Iranian-American UCLA Student Tasered Multiple Times

[Bocaj Claw]

Hmm.. There is a huge difference between not being treated "like queen of the world" and "being tased five times while prone on the ground with your arms handcuffed."

[sandblaster]

There is also a difference in acting in a way to not get tasered, and acting like a jerk and getting tasered.

The only reason this is news is because he is Muslim. If a white had this happen to them nobody would care

[Bocaj Claw]

Born in the US of A.

If a white had this happen to them nobody would care

Maybe not, but had he been a teenage blond, white girl and had he gone missing the media would be obsessing over it for days.

The point isn't whether his race influenced media coverage. The question is whether the cops were acting out of line for tasing a restrained person several times for what are by all accounts minimal if nigh nonexistant offences.

I would also argue that yelling names at someone, even profanities, is still less "acting like a jerk" than tasering a bound person.

[sandblaster]

The point is the media blowing out of proportion police doing their job. He resistied and even if it was in a minimal way they are still allowed to deal with it how they feel is fit. If they had asked politly for him to leave and he pulled out a gun and started shooting people then there would be dead poeple and hte police would be criticised for not taking strong enough action. So they acted in a way that protected both their honor and innocent bystanders

[Bocaj Claw]

Funny you should mention that being asked to leave thing because he was leaving the library when the whole thing started.

Is it blowing it out of proportion to criticize the police for shooting to death a black man when they mistook his wallet for a gun?

[sandblaster]

Nobody died here. DOnt' bring in irrelevent subjects. Besides if the guy was leaving like you claim then why was he still there when the police showed up? I've been to libraries, it doesn't take a few minutes to leave/ If he was leaving he would not be there when they arrived.

[Bocaj Claw]

The "police" in this case were campus cops hired by the college. At around midnight I believe they asked him to either leave or show his student ID. He decided to leave. On his way out one of the cops grabbed him by the arm even though he was already on his way out. He protested being grabbed and asked to be let go.

The "police" were already at the scene.

And my "irrelevant" subject is an example of the media "blowing out of proportion police doing their job."

[sandblaster]

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

From the news story. He did not leave immediatly. But according to your logic I could break into your home and hang out as lomg as I left eventually.


And your example of the media blowing out of proportion the actions of the police are why things like this happen. The media will blow something out of proportion either way. So the police don't handle someone firmly and he ends up causing harm they are hounded by the media for not doing their job correctly. Sure things happen where they shoot an unarmed man but there are millions of cases where they do not

[Bocaj Claw]

Does the article define immediately? That could mean anyway from "right the very second he was told to leave" to "a half hour later."

And the fact remains that he was leaving when the campus cop grabbed him.

According to your logic, it's alright if innocent people die because the media is going to exaggerate it anyway? I would argue that the family of that man sees the matter very differently.

And your example is poor. The person was a student and was therefore allowed in the college library. You, on the other hand, are not a resident of my house, so it would be breaking and entering no matter how long you stayed. Non sequitor: it does not follow.

[sandblaster]

They didn't know he was a student. How do you know I'm not your long lost cousin Balki?

And he was leaving because he saw the police coming. Hanging around till the cops come is pretty suspicious.

And I am not saying people should die. I am saying if one person dies while the police save millions then its okay. By the way nobody here died

[Bocaj Claw]

I know that you're not my cousin Balki because you didn't say the secret word. Duh.

It didn't matter if they didn't know he was a student. He was leaving as requested. As for whether he was leaving because he saw cops coming, that's something neiter of us can know as we cannot know what was going through his head.

Nobody here died but there was a serious risk that somebody could have. The student in question has been confirmed to have had a heart problem. The electrical shock of the taser could have caused cardiac arrest. Just saying "it didn't so it's alright" doesn't cut it either. Five taser shocks in such as short frame of time is excessive when only one was needed to incapicitate him if he was truly dangerous.

By saying that you'd accept the death of that one innocent you are indeed saying that people should die.

I fear that we're arguing in circles. I further fear that you have cemented your opinion of this issue firmly in your mind. I will not waste anymore of your time or mine. Good night and good luck.

