Iranian American Student Abused By UCLA UCPD With Tazer Gun
November 16th, 2006Update: Sign the petition to condemn the excessive use of force (see).
This is copied from Iranian Truth. He also links to a video showing the scene. This is bizarre.
UCPD officers shot a student several times with a Taser inside the Powell Library CLICC computer lab late Tuesday night before taking him into custody.
No university police officers were available to comment further about the incident as of 3 a.m. Wednesday, and no Community Service Officers who were on duty at the time could be reached.
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. [iPouya: Yes, all Iranians and Arabs know about these “random†checks.] 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.
The student began to yell “get off me,†repeating himself several times.
It was at this point that the officers shot the student with a Taser for the first time, causing him to fall to the floor and cry out in pain. The student also told the officers he had a medical condition.
UCPD officers confirmed that the man involved in the incident was a student, but did not give a name or any additional information about his identity.
Video shot from a student’s camera phone captured the student yelling, “Here’s your Patriot Act, here’s your fucking abuse of power,†while he struggled with the officers.
As the student was screaming, UCPD officers repeatedly told him to stand up and said “stop fighting us.†The student did not stand up as the officers requested and they shot him with the Taser at least once more.
“It was the most disgusting and vile act I had ever seen in my life,†said David Remesnitsky, a 2006 UCLA alumnus who witnessed the incident.
As the student and the officers were struggling, bystanders repeatedly asked the police officers to stop, and at one point officers told the gathered crowd to stand back and threatened to use a Taser on anyone who got too close.
Laila Gordy, a fourth-year economics student who was present in the library during the incident, said police officers threatened to shoot her with a Taser when she asked an officer for his name and his badge number.
Gordy was visibly upset by the incident and said other students were also disturbed.
“It’s a shock that something like this can happen at UCLA,†she said. “It was unnecessary what they did.â€
Immediately after the incident, several students began to contact local news outlets, informing them of the incident, and Remesnitsky wrote an e-mail to Interim Chancellor Norman Abrams.
Edited to include the video:
Edit (by Esra’a): We (Sankar & I) were so touched by this story we made a shirt.
It will be available on the e-store we’re working on.
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Discussion about citizen journalism continues here as well…
http://www.financialaidpodcast.com/2006/11/16/the-power-of-ubiquitous-media/
Absolutely disgusting.
Yes, aren’t they proud?
Just got this message from a college networking site:
Another student writes:
This is shit, wtf… why the fuck was that idiotic cop telling him to stand up after hitting him with the taser? Does he not know that you CAN’T stand up on your own after being hit by one?
The other students should have just rushed the cop and beat the living crap out of them.
Esra’a,
Thanks for adding the video to my post.
That’s what I was thinking. Did you read the comments on YouTube’s page? Some people are saying that he deserves it and is a proper “target.” How messed up is that?!
Arash, no problem, I just wanted more people to watch it.
OK…This is becoming interesting…
Haha, are you being sarcastic?
No, I am saying it is becoming something bold and big. I hope something good comes out of it.
I am sure. I think the protest will be massive. There is no reason to stay quiet over something like this.
You might be interested in reading the full story here.
That is absolutely digusting and totally fucked up. Moron cops.
It really hits home for me since I live a few miles away from that school and was just at Powell Library five days ago.
I watched and read the article. I think valid criticisms that questioned the officers training and procedures. I don’t blame the cops, I blame the training and managers who allow the cops to be placed in those kind of situations without adequate training.
2ndly I read some reports of the Taser training program. The company at first required everyone in the initial training to be tazed. Then because the cops raised such hell over the years, this was changed to “strongly urge” every new trainee to be tazed (as well as OC’ed –pepper sprayed) The research shows that the cops who have experienced the tazer are much better, prudent, safer users than the ones who have not experienced it. Yet despite this, it is voluntary now for police trainees.
I don’t know how clever the student was, actually I doubt he was very “street smart” about what happened to him…and being able to take advantage of the officers poor training. Someone who can do that has to be prepared. I was literally trained on what to expect when we were preparing to disrupt a parade in the 1970’s…So, I don’t think this student was acting…someone has already pointed out the effects of being tazed last longer than a few seconds. No one should be surprised that this would happen in LA. The students who are surprised, it just shows how naive, sheltered, and forgetful, their lives are. Remember Rodney King anyone? But you know, its LaLa land.
