For those of you who have not yet seen it, please watch the grainy cell phone video of UCLA campus police officers tasering a student for not leaving the library when they asked. The rough story as reported here is that the student was working in UCLA's Powell Library around 11:30 pm on Nov. 13 when a random check of IDs occurred (to ensure the safety of students, no one OTHER than a student with ID is allowed in the library after 11pm). This student could not produce a Bruin ID, and did not immediately leave. At this time, campus police were alerted. When the PD arrived at the library, the student had his backpack in hand and was already on his way out of the library. The PD grabbed his arm to stop him.
This is when things get a little hazy, but the student was pretty pissed off that he was being stopped - grabbed - when he was already on his way out. It built into a yelling match between the student and UCLA PD, which resulted in them tasering him to get him under control. He was tased 4 more times before they took him into custudy.
First off, I'm not sure I understand why they even bothered to stop him when they arrived to find him already in the process of leaving. Why not just let him exit and be done with it? Second, I'm not sure ANY unarmed student who is up against several police officers ever needs to be tased. Was it not possible for them to overcome him without the use of such force? OK - say the kid just went completely bat-shit on the officers, was cracked up on drugs, and was completely out of hand. I can understand tasing him ONCE. But it's my understanding that he was cuffed after the first tasing, so why the need to tase him 4 additional times while he was already restrained?
This is a big story at UCLA and is still in play as you can read here. You can also search UCLA and Taser in Google and see what comes up.
I was hoping to take Wally up to Switzer today for a big hike, but since I'm going to go mountain biking with some friends later in the day, I don't think I'll have the time. Maybe we'll go over behind the Rose Bowl.
The song of the day is "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Tears For Fears. The song comes from their 1985 album Songs From The Big Chair. This band was really big when I was in junior high. Friends had photos of the band's two leaders, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, on their bedroom walls. While I also appreciate the band's first release The Hurting, I think their strongest music is on this album, and "Everybody" is a great example of that. It was also used in the soundtrack for Val Kilmer's "Real Genius."
This is when things get a little hazy, but the student was pretty pissed off that he was being stopped - grabbed - when he was already on his way out. It built into a yelling match between the student and UCLA PD, which resulted in them tasering him to get him under control. He was tased 4 more times before they took him into custudy.
First off, I'm not sure I understand why they even bothered to stop him when they arrived to find him already in the process of leaving. Why not just let him exit and be done with it? Second, I'm not sure ANY unarmed student who is up against several police officers ever needs to be tased. Was it not possible for them to overcome him without the use of such force? OK - say the kid just went completely bat-shit on the officers, was cracked up on drugs, and was completely out of hand. I can understand tasing him ONCE. But it's my understanding that he was cuffed after the first tasing, so why the need to tase him 4 additional times while he was already restrained?
This is a big story at UCLA and is still in play as you can read here. You can also search UCLA and Taser in Google and see what comes up.
I was hoping to take Wally up to Switzer today for a big hike, but since I'm going to go mountain biking with some friends later in the day, I don't think I'll have the time. Maybe we'll go over behind the Rose Bowl.
The song of the day is "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Tears For Fears. The song comes from their 1985 album Songs From The Big Chair. This band was really big when I was in junior high. Friends had photos of the band's two leaders, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, on their bedroom walls. While I also appreciate the band's first release The Hurting, I think their strongest music is on this album, and "Everybody" is a great example of that. It was also used in the soundtrack for Val Kilmer's "Real Genius."
posted by EditThis at 9:25 AM
2 Comments:
I hope you and Wally have a good day - I didn't take the dogs to the Wetlands b/c Hanna (the Lab) LOVES to chase birds, which sort of goes against the creating a refuge for birds philosophy. It also turned into about a 6 - 7 mile hike, and my dogs don't see the benefit of logging lots of miles instead of just lollygagging and sniffing.
p.s. I saw Tears for Fears at the Palladium many years ago - fun show
TFF is a fun band to see in concert... even after all these years. Saw them last summer at the OC Fair and they put on a really solid show.
I guess using a taser is the only way for someone from UCLA to bring a guy down. Just ask their football team... boo-ya!
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