California:
Quote:
|
Now, whilst I'm not sure about the repeated tasings, if the guy hadn't copped an attitude in the first place, the cops need never have been called in.
|
Since when was 'giving lip' an excuse for resorting to torture? If I were to even slap my wife, who was 'copping an attitude' and was 'spoiling for a fight', I would be up for assault. So why do you think it is justified if a student who 'gives lip' is shot repeatedly with a taser?
Do you have children? Have you ever considering tasering them when they throw a tantrum, instead of merely locking them in their room and waiting for them to cool down?
Quote:
|
And something must have happened for the cop's mind to say 'enough of this crap, time for the Taser.'
|
No. It's just far easier to torture someone into compliance, instead of attempting to be reasonable. Amnesty International has produced a fantastic article, which gives numerous examples of how police used tasers to force complete compliance, even on handcuffed individuals. You struggle while in handcuffs while in the back seat of a police car? *ZAP* You give lip to the officer? *ZAP* You give the officers a nasty look? *ZAP ZAP!!!*
Quite simply, the witness testimony you provided was irrelevant. Whether the kid was giving cheek to either the university staff, or the police, is a bloody red herring. I don't give a shit as to whether the kid was a jerk, or even Stalin in disguise. That doesn't change the fact that excessive force was used, and the cops acted like bullies.
The question here is, was a tasering required to escort the kid safely off campus?
Apparently, the answer is no. As the police arrived, the student was in the process of leaving the establishment:
Quote:
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.
|
According to witness testimony, when the police arrived, the student was quite willing to be escorted off campus, and provided no resistance. He only kicked up a fuss when the cops manhandled him:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15731040/
Quote:
|
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."
|
The student was willingly leaving the premises as the police were arriving, and in fact was willing to be escorted off the premises by the cops. Hence,
there was no need to grab and manhandle him. Doing so merely generated a conflict where none existed. Even at this point, the behaviour of the cops was very unprofessional.
Then, the multiple taserings. Watching and reading about this infuriated me. On the video, the student receives a tasering, and then is ordered IMMEDIATELY to stand up. When he fails to comply, he is repeatedly shocked.
From what I understand, a stun gun has a habit of stunning the target. It causes superficial muscle paralysis. The duration varies depending on the power setting on the stun gun, the duration of the stun, and the number of stuns applied. So expecting an unsuspecting, handcuffed target to be able to stand steadily after being hit on full power is ridiculous. Especially after multiple shocks.
Instead of giving the student some time to recover and stand up, he was REPEATEDLY shocked in order to encourage him to stand up. That is analogous to repeatedly kicking a man in the testicles to stop his screaming.
It's amazing that Americans actually support the behaviour of these uniformed thugs. No wonder America is going to the shit creek. You part your ass cheeks in anticipation of a reaming.