He may have been sullen and leaving on his own time…but tazing him was not the cool thing to do to gain cooperation.
Crap, I’m having problems watching the videos again. Damn campus IT dept. I wanna seeeeeee not fair!
This site keeps an update of the whole story:
http://www.iraniantruth.com/?p=873
149 people have died…..doesn’t explain the conditions. I wonder how times or people have been tasered in that time….probably in LaLa land alone the number is pretty high
There should be an update on the student’s physical condition.
It is an absolutely stupid situation resulting from a very “unenlightened” policeman responding poorly to a student with a bad attitude. Net loss for everyone involved. This should be investigated and if there is reason to believe that if the report is true, and the student was already exiting when grabbed, then a policeman must be tried for assault.
But it has absolutely nothing to do with the Patriot Act at all. The fact that the student brought it up makes me wonder, and some of that wondering is not politically correct, so we shall not discuss it.
Ben
this is just another example of the reaction of to the fear of security since 9/11. This incident, when viewed in the context of what is happening in Iraq pretty benign….
I wish everyone would see the Google Video of the BBC program Nightmare of Fear part 1. I think that is the title.
LaLa land at 3AM in a university student computer lab. What better setting for a movie about the social issues that are on the stage.,,currently being acted out in Iraq. This little incident is mildly shocking for about 10 seconds of the middle American mind. The natives of LaLa would probably yawn. There are various ways to view the context of the situation…all of them predictable. However, the students who should be galvanized over this are “the engineering” (just to use them as an example) students. They are the ones who will have the ear of the powerful in a democracy in the future. And they are the ones who can’t be bothered. The fuzzy thinking liberal arts majors (like me
would be skipping classes to “voice our concerns” are the ones who won’t have as much influence over the course of future events.
Of course you can see more exciting, more graphic, more bloody, more bizzare confrontations on the TV or in the movies.And LaLa is the place where these fantasies and actualities are concentrated, given birth.
Thirdly this is happening at 3AM not 3PM. Alot of people would say, “What do you expect at 3AM?” We (myself included) Americans are vaccinated to tolerate a pretty high level of random violence on a low level. It takes something like the Rodney King incident to get us even discussing it at the coffee machine the next day.
All of this would have been avoided had he either shown his ID or left when it was requested of him by the first group of officials. He purposely waited until the actual security arrived which was several minutes after he was initially asked to either submit ID or leave. He was mentally aware enough to claim “abuse of power” to the cops, and when they told him to stand up, he said “F** you.” Screw the little punk. All he needed to do was what was asked of him. But no… idealistic little college prick has to do what comes so instinctively to a college kid (not all of them of course): Rebel. Protest. March. Demonstrate. While those traits were noble in that they were used effectively to combat and cure such social injustice as civil rights, and war, this was nothing but a big mouth smartass who refused to follow the rules.
He had to know, even if it’s in retrospect, that he was dealt a losing hand, here. And he dug his own grave. I don’t like pain, and feel for anyone who suffers pain; but I can’t go with a defiant student. I look at it like this: he just earned a few stripes towards rank in the real world.
The guy is a UCLA student. He was on his way out when they approached him. Watch this video. L.A. does not have a great track record when it comes to this stuff. This is the third incident this week.
http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/
Uncontainable Spirit,
Little FACT for you. He was AT the exit. He DID leave the bloody library as instructed. Everything else is a result of the cop’s actions.
Stop comparing US to Iraq. US is not Iraq, when bombs are blowing up on the streets of LA, please, make those comments. sigh….
It was classic racial profiling. Los Angeles is infamous for this shit. I see it all the time when I am out with my friends. The poor guy was probably tired of being harassed. He’s a senior. Four years of show me your id is enough to drive anyone crazy.
The PA is responsible for a lot of similar things that happen. It makes it “legitimate” for moronic cops like these to abuse their power.
Nothing justifies what they did if they fucking tazed the guy even after he was handcuffed. So whoever said he asked for it, I disagree with you. He didn’t. He was merely frustrated because of the way he was approached. I don’t see other students in that room saying, “he deserved it!” and they were direct witnesses. Students were terrified, and this could’ve resulted in horrid physical injuries.
