Students strike after classmate was tased

Video is in the article.

More than 100 students at Cedar Creek High School participated in a planned walk out Friday morning to protest the use of tasers in school.

The strike happened at 10:30 a.m. which was the same time Wednesday a Bastrop County Sheriff's office school resource officer tased a student on campus.

According to reports, Noe de Rivera, 17, fell and hit his head and is now in a coma. School personnel escorted the students outside during the peaceful protest that lasted about 10 minutes.

Students were dressed in white and chanted "Justice for Noe." Several upset parents were also there in support of the students, and told KXAN they want to see tasers removed from school.

They say the protest only lasted about 10 minutes. I'm not sure if that's true, it seemed plenty longer when they showed clips on the local news last night. If it is, the students should've continued their protest throughout the day at least!

The school district is saying that Noe was aggressive towards the officer and resisted arrest. Not sure why they were trying to arrest him!!

The lawyer representing Noe and his family say that's not the case at all. He says Noe was breaking up the fight between two girls and the situation had calmed, and the officer approached Noe and tased him. He says the video evidence supports this claim. Apparently the whole thing was captured via camera phone but the video has not been released yet. The lawyer is requesting that the Texas Rangers take over the investigation.

So we have a kid get tased (for whatever reason) in his school, he falls and hits his head and is now in a coma. They show a picture of Noe and he's a typical high school kid, not a big guy at all. But of course, officers choose excessive force which leads to this.

Yes, we need to have a look at the video when it's released but for now I will side with Noe, the high school kid in a coma; whom also has police charges waiting for him if he ever recovers.

kxan.com

This is very sad. No parent sends a child out to school without expecting him to return home safely. And if there were girls fighting I hope the school and class has addressed that.

Found a bit more information HERE

"Our officers were speaking to them and a male student approached in an aggressive manner. At that time the other officer is asking him to stand down, back up, quit interfering," spokesperson Sissy Jones explained.
Jones said deputies Randy McMillan and Timothy Stalcup tried to handcuff de Rivera unsuccessfully.

"That's when he resisted completely and was fighting off the officers. Through the altercation, the officer ended up tasing him," she said. He fell to the floor and hit his head and is now in a coma. If and when he recovers, de Rivera could face charges including resisting arrest, assault and interfering with public duties.

The lawyer completely disagrees:

"They're completely lying, they're completely lying because they're very worried about this officer being indicted for a criminal charge, which he should be," said attorney Adam Loewy, who is representing the family. Loewy claimed cell phone video tells a different story, but couldn't show it to KVUE.

"Noe was being a good Samaritan, a good citizen, he broke up the fight. Then there was some stoppage to everything, and he was standing there. You see these police officers go up to him and tase him," Loewy said.

These are totally conflicting stories. Just need that video. I'll try to follow up on this in the coming days

This is the letter sent to parents from Cedar Creek highschool (the link above contains a link of this letter):

reply to post by six67seven


10 minutes? Really? They should have just did it the entire day, day after day. What would the school do, threaten to not let them graduate or fail them, kick them out, taze them as well? Just goes to show you, even a trained official will misuse their fire arms or weapons, doesn't take just some crazy guy to harm children. Trigger happy sheriff deputy in a high school, fire his @$$!

I don't even understand what the hell police and guards are doing at schools.

Aside from home schooling, I think every community should have ex teachers and various concerned adults, actually creating shared home schooling, resource schools for sane ordinary people, free, volunteering.

Bigger problem once again is the culture in yet another police station.

Over the top reaction, we have what appears to be an innocent teenager in a coma due to another officer overstepping his bounds, and instead of coming out and admitting this officer was in the wrong and used excessive force the police are more worried about criminal charges being brought against this office.

It's a sick and twisted culture, law enforcement, where there's no hesitancy shown when dealing with a teenager who broke up a fight but they then turn around and attempt to downplay, even cover-up the criminal aspect of one of their own.

If criminal actions are such a big deal to these officers that tasing teenagers for breaking up fights is considered ok, then why the sudden change in course of action when it's one of your own who just committed a far more serious criminal action?

Oh that's right, corruption. It's not about taking criminal off the streets or this other office would have already been tased, cuffed and arrested, it's about control and ignorance.

This is why I have little respect for cops who say it's just a few bad apples and most are in this profession with positive intent. Bunch of bull dooky. It's the other cops, senior, officers, in stations across the country which cover-up and downplay the actions of their own, daily. It's the culture of many which allows the few "bad apples" to continue on in this sick and twisted manner. If cops had any morality in the first place and were actually intent on stopping criminality, they'd start with their own, yet how often does one cop arrest another? Almost never, unless there's enough of an uproar from the public/media. They'd let it continue without hesitation if given the choice.

i would've stayed outside protesting until the officer was behind bars. i've noticed a trend of police just itching for a situation where they can use their toys and demonstrate how they're big boys now.

a kid is now in a coma. it's complete crap how the letter says the kid was "hospitalized". yeah, he's in the hospital, but he may never come out. oh, and if he does, we're charging him with a bunch of crimes.

reply to post by six67seven

The lawyer representing Noe and his family say that's not the case at all. He says Noe was breaking up the fight between two girls and the situation had calmed, and the officer approached Noe and tased him. He says the video evidence supports this claim. Apparently the whole thing was captured via camera phone but the video has not been released yet.

Sounds like the police reacted before understanding the situation. React and ask questions later... I smell a law suit here if the video proves Noe was innocent.

reply to post by six67seven


There would be no questions at all as to who was the guilty party if all officers around the US had to wear mandatory body cams.
The mob knew it decades ago in Las Vegas, the camera don't lie.

I hope everyone see's the need to video and document every incident involving LEOs and just generally people in authority positions. Otherwise the ordinary citizen will have no recourse when brutalized.

Video everything with your phone, camcorder, gopro, Flip or point and shoot with it on video setting. Not just excess of power but heroic actions by LEOs and responders. Not all cops are thugs.

Don't be obvious with your filming. Stand back, zoom in, hide your rig, use a telephone pole or car to steady your camera and get your video on youtube or other social media sites before it can be confiscated by the authorities.

When cameras and filming of the people we pay with our taxes becomes illegal; as a nation we're doomed to suffer a police state, tyranny and complete subjugation, and slavery.

It's coming....

What astonishes me is that some LEOs know they are being filmed and still they brutalize innocents, knowing the courts will usually side in their favor. Plus the "blue code" will kick in and the brothers in blue will lie to protect one of their own.

A bit off topic but if you search "national school walkout" or add 2013, you'll get plenty of hits from all across the nation with various reasons for protesting.

I don't know about the rest of you but I never experienced this when I was in school. I've been in the dark on all these walkouts, probably because I have no children and have been out of school for over a decade.

I'm actually surprised and proud of these students across the US standing up for themselves and using their voices in support of their fellow students, futures, and ideals.

Looks as though students are recognizing the lack of funding, administrative abuses and crap educational system which has plagued our youth for far too long.

Kudos kids!

Same goes for all that have replied in this thread so far, great points being brought up by everyone.

reply to post by six67seven


An instance of the youth taking a stance on their rights against the encroaching police state.

Something we might learn from.

Peace