Posted on 11/17/2006 12:03:43 AM PST by BurbankKarl
The UCLA student stunned with a Taser by a campus police officer has hired a high-profile civil rights lawyer who plans to file a brutality lawsuit.
The videotaped incident, which occurred after the student refused requests to show his ID card to campus officers, triggered widespread debate on and off campus Thursday about whether use of the Taser was warranted. It was the third in a recent series of local incidents captured on video that raise questions about arrest tactics.
Attorney Stephen Yagman said he plans to file a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing the UCLA police of "brutal excessive force," as well as false arrest. The lawyer also provided the first public account of the Tuesday night incident at UCLA's Powell Library from the student, Mostafa Tabatabainejad, a 23-year-old senior.
He said that Tabatabainejad, when asked for his ID after 11 p.m. Tuesday, declined because he thought he was being singled out because of his Middle Eastern appearance. Yagman said Tabatabainejad is of Iranian descent but is a U.S.-born resident of Los Angeles.
The lawyer said Tabatabainejad eventually decided to leave the library but when an officer refused the student's request to take his hand off him, the student fell limp to the floor, again to avoid participating in what he considered a case of racial profiling. After police started firing the Taser, Tabatabainejad tried to "get the beating, the use of brutal force, to stop by shouting and causing people to watch. Generally, police don't want to do their dirties in front of a lot of witnesses."
He said Tabatabainejad was hit by the Taser five times and suffered "moderate to severe contusions" on his right side.
UCLA officials declined to respond directly to Yagman's statements, saying they still were conducting their internal investigation of the incident.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Goodbye idiot. Your idiot "sensitivity" will be your undoing
Oh, well. Nice to see so many of you are Judge, jury and executioner all wrapped up into one. These are the good old days. You just must be living wrong if you don't think so.
Strong and bitter words indicate a lack of education.
OK well maybe you are anarchist. Nevertheless, you have no logical thought process. It is one of a 10 year old. No offense, but the truth must be said.
>>How about calling for back up?
What's the back up going to do? The officer had back up. Should they have applied batons?
In the story you cited, it seems entirely possible that the death occurred due to the physical restraint process and the fact that the guy was drugged up, not due to the tazer.
>>In short, I don't CAIR.
Ooh, I like that! I'll use that in the future.
If your point was that Tasers are too deadly, I'd point out the huge numbers of dead cocaine users who get Tasered. Some coincidence, huh?
BTW: There are approximately an equal number of gang members to police officers in the US.
Godwin invoked.
Binstence loses.
LOL! Thanks!
The only "freak" behavior I've seen in this thread, thus far, is the citing of well-known victimology pimps Amnesty International as a (putatively) "reliable" source for your claims. (Claims which, I might add, are promptly countered immediately thereafter, when it is pointed out that the overheated claim of "156 deaths" is based upon incidents where "there has been no such official conclusion." Try reading your own article prior to posting, next time; you'll most likely save yourself considerable embarassment, that way.
Not that I take any such "citations" seriously to begin with, when trolled out onto the stage sans the name of their (ostensible) source; the author(s) of same; and a link allowing me to read the original source material (assuming it actually exists) for myself.
Try again. L-I-N-K, this time. And without the grade school sniveling and name-calling, if you think you're up to it.
The best defense against police brutality is compliance. Nobody has ever been hit with a taser because they were following orders.
Regardless of whether it's a police officer or a bank robber, the guy with the loaded weapon makes the rules. Resist at your peril.
Lost it alright.
" How about calling for back up? How about negotiating? Do you think a little civility from our public servants is too much to ask for?"
Cool it.
It was an very reasonable request by the campus police that this Iranian proceeded to make into a huge issue. I blame him 100%. He's proven what a con man he is by getting a lawyer to sue and get money for him
WHEN HE STARTED IT ALL!!!
UNBELIEVABLE!
As far as idiot poster Bistence - FLUSH!
Executioner???? LOL Mighty dramatic of you. See ya. I'm gone from this thread.
"I... I think he's on to us, Margaret..."
:)
Yeah? See my #67.
I'd also suggest that civility is a two-way street, and that this punk likely started the downward trend in this encounter.
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