These cops weren’t doing this in an attempt to save anybody, they were just power hungry. I hope they will pay for this.
He left A FEW MINUTES LATER. Is that so wrong? He did not leave immediately - but he was walking towards the exit when the cop grabbed him by his arm, which offended the student. He was doing as he was told. If that happened to you, I would feel very sorry if you whimped out to the cops and said, “oh, okay, I will do anything you ask for!” especially if you were being humiliated in public. That gives them a chance to harrass more people whenever they feel like it. They have no right in the world to do that to a harmless young student who was hardly fighting back. He was yelling out of anger. And it was brave to stand up against such a violation.
Yes he should have cooperated more, but I’m glad he stood up against the way they were treating him. That teaches them and many other similar cops a lesson - don’t mess with people just for the sheer sake of it.
[...] Designed by Esra’a and Sankar from Mideast Youth. [...]
The guy was tazered becuase he was abusive, infalmmitroy and distruptive and was not following procedure and did not leave the library or show his ID and called for others to join him.
He was given repeated warnings and chances to leave peacefully or show his ID. It was his choice and he is the one who escalated this and made it an issue.
It has nothing to do with the patriot act, or abuse of power. If anything, they should have just night-sticked him and hauled him off immediately. You are trying to stri up troube from nothing. That is ridiculous.
Los Angeles Police organizations are notorious for this type of behavior. The force used was excessive and inappropriate on every level.
Are you people just plain stupid or just pretending to be stupid? He was at the bloody exit when the cop confronted him.
Ohh for those who don’t know about tasers… it takes at least a minute to recover after the shock. I been tasered when I was a security guard (for training purpose). I know what he went throu and how long it would have taken him to get up after being tasered. The bloody pain doesn’t go away either… you’ll have the pain for more then 15 mintues… maybe more… and he was tasered multiple times so add all that up and I would have been on the ground like him also…. sigh… ignorance is a bliss no?
UNEDUCATED BUNCH OF FUCKHEADS YOU ALL ARE…
I have been in plenty of situations where two or three cops would grab a student and toss him out of the lib, bar, etc. This kid was not heavy and they could have easily threw him out the doors. Once he is out the doors, they should have let him be.
Cops are often dumb people. The ones that are smart rise up in the ranks. Cops also hate college students for some reason. So if you give a monkey a gun, he will eventually find the trigger. Also Also Also, don’t ever let a cop tell you what the law is. Half of them don’t remember a thing from the academy. So read up and know your limits.
these cops were campus police so they should have known better. They are peace officers.
http://dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=38987
WHAT THEY SHOULD DO IS HAVE THE PARENTS OF THE STUDENTS COME TO UCLS AND BOYCOTT PAYING TUTION UNTILL THOSE CAMPUS POLICE ARE GONE. THE DEAN WOULD SHIT HIS PANTS AND GET RID OF THOSE ASSHOLES.
Esra’a and others,
As an Iranian, I appreciate your contribution to the discussion about this incident. But, I am affraid some of the comments use coarse language, which I think do not help at all.
Coarse language doesn’t help? what planet are you from.
If you sit down and talk nice no one will listen, but if you shout… they will. Very simple marketing technique i learned in school. At least that’s the case in the Western countries. I am not sure about the rest of the world.
And you don’t have to be an Iranian to appreciate the reaction… you just have to be damn human being.
Mr. Joe meyerss says:
He was already leaving when he was grabbed by a cop.
First of all the Patriot Act of course had nothing to with this but it does make for nice political grandstanding. As a prison guard I have some understanding of use of force policies and these guys should be punished if they violated their policy. I also understand cops, including campus police and correctional officers, can really be dumb asses. We at the prison never touch an inmate if can help it without a video camera because the inmates will almost always say excessive force was used or force was used when not necessary. Cops should always assume they are on camera ever since Rodney King. I can’t view the video at work but will look at it tonight. One thing that might have been a factor was the student trying to pull away. If an officer confronts you here is a bit of advice. Don’t be abusive. Don’t use physical resistance. Don’t reach into your pocket or backpack unless instructed.
haha and in Los Angeles don’t have dark skin or speak with an accent.
