"Stand Up, Or We'll Tase You Again"
Brian Doherty | November 16, 2006, 8:05pm
UCLA student--with a suspiciously Muslim name of Mostafa Tabatabainejad--is tased repeatedly by campus cops the other night for not having his ID while using a library computer lab, and for complaining when they grabbed him while he was on the way out.
When he wouldn't get up quickly enough after being tased, they tased him again--and threatened to tase witnesses who wouldn't walk away.
UCLA Daily Bruin account of the assault.
Video of the assault. (Man, the citizens' panopticon eyes really are everywhere these days. The shooter doesn't get very close until about a minute or so in, though you can hear the victim screaming pretty much from the start. The Patriot Act is mentioned.)
An short account about the dangers of tasers by me from the April 2005 issue of Reason.
Sometime Reason contributor Declan McCullagh's account (from which I first heard of this awful tale).
In These Times magazine's November cover feature on abuse of and hazards of tasers.
rob | November 17, 2006, 10:28am | #
"Speaking as someone who used to work for a large university library, they are not public spaces, and if you are asked to leave, you must leave."
Even if it's your taxes funding the place? Actually UCLA IS a public university, so why isn't the library a public space?
"Not that they should have tasered the guy, but large university libraries in cities always contain two things: books and public masturbators."
Supposedly true story: At the local library, a guy I met who fanatically studies a wide variety of martial arts subdued a creep for "frantically exposing himself" to the guy's 8-yr-old daughter. (He's basically Batman, if Batman were a serious athlete who regularly competed in local UFC-style tournaments). He basically put the creep in a VERY painful restraint hold (as demonstrated to my delicate self) for the 15 minutes it took for the cops to finally show up and make the arrest.
Bottom line: Hooray for vigilante justice in support of law enforcement.
Same guy, totally different situation: He was pulled over, some years previous to settling down and raising kids, by a cop who proceeded to try to thump him with a billy club. (The cop was ripping his car apart "looking for drugs.") He subdued, disarmed, and cuffed the cop with his own cuffs. Then he called a state trooper buddy to come to the scene before any other cops arrived as "backup" - because he was worried that when they showed up they'd shoot him on general principle.
Bottom line: Hooray for vigilante justice against jack-booted thugs.
In both cases, it's probably useful to note that it took 15-20 minutes for the cops to show up, or to figure out that one of their guys hadn't radioed back in after making a traffic stop. It's probably also useful to note that unless you're basically Batman, this is a REMARKABLY BAD idea.
rob | November 17, 2006, 12:57pm | #
"See how Quantico, which is also public property paid for with taxpayer dollars, would feel about that? See how much "prep" it takes for a civilian taxpayer to gain access to Quantico. " - Evan!
Really? Sure about that? Wrong!
"Quantico Marine Corps Base, which is open to the public with identification. Ouantico has been the 'frontline of innovation' and was the place where amphibious warfare was conceived and perfected in preparation for World War II. Visit Quantico National Cemetery on the base, too."
Bet you feel kinda silly right about now, Evan!
And beating up on the strawman version of my point should make you feel pretty silly, too...
"I do believe that just because something is 'public property' (iow, owned by the taxpayers), that doesn't mean that it necessarily must have revolving doors 24/7 for whoever wants access." - Evan!
That's not what I said. I said "No one is saying you can use that property for something it wasn't intended for. But I'm guessing that a student using a public university's library is using public property accessible to the public for its intended purpose."
"This is more of a practical matter than anything else. If UCLA, while publicly funded, wants to restrict access during certain hours, then that is their prerogative. However, since it is public property, what that also means is that normal folks can change this policy by petitioning the government to change said policy." - Evan!
No argument there.
"Just because a taxpayer/student technically 'owns' a stake in the library because they are a taxpayer or tuition-payer, doesn't mean that they should have unrestricted access at their own discretion." - Evan!
I didn't argue that it should be a free-for-all, Evan, and I'm pretty sure you realize that but are just being purposefully obtuse.
"it's simply unreasonable for you to claim that administrators should not be able to set up rules for access to publicly-owned spaces..." - Evan!
I thought we had just agreed that those rules should be set by "normal folks" who "can change this policy [access rules] by petitioning the government to change said policy." So which is it?
"just as ludicrous as if I were to demand unfettered 24/7 access to the White House because, after all, those are my tax dollars paying for it." - Evan!
At least you recognize that you're making a ludicrous argument. You CAN still get access to take a tour of the White House, as well. I'm not arguing - and I think you realize this - that public property means "anything goes."
But do you really think that student ID should be required to use the library of a public university? It's not like the guy was damaging public property or was trying to break in during non-business hours.
All this because some librarian got the campus cops to lean on a guy using the computer lab in a public university's computer lab - in an appropriate manner ("intended use") - as far as is known - because he didn't have ID? That doesn't seem overly "authoritarian" to you?
