Some of you might have heard the recent story of the UCLA student who was tasered 5 times after refusing to show his student ID in the UCLA library. If not, here's a brief rehashing:
Early this week, a senior UCLA student of middle-eastern background was studying late for midterms in the library at UCLA along with many other students. The library has a policy that after 11pm, only students with proper ID are allowed in the library. The student was approached and asked for ID, and apparently the way in which he was approached led him to believe he was being singled out because of his middle-eastern appearance, so he refused to show his ID. He was repeatedly asked to show his ID or leave, and as he was finally leaving the library, the campus police arrived and wouldn't allow him to leave without showing his ID.
He wouldn't show his ID and shouted, "Am I the only martyr?" to other students in the library, trying to encite an uprising against the police. In response, the police used a taser gun on the student to subdue him. Understandably, he ended up on the ground after the 20,000 volt shock. The police handcuffed him and demanded that he stand up, but he either wouldn't or couldn't. The police were shouting, "Stop fighting us!" And the student responded, "I'm NOT fighting you. I'm just laying here." Soon he began to shout, "Here's your patriot act! Here's your fucking abuse of power. I was leaving the library and you came in here and tazed me. I said I would leave. I said I would leave."
After repeated demands to stand up, the officers tazed the student again. The students in the library began to shout at the officers that they were being unreasonable and to ask for their badge numbers. The officers ignored these demands and proceded to taze the student again, up to a total of 5 times. They even threatened to taze the watching students if they didn't stand back!
Eventually the student was carried out of the library by the police and taken to the station, where he was released after being charged with confronting an officer.
It's obvious to anyone that the police didn't approach this situation in the right way. The kid was basically peacefully protesting the library ID policy and complaining that he was being singled out because of his appearance, and the officers got aroused on the fact that the kid was resisting their demands and decided to get tough on him with their stun guns. The better solution would have been a quiet, rational conversation about why the student felt the need to violate library policy, and then if he didn't agree to leave or comply, to put handcuffs on him and escort him out of the library. If he refused to move (as officers state he did) he should have been carried out of the library, not tazed five times and then expected to leave on his own two feet.
Perhaps even more disturbingly, UCLA apparently has a policy that PERMITS campus police to use taser guns against passive protesters who refuse to move. So the officers, at least with the first taze, were acting IN ACCORDANCE WITH UNIVERSITY POLICY.
What happened to the right to peacefully protest? Sure, the kid was breaking library policy by refusing to show his ID after hours. But wasn't Rosa Parks also breaking local law when she refused to move from the white section of the public bus to the black section? Should police have tazed her, as well?
I wonder how the civil rights movement might have progressed had Rosa Parks been brutally attacked for not complying with the law.
The cops involved should all be tazed 5 times each and suspended from their positions without pay for a time to reconsider their actions. The policymakers at the university who approved the taser rule should also be tazed 5 times each to realize exactly how painful it is, and for acting in a fascist way to prevent students' rights to peacefully protest.
This incident isn't being given enough exposure. This is a blatant violation of civil rights, not just by a group of power-drunk cops, but by the board of one of the nation's largest universities, which feels it's alright to fly in the face of the freedoms our country was based on, to adopt totalitarian principles.
What the hell is going on in this country?
Early this week, a senior UCLA student of middle-eastern background was studying late for midterms in the library at UCLA along with many other students. The library has a policy that after 11pm, only students with proper ID are allowed in the library. The student was approached and asked for ID, and apparently the way in which he was approached led him to believe he was being singled out because of his middle-eastern appearance, so he refused to show his ID. He was repeatedly asked to show his ID or leave, and as he was finally leaving the library, the campus police arrived and wouldn't allow him to leave without showing his ID.
He wouldn't show his ID and shouted, "Am I the only martyr?" to other students in the library, trying to encite an uprising against the police. In response, the police used a taser gun on the student to subdue him. Understandably, he ended up on the ground after the 20,000 volt shock. The police handcuffed him and demanded that he stand up, but he either wouldn't or couldn't. The police were shouting, "Stop fighting us!" And the student responded, "I'm NOT fighting you. I'm just laying here." Soon he began to shout, "Here's your patriot act! Here's your fucking abuse of power. I was leaving the library and you came in here and tazed me. I said I would leave. I said I would leave."
After repeated demands to stand up, the officers tazed the student again. The students in the library began to shout at the officers that they were being unreasonable and to ask for their badge numbers. The officers ignored these demands and proceded to taze the student again, up to a total of 5 times. They even threatened to taze the watching students if they didn't stand back!
Eventually the student was carried out of the library by the police and taken to the station, where he was released after being charged with confronting an officer.
It's obvious to anyone that the police didn't approach this situation in the right way. The kid was basically peacefully protesting the library ID policy and complaining that he was being singled out because of his appearance, and the officers got aroused on the fact that the kid was resisting their demands and decided to get tough on him with their stun guns. The better solution would have been a quiet, rational conversation about why the student felt the need to violate library policy, and then if he didn't agree to leave or comply, to put handcuffs on him and escort him out of the library. If he refused to move (as officers state he did) he should have been carried out of the library, not tazed five times and then expected to leave on his own two feet.
Perhaps even more disturbingly, UCLA apparently has a policy that PERMITS campus police to use taser guns against passive protesters who refuse to move. So the officers, at least with the first taze, were acting IN ACCORDANCE WITH UNIVERSITY POLICY.
What happened to the right to peacefully protest? Sure, the kid was breaking library policy by refusing to show his ID after hours. But wasn't Rosa Parks also breaking local law when she refused to move from the white section of the public bus to the black section? Should police have tazed her, as well?
I wonder how the civil rights movement might have progressed had Rosa Parks been brutally attacked for not complying with the law.
The cops involved should all be tazed 5 times each and suspended from their positions without pay for a time to reconsider their actions. The policymakers at the university who approved the taser rule should also be tazed 5 times each to realize exactly how painful it is, and for acting in a fascist way to prevent students' rights to peacefully protest.
This incident isn't being given enough exposure. This is a blatant violation of civil rights, not just by a group of power-drunk cops, but by the board of one of the nation's largest universities, which feels it's alright to fly in the face of the freedoms our country was based on, to adopt totalitarian principles.
What the hell is going on in this country?
Subscribe
0 Comments