Jina,
Yes, you are right. This support is great because it is for a human being and it is especially fantastic because I have sympathy with the person who is screaming in the video. Probably that’s too naitonalistic… Any way, you can use any words you like. Still, I am not sure what the contribution of an f-word can be here.
I am really disturbed by the incident. I found the footage by coincidence on a website and when watched it several times. Honestly I was about to cry. As I noticed there were a few Iranian students as well at the scene, surprised that they have been doing nothing!!!!!
Unfortunately I am a student in the UK otherwise I would have taken part in your protest.
“The other students should have just rushed the cop and beat the living crap out of them.”
Yikes.
That’s a great idea. Maybe you could threaten the cop’s life, and see how well that works out.
Or run at them with a chocolate revolver.
DONT TOUCH ME!
I doubt Jina’s comment was meant to be taken seriously. But the chocolate revolver thing made me chuckle.
… OR I’LL CUT YOU.
Over 1000 people signed the petition so far, that’s impressive. We’re talking about the law suit in the forums.
Videos like this bring out the best and the worst in people. Ironically, it also brings out people who claim to have been stunned, citing a quick Google search on the “effects of stun guns” to back up a claim that you can’t get up after being hit with 40K+ volts.
The ALL CAPS entries above all point to one particular incident that is supposed to absolve this student- he was heading to the exit. While this might be true he did not cooperate with the rent-a-cops and became belligerent, albeit we only know as much as what the shitty cameraman caught after the incident started.
Loud, vocal outbursts of obscenity are enough to give anyone pause as to the intentions of the screamer let alone a peace officer/rent-a-cop/campus security. “Get your hands off me!” doesn’t sound like a cooperative person. The police are there to investigate a person who doesn’t have the ID to be there and this is what they run into.
It wasn’t an abuse of the Patriot Act although that would make for some good headlines. Too bad it didn’t happen before the elections and really bolster the anti-PR folk’s resolve to vote. It was a bad decision one-upmanship contest that reflected poorly on everyone involved, including the students who took on the role of Citizen Patrol.
It was a poor decision by the student to act like an asshole to underpaid and under trained cops. Seriously, he had the wherewithal to scream grandstanding comments about the Patriot Act, which will now be emblazoned on a T-shirt that has Orwell rolling over in his grave, but couldn’t just stand up and be escorted out by the police?
In the end, the police had to pick the pipsqueak up by his handcuffed appendages and escort him out anyway. Why couldn’t they have just done that in the first place when they realized they were dealing with a non-compliant person? Then again, why should they have to risk injury to themselves because of a non-compliant person?
It probably doesn’t matter how high of a threshold to pain you have- one blast from a stun gun is a clear message the person on the other end isn’t fucking around. Why tempt his trigger finger any more than necessary. Perhaps the crowd in the library was this student’s spinach, his courage to make a routine stop a platform to stir up trouble. Who knows. As cooler heads have pointed out on this thread, everyone lost that night.
Oh.my god it is horrible, I am really about to cry I am a student in Denmark.Police uses tazer sometimes but i think this is so disgusting to behave with a human being like this please remember that he was leaving but the officers stopped him and no one can deny it.This is so hard to belive that a student is treated like this in states.i have read somewhere that the tazer shoch lasting for a few seconds stop the person to act in a normal manner so how did they ask him to stand up for god’s sake?
I’m not familiar with the UCLA campus but perhaps having to show a Student ID to drive thru the entrance would avoid situations like this in the future. There seems to be a lot of smart people on this board, certainly we can think of a ways to avoid a situation like this going forward.
Personally, I can’t say I feel bad for the kid. I don’t think I’ve ever acted like this in public. My father would have whipped the hell out of my ass if he found out I pulled some shit like this. They sure don’t make parents like they used too. But, I’m not here to talk about my personal view but instead on a solution.
Thoughts Anyone?
Hi Peter,
Yes, something good might result from this, maybe a more formal security system where checking is not so “random.” The security officers, for example, can be at the door and check all students for ID instead of allowing claims of “racism” by checking only foreign-looking students.
