UCLA Police Taser Student For Not Showing ID W/Video

Abuse of power?So this is how our police are trained to respond nowdays?
Police State? Nah....

(PrisonPlanet & NBC11)-LOS ANGELES -- A cell phone captured video of a 23-year-old student being administered multiple Taser shocks by UCLA police on Tuesday.

The UCLA student was hit with the Taser shocks multiple times while he was in the Powell Library Computer Lab.

According to the paper, Tabatabainejad did not show ID to community service officers who were conducting a random check. UCLA police said Tabatabainejad was released by police after he was cited for obstruction/delay of a peace officer in the performance of duty.
www.prisonplanet.com...

The Daily Bruin reported that Tabatabainejad complained when an officer was escorting him from the lab and put his hand on one of Tabatabainejad's arms. He allegedly yelled, "Get off of me," according to the paper. He was then shot with the Taser, reported the paper.
www.prisonplanet.com...

The Daily Bruin reported that after he was hit, Tabatabainejad yelled, "Here's your Patriot Act, here's your f---ing abuse of power."
www.prisonplanet.com...

Link to video : www.prisonplanet.com...

A) dude should of stood up.....thus avoiding a tasering.

B) you get all smart arse with cops with tasers...then theb end results your problem.

C) No I.D? then wtf is he doing there any how? all that high value kit and student belongings...could he be a sneak thief/ who knows.


He got tasered, and booted out the door. Sorry, but you give grief, you gotta expect some back.

If every student in the computer lab would have come to the aid of the person being abused, they could have taken the tasers away. Those Neo Nazi Rent a Cops did not have enough tasers to hit everybody there. It is a shame that control freaks with severe personality disorders find their way into law enforcement. Just the other day a policeman here in Arizona was arrested for taking his own daughter into the backyard and beating her in the face with his fists. Are these the type of people who should be making public safety decisions. I don't think so.

Yeah, sorry but I gotta agree with D4rk Kn1ght on this one. My experience has always been the ones who won't show the cops an ID--even if it is just a random check--are the ones who have something they don't want the cops to know about.

Maybe I'm just a prime example of the ever-popular sheeple, but if a cop asks for my ID, he gets it. If I don't give it to him, and he (or she) tazes me, I'd like to think I'd be smart enough to comply from then on. If they keep going after me after I'm following along (or if I followed along in the first place), well then I talk to a good civil attorney and see how big a piece of the city or school I can get.

How hard is it to just say "Yes Sir/No sir" until after the fact? Sorry; I'd be damned embarrassed to see my screaming mug on YouTube because I wanted to cop an attitude.

Originally posted by D4rk Kn1ght
A) dude should of stood up.....thus avoiding a tasering.

B) you get all smart arse with cops with tasers...then theb end results your problem.

C) No I.D? then wtf is he doing there any how? all that high value kit and student belongings...could he be a sneak thief/ who knows.


He got tasered, and booted out the door. Sorry, but you give grief, you gotta expect some back.

What kind of reaction is that?

Yeah stood up, when you were tasered, it's quite impossible to stand up until at least 1 minute, it's depends on the person and how you were hit. Some people are unable to move for 10 minutes!

Why we should be more gentle with cops armed with tasers? They are not god, they don't deserve more that they are worth.

No id? Yeah, we're in america, not Nazi germany, they don't have any probable cause, so f*/k them.

Sorry, but if I see any cop doing this in front of me, I jump on the police officer, he's not gonna violate the constitution and abuse his powers in front of me.

[edit on 16-11-2006 by Vitchilo]

The thing I find strange is you would have to show your student ID in the first place to even be in the library. Why the double "random" check?

The student in question did not have a weapon and was not threatening the cops. There was no reason to taser him other than the cops just wanted to show him "who was the boss". They had him outnumbered and could have subdued him and taken him into custody without the tasers. Policemen have taken people into custody without tasers for millenia now.

wow, I'm shocked, it's amasing this kind of things still hapen today.
That is pure abuse, those cops should lose their jobs, you taser a victim that is on the floor? They should lose their jobs at least, that student should press for a law suit.

Originally posted by MCory1
Maybe I'm just a prime example of the ever-popular sheeple, but if a cop asks for my ID, he gets it.

What if you don't have it? and you offer to leave? He said he would leave.

How hard is it to just say "Yes Sir/No sir" until after the fact?

He said he would leave.

The cops just wanted him to do whatever they said, when they said it, a classic power trip. They tased him and then told him to stand up. If not he gets tased again. How fast would you be able to stand after being tased?

This makes me sick!

Originally posted by groingrinder
There was no reason to taser him other than the cops just wanted to show him "who was the boss".

Exactly. He was handcuffed! They could have dragged him out.



