Some of the images and stories coming out of 21st Century America, although not necessarily interconnected, are not nice ones. So much for the days of Americana artist Norman Rockwell.
The latest is a story — and a You Tube video — that is truly cringeworthy. See our coblogger Michael van der Galien’s earlier post HERE. Even though some will argue that the student “deserved it” for not immediately complying with the police, these are relatively unique images from an American academic setting. The L.A. Times account:
The latest in a recent spate of cellphone videos documenting questionable arrest tactics surfaced Wednesday, this one showing a UCLA police officer using a Taser to stun a student who allegedly refused to leave the campus library.
Grainy video of the Tuesday night incident at UCLA’s Powell Library was broadcast Wednesday on TV news and the Internet, prompting a review of the officers’ actions and outrage among students at the Westwood campus.
The footage showed the student, Mostafa Tabatabainejad, falling to the ground and crying out in pain as officers stunned him.
First impression: it sounds like a Muslim student. So what happened next?
According to a campus police report, the incident began when community service officers, who serve as guards at the library, began their nightly routine of checking to make sure everyone using the library after 11 p.m. is a student or otherwise authorized to be there.
Campus officials said the long-standing policy was adopted to ensure students’ safety.
When Tabatabainejad, 23, refused to provide his ID to the community service officer, the officer told him he would have to show it or leave the library, the report said.
Question that will come up: were they checking other students as well? If not, why? If they just checked him, why? Will some say it was racial profiling? And people will argue both ways as to whether, if it is, it was justified. MORE:
After repeated requests, the officer left and returned with campus police, who asked Tabatabainejad to leave “multiple times,” according to a statement by the UCLA Police Department.
“He continued to refuse,” the statement said. “As the officers attempted to escort him out, he went limp and continued to refuse to cooperate with officers or leave the building.”
Witnesses disputed that account, saying that when campus police arrived, Tabatabainejad had begun to walk toward the door with his backpack. When an officer approached him and grabbed his arm, the witnesses said, Tabatabainejad told the officer to let go, yelling “Get off me” several times.
“Tabatabainejad encouraged library patrons to join his resistance,” police said. “The officers deemed it necessary to use the Taser.”
So was he tasered because he was trying to get others to back him up — as lesson to others? Or what? MORE:
Officers stunned Tabatabainejad, causing him to fall to the floor.
The video shows Tabatabainejad yelling, “Here’s your Patriot Act, here’s your … abuse of power,” the Daily Bruin reported, adding he used a profanity.
“It was beyond grotesque,” said UCLA graduate David Remesnitsky of Los Angeles, who witnessed the incident. “By the end they took him over the stairs, lifted him up and Tasered him on his rear end. It seemed like it was inappropriately placed. The Tasering was so unnecessary and they just kept doing it.”Campus police confirmed that Tabatabainejad was stunned “multiple” times.
The Daily Bruin has this piece on campus reaction. Some highlights:
An incident late Tuesday night in which a UCLA student was stunned at least four times with a Taser has left the UCLA community questioning whether the university police officers’ use of force was an appropriate response to the situation.
The article notes that he was told to stand up several times and didn’t. It adds:
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.”
Police officials counter that they have no way of knowing if someone is going to be a danger or not. AND:
According to an ACLU report, 148 people in the United States and Canada have died as a result of the use of Tasers since 1999.
During the altercation between Tabatabainejad and the officers, bystanders can be heard in the video repeatedly asking the officers to stop and requesting their names and identification numbers. The video showed one officer responding to a student by threatening that the student would “get Tased too.” At this point, the officer was still holding a Taser.
Tabatabainejad was released from custody after being given a citation for obstruction/delay of a peace officer in the performance of duty.
Neither Tabatabainejad nor his family were giving interviews Wednesday.
Police officers said they determined the use of Tasers was necessary when Tabatabainejad did not do as they asked.
According to a UCPD press release, Tabatabainejad went limp and refused to exit as the officers attempted to escort him out. The release also stated Tabatabainejad “encouraged library patrons to join his resistance.” At this point, the officers “deemed it necessary to use the Taser in a “drive stun’ capacity.”
“He wasn’t cooperative; he wouldn’t identify himself. He resisted the officers,” Young said.
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.
Tabatabainejad was walking with his backpack toward the door when he was approached by two UCPD officers, one of whom grabbed the student’s arm. In response, Tabatabainejad yelled at the officers to “get off me.” Following this demand, Tabatabainejad was stunned with a Taser.
UCPD and the UCLA administration would not comment on the specifics of the incident as it is still under investigation.
A larger question here is the threshold of police response to incidents such as this. Are there proper groundrules? Or will the argument be made that regulation x, y, or z allows it if the officer thinks it’s valid?
There are some instances where what is OK in a court of law isn’t OK in the court of public opinion.
Another question: would we have seen a video LIKE THE ONE BELOW 6, 10 or 15 years ago? And expect this incident to have opened a can of political worms because the student who was stopped and tasered was apparently a Muslim student.
People will have different reactions to this 5-minute, horrorific video, but judge for yourself (and note students’ reaction to the police action):
FOR SOME OTHER VIEWS ON THIS ISSUE SEE:
Americablog, Michelle Malkin, Pam’s House Blend, Digby,
Majikthise, Nicholas’ Blog-o-rama, The Agonist, The Liberator, 3 Blind Mice, Shakespeare’s Sister, Cal From The Trenches, ACS Blog, Jumping Fish (who looks at the racial profiling aspect)
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.