Cooperation is always good, even when over-zealous cops aren’t so deserving of it, but whenever attitude is given there are consequences. Like if this had happened in an airport, the student will immediately go through hours of being detained and an uncomfortable strip search. It has happened to people I know in the past, they let their pride get in the way of doing the embarrassing things that the officers were making them do in front of everyone.
Still, though, it’s tough to say that the student is responsible especially when these officers were clearly abusing him even when it was unnecessary. Tazed one time, okay. Tazed more than 4 times even after being handcuffed, not okay.
Once again you guys don’t get. He was at the bloody exit when he was stopped. Cop should have just stayed there and watched as he finish exiting the place. This would have been the better choice on the cop’s part. Instead he decides to man handle the student.
Ask yourself this question, whey the hell would the cop stop the student who was exiting the place. Know that the cop had NO RIGHT to touch the student, cop could have given the student a verbal warning, but that didn’t happen or I am missing something from the video. It was the student’s right to tell him to get his hands off of him. Rest is the result of the cop’s actions. Also telling someone who has been taserd moment after is like telling someone without a leg to walk… educate yourself before making a fool of yourself.
Why didn’t he just leave when requested to? I think this was planned. So do others. CAIR jumped on it pretty quick. The “victim” is probably on their payroll. Iranian indeed.
Taqiyya?
It takes a few minutes to log off a computer, pack your stuff up, and leave. The cops had come back minutes later. Not hours, but minutes… while he was walking towards the exit, too.
If he was still sitting at the computer, that’s a problem.
But he was not.
Furthermore, you seem to forget the fact that other students were threatened to be tazed merely for asking for the cops’ information which by law he has to provide. The cop did not do that and reacted by threatning violence when innocent students requested information. This is not right.
I think we do get it, Jina, which is why there are people coming up with possible solutions to this egregious incident. It is you that cannot get past the student’s proximity to the exit.
whey(sic) the hell would the cop stop the student who was exiting the place.
If officer’s answer a call they have to find out why they were being called in the first place. If a crazy homeless person was dancing on a city bus, covered in filth, wearing his underwear over his head but then headed for the exit as the police got on the bus would you argue that the police should leave Cpt. Insano alone?
We don’t know what happended before the first taze. What we can hear is the student yelling at security. Contrary to popular opinion, security does have the right to put their hands on a suspect. Unfortunately, there is too much conjecture as to what happened before the videographer started taping.
As part of our training on handling these types of situations, the Navy security force is taught that physcial presence should be the first thing used to handle a call followed by verbal, soft force (wrist locks, etc), hard force, secondary weapons (mace, pepper spray, tazers), then if all else fails, or cannot reasonably be employed, deadly force. I have serious doubt these security guards get this type of training. After being sprayed in the face by pepper spray I am a lot more reluctant to use it on someone unless I absolutely have to.
This lack of training does not excuse the security’s inability to properly handle what happend in that library but it might help to answer some other questions, all of which should not have the words “Patriot Act” in them. After the first tazer it would be doubtful that the student would be able to just pop up and walk out. Sitting on the ground to catch one’s breath is understandable. Instead of taking this opportunity to do some hard line critical analysis of his situation he chose to tell the cops to “fuck off”. Bad move.
However, after taking 2 hits the cops should realize that this guy is not going anywhere on his own and should just escort him out- like they eventually had to do 6:30 minutes after the incident started.
How sad for you. Your level of paranoia is frightning.
OK, I’ve seen the video. The first tazing (sp?) I will withhold commenting on because so far we only have personal testimony. This whole thing could have been a set up, for publicity regarding profiling, the Patriot Act, or just to get a lawsuit. So some of the witnesses could be in on it. Forgive my cynicism, like I said I work in a prison and that sort of outlook has kept me out of a lot of trouble. The other incidents however have been caught on EM (Electronic Medium, I was going to say “on tape†but that would have been incorrect, I then thought “on phone†would be dumb.) If it was a set up the officers seem to have reacted better than anyone could have wished for. If they tazered him because he was passively resisting leaving, going limp or whatever, they could have carried him out, or even dragged him out, and then arrested him. If there is an alternative to using force you have to take it. Tazering him because he won’t get up has the same alternatives and therefore force is not called for. They have damned themselves when they say, “If you don’t stand up we will tazer you again.†At least in the Use of Force policy I teach. Theirs are certainly different but I can’t believe that different. If they tazered the guy while handcuffed then they are in big trouble. Same reasoning as in the first two scenarios but with the added caveat that they would have no “I felt in danger of attack†excuse. BTW the guy with the phone could have in no way been part of any setup, the “filming†was just too poor. Which leads me to doubt that it was a setup, if it had been a better “innocent bystander†with a camera phone he or she would have caught the scene in much more clarity. Or maybe that’s what they want us to think…
Oh, and Esra’a reminds me that they threatened the crowd for asking for information, that could also be considered assault, or at least a violation of their civil right to free speech.