[edit on 16-11-2006 by Benevolent Heretic]

After watching this it was very clear that he wasn't listening to what he was asked to do. Getting tazed does not render you paralized forever. He could have said give me a second to regain myself and I will get up. I can't count how many times he was asked to get up by security. Not listening to a simple request is grounds for resisting arrest or failure to comply. But first lets go over the facts.

He was asked for ID on a random check.

He failed to provide ID.

What would happen anywhere to anyone without an ID in an area that requires an ID to be there?

He was being escorted out because he had no ID. This is pure and simple security work, no ID means no area access.

This video starts after security asked him for ID and he failed to provide it, so what was said before this video started is very important and nothing that we have on record.

When being escorted out he told security to "Get off me"

I should say that he was screaming "Get off me" in a tone that would be viewed as confrontational.

Security has protocols to follow.

Was he going to leave or was he stalling for time thinking he can get them to leave him alone in an area that requires an ID for access?

Yes this may seem like cruel punishment, but did he do what was asked of him?

No

How many times can you ask someone to get up?

Security gave up on asking him and had to resort to other means of removing him.

This is very clear to me, but we don't know what happened before this video started. If this is all the evidence to base a case on, this guy is screwed since he didn't follow the rules and show security his ID.

If security was rude to him before this video started then he might have a case. We don't know that.

Here are my questions:

Why did he start flipping out after he was asked to leave? (that is my assumption since that would be a normal protocol to follow during a random ID check)

Did security ask him to leave?

Was he stalling or blowing off security?

How many times did security ask him to leave before they had to escort him out?

Was he on medication?

Without knowing all the facts and having to make a guess as to what happened, this guy looks like he did something to make security remove him forcefully. I won't jump to the conclusion that he was a victim of any sort of brutality or illegal acts. He clearly is the one who broke the law and was being removed from the area. I hope he learned about having your ID ready for random checks.

The security personnel should be commended for doing their job. Would you want your kids in an area that requires an ID to have random people with no ID visiting it? I know I wouldn't, and this guy should have had his ID and followed the simple orders security asked him. It didn't turn out as nice as some would have wanted it to, but this guy was dealt with in a manner that would be consistant with his behavior from the video provided.

That was completely screwed up.It was a fascist show of force from a bunch of testosterone freak policemen,who basically were torturing this dude in front of a bunch of students.So he didn't have his card with him? You ever forget your license or something when you walk out the front door? So am I to expect if I forget my license at home and a cop asks for ID I'll be tasered all to hell? Despicable. I didn't read the article,but this guy should take some sort of legal action against these "cops".All they had to do was pull him out of there...instead they jumped at the chance to use the shiny little toys they are provided with to "keep order".That,in my opinion is completely unacceptable.

He was asked for ID on a random check.

He failed to provide ID.

It's not nazi germany, it's america.

How many times can you ask someone to get up?

He wait about 20 seconds after he get tasered before tasered him again. Do you know how much time being tasered affects you? Big guys, 45 to 1 minute, some people, 10 minutes.

He clearly is the one who broke the law and was being removed from the area. I hope he learned about having your ID ready for random checks.

Yeah broke the law... not having his ID or not showing... BIG CRIME! Nazi germany.

The security personnel should be commended for doing their job.

They should be fired and the guy should sue them for abuse of power.

There is a diffrence betwen not doing what is asked of you and attacking an officer.
Did the student in cause attack the officers? No he didint.
In this case of not doing what they asked, it's simple, they should of draged him out and only then if he started to hit the officers or push them some how then shooting with the taser would be justificated.
Tasers has killed people before.
Using a taser on some one that did no in anyway put at danger the officers has no justification.
Those hot shoots should lose their jobs.

Some more on this:

Muslim Student Tased

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.

So, the kid should have shown the ID if he had it and he should have left when asked. Still no reason for the abuse, in my opinion.

One video showed a Los Angeles Police Department officer dousing a handcuffed suspect in the face with pepper spray as the suspect sat in a patrol car.

Yeah, just doing his job...

From another source:

When asked whether the student resisted when officer attempted to escort him from the building, the witness said, "In the beginning, no. But when they were holding onto him and they were on the ground, he was trying to just break free. He was saying, 'I'm leaving, I'm leaving.' It was so disturbing to watch that I cannot be concise on that. I can just say that he was willing to leave. He had his backpack on his shoulder and he was walking out when the cops approached him. It was unnecessary."

And one more:

When he didn't immediately vacate the building, the security operatives returned with police officers to escort him from the premises. The Daily Bruin continues: "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.

I could be wrong, but it sounds like the boys got called in and were itchin' to show the Muslim boy a lesson...

UCAL = University of California??

Does that mean these were not even real policemen? Why on earth do you need police armed with tasers in a university in the first place?

There was clearly no need for that amount of force.

