site, might be biased)
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/10325914/detail.html (LA news station w/video)
I have watched the video several times over, and I have concluded several things.
First, there was excessive force.
Second, the 'student' was in the wrong.
Third, the student might been been trying to start something.
---explained---
Supposedly, before the video, the student was asked to produce identification. After 11pm, students must have ID to be in the library. When he wouldn't show ID, he was asked to leave, but he refused. With that, the campus police were called in to handle the situation.
The video starts off with someone shouting "Get off me" excessively. The fact that he was yelling and screaming before anything really happened, leads me to believe he wanted to put on a show. If you listen closely, before we hear the first taser, you can hear the police telling him to get up. He refuses, and they tased him.
"Here's your patriot act! Here's your fucking abuse of power!" Was he trying to send a message? Was he setting this up?
Once he is hit, he gets angry, shouting the above. When they tell him to get up and comply, he yells that he said he would leave. (However, just a moment before that, they were telling him to get up and he wasn't).
"I want their badge numbers." "Yeah, their badge numbers!"
Notice how calm he sounds just after that? "...you're abusing your power..."
When they start telling him to get up, again, he tells them to fuck off. Way to show you are complying! Hell, they kept warning him that it would happen again, if he didn't get up and comply...
And then he was shocked again! How many times must they say stand up before he is going to do it? Why wouldn't he comply?
Lots more shouting; "Stand up". The students of course not making matters better by continuing to shout that they require the officers' badge numbers. Of course you can't tell, but I am sure the crowd is getting quite close to the action, each moment taking one more step forward. With the stress of the kid on the floor refusing to comply, and the crowd continuing to yell at them... I am sure the officers are feeling at least a bit threatened.
It's hard to make out what is happening towards the last few minutes, but I can hear some more "Don't touch me" and some other kids saying "Stop this shit right now".
First, there should have been no more then 2 uses of the taser. After that, they should have cuffed him and threw him down the stairs.
Second... no ID after 11pm, refusing to comply with the first person who asked him to leave, and then continuing to refuse to comply with the police after they try to bring him out.
Third.... what's with the script? "Here's your patriot act. Here's your fucking abuse of power!" What does the patriot act have to do with him not obeying the written rules, and those who enforce them?
In my opinion, he deserved everything he got. That's the bottom line. If the officers need to be punished for performing their job, then this kid needs to spend a bit of time in jail for his part.