Saying this is staged is like saying the Jews/Zionists/Neo-Cons staged 9/11… it’s disturbing how some people think.
Shocking. Horrifying to say the least. Granted the student was working in the lab without an ID. Mostafa had supposedly refused to leave the lab initially. When the CSO returned with the “police officers” a few minuted later, Mostafa had already reached the exit. I know that while you are working on a computer it is not possible to log off instantaneously without losing your unsaved work, so the delay is understandable to most people. Now, when the officers manhandled him while he was following CSO orders, he had every right to protest their high-handedness. When they tasered him for supposedly “obstruction/delay of a peace officer in the performance of duty” , they had abused the instrument of power (taser) against an unarmed person who was demanding his rights be respected. When Laila (props to her) requested that the taser-abusing officer give his name and badge number he threatened to taser her too. The officer had the temerity to threaten anybody questioning the police’s actions with more taser attacks. Having tasered Mostafa once, then demanding that the student move out , when fully aware that the taser immobilises the human muscles is crazy. The sinister side to this episode unfolds when the police repeatedly tasered the victim when he was already “shocked” under the pretext that he had refused to exit the lab. Sheer hypocrisy this from the vile and malicious “thugs”. They showed their true colour when they threatened to taser the students who asked for their identity and voiced their dissent towards the actins of these “state” goons. As suggested by another entry on this blog, the parents of Mostafa & other students must protest against this atrocious assault and refuse to pay the tuition fees until the culprits are detained and their security clearances “revoked” so that they are barred from assaulting other people with tasers. Heartless, really. US of A has gone overboard with its restrictive legislations, designed to control the basic rights of the common man. The Patriot Act deprives the simple American of his civil liberties. The repots that such “Identity checks” are common in L.A is a proof of racial profiling and disrespect for the people of the country. This is why Mostafa’s rage against the oppressive treatment of the “officers” was poignant to me. The world is going paranoid with this homeland security sham. I wonder if the police were using Mostafa’s race as an excuse to vent their hatred and prejudices they had against Iraninan/Muslim/ ethnic minority students in paticular ? UCPD = Shameless Brutes. Mostafa has been wronged.
Ok, My heart used to be with Jina (including the four letter words ;-( ) but after aging and experience in the quasi-read world, I support Rancher,
And I will ask Rancher or anyone: HOW DO WE KNOW he was tasered multiple times? Jina, you weren’t there (were you?) and neither was I, but if I want to know the truth the “hard” questions have to be asked. From the video I can’t say I think he was tasered more than…..once…twice?
Yes, the cops became amok…They obviously have had very little training with role-playing, or videos of themselves. The managers need to be fried for that. My sympathy has some effect for the police who perhaps expect a cushy job as a campus policeman….but LA is another world. or rather multiple worlds.
Oh I forgot, Raheel,
I sympathise alot with your comments in the last part. But, what can we expect??? Please try to watch the BBC production on Google video, “Nightmare of fear” part 1. It explains why the incident in 9/11 was too tempting to pass up for the politicians.
Dianna, very nice thinking. I’m guessing every little tiny good thing that Muslims do is Taqiyya and every little “staged” bad thing is also Taqiyya.
They want to change the middle east to something like this.
This is the meaning of New Middle east.
regardless of if he cooperates or not… A TAZER WAS UNNECCESARY FOR THIS SITUATION the kid was harmless…
who the hell do those cops think they are…i hope they both got jumped that nite…and someone needs to taze them 3 or 4 times and then ask them if they can fucking stand up.