[sandblaster]

If people should die for freedom then they should die. I accept your admition of loss in this topic

[Rooster]

It doesn't matter about the facts of why he was still there when the "police" showed up. What I saw was a man, not struggling, being shocked multiple times. There were three officers, more than enough to restrain him.

And it doesn't matter that he was Iranian. It wouldn't matter if he was white, black, yellow, or purple, that was police brutality by my standards.

Unless he posed a clear and present threat to officers or the public, which he clearly didn't, the taser was out of order. This is a student, not a f*cking terrorist.

[Loeln]

I guess police aren't suppose to defend themselves from a beligerant person if they are a minority.

Yes, because tazering a kid five times is obviously self defense.

Obviously.

From what I can see on the video is that he was yelling obsenities, not doing what the police wanted, and may have done something at the begining before the video shows them. It is better for police to deal harshly with possible problems then for them to be push overs, and let problems escalate into violence where they or bystanders get hurt.

Yes I think they would think twice before attacking somebody in a crowded library for no reason. Of course I'm not some crazy paranoid person who has to jump over government offciials everytime a minority isn't treated like queen of the world

Campus police are not government officials. They are not defenders of "freedom". They are not officers of the Dept. of Homeland Defense. They are usually not even officers of the local police force. They are some (usually bored) people hired by the university to enforce the rules of the University by all just and appropriate means (often involving giving out tickets to people who break the 15mph speed limit). The means they deemed "appropriate" here go far beyond what was justified for the scenario; a college kid messing around in a computer lab. They abused their authority over a non-matter. By threatening the other students, they only furthered that abuse and escalated the situation themselves into one in which bystanders may get hurt.

There is also a difference in acting in a way to not get tasered, and acting like a jerk and getting tasered.

There is also a difference between getting tazered for resistance once. Twice. Three times. Four times. Five times. Especially considering that when you get tazered, any and all resistance you give will most likely be over after the first time.

The point is the media blowing out of proportion police doing their job. He resistied and even if it was in a minimal way they are still allowed to deal with it how they feel is fit. If they had asked politly for him to leave and he pulled out a gun and started shooting people then there would be dead poeple and hte police would be criticised for not taking strong enough action. So they acted in a way that protected both their honor and innocent bystanders

Again, these guys are not the police. King Kong does have something on them. They are required to deal with situations as they deem fit -within the realm of the law. You say that if the student had a gone, it would have been different.

No duh.

Unfortunately for your arguement, neither did this kid have a gun, nor did he ever threaten or act as though he was going to use one. The student did not provoke them in such a way that would have required them to use the force they did. As such, their actions are -guess what!- still not justified.

From the news story. He did not leave immediatly. But according to your logic I could break into your home and hang out as lomg as I left eventually.

Let's clarify this out of context statement a bit-

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.
The CSOs left, returning minutes later, and police officers arrived to escort the student out. By this time the student had begun to walk toward the door with his backpack when an officer approached him and grabbed his arm, at which point the student told the officer to let him go. A second officer then approached the student as well.

Within minutes, the campus officers were back. By that time, the student was already leaving. By the transitive property of mathematics, we can infer that the student was leaving within minutes. The article also states that the student was at a computer in the back of the library. As this is a University library (which tend to be rather large), using college computers (which tend to be rather slow), it is not hard to imagine that it might take the student awhile to be on his way -Which he already was by the time the incident occurred.

And I am not saying people should die. I am saying if one person dies while the police save millions then its okay. By the way nobody here died

Somebody could have, and it wouldn't be for any cause of "freedom" that they'd be doing it for.

[Muninn]

The only reason this is news is because he is Muslim. If a white had this happen to them nobody would care

Actually that's relative to where it happened. If this was a white person in Iran then the Western media would almost probably report it.

This got into the news (or internet news?) because it's sensationalist. Cops using force on unarmed kid who's main form of attack appears to be verbal insults. It's newsworthy material. Officials abusing power - and here I'm using the word "abuse" in the broadest possible term - will always be news.