They cops only checked his ID at random becuase he was arab looking. Wanna make a bet that was their first motive. The cops were out of line to begin with. He then said that he would leave if it was a problem. Last time I checked I was allowed to hang out at UCLA without a student ID. i don't even think it's illegal to walk around without your student ID. Theres a law for that? So strike two against the "cops" as they were prohibiting the man from leaving or freedom of passage. That is illegal right there, especially since they didn't have a leg to stand on regarding harassing him in the first place.

Then they taser him. Tasers are a real problem. Cops get a little too happy with them. Tasers are leathal. Not non-leathal but less-lethal then say a bullit. Over 200 people a year die at the hands of cops with taser guns in the US alone. Wanna make a bet thats more than they kill with their service pistols. The taser was ment to prevent loss of life and it's done the opposite. Tasers are even looked at primarily as a torture tool by places like anmnesty international and other watch groups.
The cops broke the law because they used a taser when they didn't absolutly need to. Unlawful escalation of force. Back in the day when tasers were new on the force the only one allowed to use them were the senior lead officer on duty that night. The other cops would literally have to wait for the head officer to show up before they were even authorized to shoot any one and even then they had to make sure an ambulance was already in dispatch to make sure the heart wasn't about to fribulate terminally afterwards. If you punch a police officer he can't just shoot you, especially if you are unarmed. All he can do is use the same level of force back in response. thats the law. Cops get away with it for the same reason certain politicians keep breaking the law and get away with it. Becuase they can, mainly because not enough people blow the whistle on this kind of abuse.

Do your job and stop copping out you cops. Apprehend the suspect using normal methods like handcuffing them. Taser them as a last resort not as a method of punishing the victim.

Incidents like this prove why we need to be chipped with RFID. Just wave your arm over the scanner. No forgetting or losing ID cards.

Originally posted by tazadar
Incidents like this prove why we need to be chipped with RFID. Just wave your arm over the scanner. No forgetting or losing ID cards.

Yeah right. Incidents like this just prove why we need to get tasers out of police officers hands and stop the bullcrap of everyone is a terrorist, especially muslims.

[edit on 16-11-2006 by Vitchilo]

It's not Nazi Germany, it's America?

So this ID card idea that is used at UCLA was spawned by the Nazis?

Not showing ID in an area that requires ID is breaking the law. How can this not be understood? Not having an ID has consequences in this and many other countries. You may think this is stupid, but when it comes to security and meeting standards and protocols it isn't.

Read this before you post anything about ID card usage at UCLA:
www.law.ucla.edu...
This isn't the UCLA campus that this might have taken place at, but I can expect to see this carried over from one UCLA library to another. Maybe this happened at the Law library, I don't know for sure but at least I do know about the policy at this UCLA library.

How do we know that this guy wasn't doing anything towards the officers that can be taken as hostile? I didn't see anything on the video that proves he was or wasn't, all I can hear is his voice screaming. Making assumptions about what we don't know will only lead to this thread being derailed. I can assume many things, ignorance of what we know for sure isn't one of them. This guy broke the law and was in the process of being removed when he started to resist. We don't know if he was walking out since there was only that one witness acount posted and anyone could say anything to make or break this story. We do have video coverage of the act after it started. That will be evidence in court. Eyewitness testimony is good if the witnesses are found reliable and trustowrthy, but only after they are questioned by both sides in a court of law.

Did he attack security? I don't know.

Was he on the way out like the one witness said he was? I don't know.

Why didn't they just drag him out? I think they tried to do it the nice way and he wasn't following orders. Next step is forced removal.

Why did he go limp when they tried to remove him? Possible 5 minutes of fame for this guy.

If he was trying to leave when security approached him, why did this happen?

Greenstein said a Community Service Officer employed by the library was performing a nightly check to ensure that all patrons using the library after 11 p.m. were authorized to be there.

"This is a longstanding library policy to ensure the safety of students during the late-night hours," Greenstein said. "The CSO made an announcement that he would be checking for university identification. When a person, who was later identified as ... Tabatabainejad, refused to provide any identification, the CSO told him that if he refused to do so, he would have to leave the library.

"Since, after repeated requests, he would neither leave nor show identification, the CSO notified UCPD officers, who responded and asked Tabatabainejad to leave the premises multiple times. He continued to refuse. As the officers attempted to escort him out, he went limp and continued to refuse to cooperate with officers or leave the building.

Greenstein said Tabatabainejad encouraged others in the library to join his "resistance." She said a crowd gathered around the officers. www.nbc4.tv...

Maybe that will change your mind about what happened.

No, incidents like this prove that the average person is too damned disrespectful of authority and willing to go running around crying oppression and gestapo when all they had to do was pull out a piece of plastic. That or their too stupid to realize they can play nicely once things go wrong and still get a piece of the pie after the fact.