Does anyone know if anything happened to the cops yet?
How do we know he was tazed 4 times?
The article states that he was tazed at least 4 times, and the video pretty much shows it.
There are alot of minorities in LA. there is a significant local political element which takes advantage of these situations. Actually I think within the boundaries of LA city the white indo-europeans may be the minority. However there is or, wasn’t when I was there, any amount of unity among the groups. The white Angelos could practice a “divide and conquor” political strategy time after time. This situation will basically not make much of an impact one way or the other. As another comment has said, this stuff happens fairly regularly, or randomly because the training is not consistent and continuous. To make an impact in LA someone has to die. Go and ask the black community about this. Things have improved, really. But the reign of fear is also real. it does matter that he is a MEerner, however if he were another miniority, same treatment at 3AM.
Basically I agree with Rancher, the police screwed up and they will be punished. You can bet that the provost, or big wheel at UCLA is very sensitive to community relations. These poor cops will get the 3rd degree because they are on the bottom of the power pyramid.
You have to remember as well that the students are PAYING CUSTOMERS, compared to staff like the security staff. The more I think about it these particular cops are the ones whom we should spare a few tears of sympathy for. They may or may not get railroaded out before the heat falls on their manager(s). This Iranian will become a temporary hero. Hey, Esra’a has already made him a minor celeb
Just joking with you Esra’a, but we have to be careful not to jump too quickly on the bandwagon, don’t you think??? 
When the story broke out, we acted out on our emotions. We read the report and clearly the cops were abusing him for no apparent reason, as evidenced above. This kid deserves all the attention he can get right now.
The cops deserve no sympathy because in this world, when you mess up, you end up having to pay for it and that’s what they will hopefully do. They humiliated the student and physically abused him even after it was obvious that he posed no threat. He was yelling because that’s what you do when you are tazed! It is painful. He also yelled out of frustration because he WAS in the process of leaving - he even said that more than twice in the video. “I said I was leaving. I was about to leave.” And then of course he gets tazed again for saying that because the cops think he’s fighting them instead of just clarifying things.
I don’t think any of the responses so far is an overreaction. This is a serious issue, and to avoid seeing this stuff happen again we can’t just dismiss it and allow such cops to get away with it.
rima, he didn’t get thrown into jail by the secret police. This is far better than what you have in the Middle East so stop it. At least in the USofA this student will get some justice…
There is no point in changing their so-called training programmes and policy. These cops needs to be sentenced several years in prison for assault with intent to kill.
Luckily you won’t see many UK universities having internal police force armed.
Good Lord. Don’t you people ever get tired of pulling out that race card? The UCLA police routinely ask students for their ID’s to be sure that only those that are supposed to be in the library are using it. They ask white folks, black folks and every other kind of folk for their ID. But this crybaby drama-queen has to go using terms like “Martyr” and “abuse of power”, when all the little prick had to do was show that he was a UCLA student, and move on. I mean - how attenion starved is this guy? And why are you all calling him an “Iranian American”? Because it’s inflammatory - that’s why. He was born here in the U.S. - doesn’t that make him an American? I guess it’s all part of the culture of separation that minorities love to use these days to explain their failures.
Grow the fuck up people…
I am a “white” American and I am absolutely disgusted by this incident. I think it is even worse that it was a Middle Eastern student who was targeted. I do not think that was coincidence.
I’ve always heard that the Los Angeles Police were corrupt but this is beyond corruption. As well as losing their jobs and their pensions, I think that these officers should be arrested. They are disgraces to all Americans and even bigger disgraces to the police forces in America.
I hope to see justice brought upon them.
Wow, isn’t Dave such a brave guy? Because apparently he wouldn’t be such a “crybaby” if he gets tazed more than four times within a short time span.
And he wants us all to grow up, too! Wow, he must have super powers or something, ’cause Dave really doesn’t mind tazing!
Go Dave!
Why is it “worse” that it was a “Middle Eastern” student”? (Although I think we’ve already determined that he was born and bred American). Would it have been less offensive to you had he been white? Would he have then “deserved” it for being a member of the “oppressive white race”? That’s just fucking sad - but unfortunately a part of our new culture that enjoys and exploits being a “vicitm”. You know what I’m talking about: the culture that compels a person to yell “Pay me pay me! That cop gave me a ticket! Never mind that I was doing 85 in a school zone! I’m a MINORITY!!!”
Perhaps if he and his “middle eastern” brethren would use their propensity for demonstrations and complaining against the extremists of their culture, rather than lambasting the culture that has afforded them the privilege of a high quality education in the first place - those of us who do not need or want a prefix in front of our title of “American” would be less inclined to look upon all “middle easterners” as having evil intentions, hmmm???
The irony is - if this student HAD turned out to pose a danger of some sort - these cops would be hailed as heroes. But the fact is - they were a few guys against a growing mob, and dealing with an unknown person who was doing his best to incite the mob. They did what they thought was necessary in a situation that had the potential to turn ugly very fast. Protest for the sake of protest is childish, and unworthy of student at an institution of the quality of UCLA.
It ought to be a prerequisites for all college students to spend a week riding around with police officers to see the danger and hostility they face every single day in order to keep the rest of us safe. It’s so easy to judge when you are not spit upon, fired upon, threatened and otherwise continually maligned during the course of your work day. The people police come upon are COMPLETELY UNKNOWN to them. Are they supposed to assume that someone who is resisting, belligerent, or trying to incite a crowd is benign and has good intentions towards them? Ridiculous…
A friend and I were once caught climbing out the window of a his house after he’d left his keys at work. We jumped down to be faced by two officers with their guns drawn. My hands went up with my fingers open faster than you could say “freeze”. I didn’t run. I didn’t cry “abuse of power”, I didn’t malign their mothers. I complied completely. Why? Common sense. Those cops didn’t know if I was Mr. Rogers of Charles Manson. They shouldn’t HAVE to “know” that. Their duty to themselves and each other was to get us under control, THEN find out who we were and what we were doing.
All this little prick at UCLA had to do was show his I.D. - show the officer’s that he did, indeed, belong there - and go on studying to earn the privilege of graduating from one of America’s top universities. But I guess all the attention and drama are more fun…
Re: Dave
I agree with your side too. It would not have been better had it been a white student. But being white and living in Southern California where I am the racial minority I definately know what it feels like to be discriminated against.
I just said I don’t think it was coincidental that the student was of Middle Eastern descent. I would be pissed no matter what the race of the victim was though. His ethnicity doesn’t made me any more or less angry. I was just saying.
And I also agree with you that he was protesting for the sake of protest - not because he actually had a valid cause. But to be tazered was a little overboard, don’t you think? Especially four times.
They should have just hauled him out and been done with it.
Hey Esra - I wouldn’t get tazed 4 times, becasue I’m not such an arrogant little prick that I would A) refuse to show an I.D. in a public place when asked by a legitimate peace officer of the state of Caifornia doing his job. B) Try to incite a riot becasue I felt like I was being picked on (boo hoo) and C) because after the FIRTST time getting tazed - I’d'a stood the fuck up…
And don’t start crying to me about not being able to stand up. Those tasers were not on a stun setting. The effect our drama queen friend felt was localized and non-debilitating. Had they been set on the full setting - there’d have been no need to ask him to stand as he’d of been about as mobile as a sack of sand…
What makes you so sure that this was physically possible at the time? Tazing is painful. It’s not a pinch. Were you ever tazed before? It’s not something you recover from immediately. Your body goes through a big shock. It would take time to go back to normal mode again.
I am weeping.
Really? Were you there? Did you take part in the investigation?
They asked him that out of stupidity. You don’t taze someone for four times and while they are cringing on the floor in pain, you ask them to stand up. And remember - he was tazed even after he was handcuffed as well. That’s just abuse, they were not trying to shut this “little prick” of yours up at this point, they were just having fun and, yes, I’ll say it - abusing their power.
You’re missing the point. Had he simply shown his ID when asked - story over. However…
…as for the setting of the stun gun - It was reported in the media - and hey - if you guys can get your “facts” off of YouTube - I can get mine from the newspaper. I AM happy to see that UCLA is going for an independent inquiry. Best for boths sides…
As for being stunned while in hand cuffs - are YOU a part of the investigation, hmmmm….? But for the sake of argument - let’s say he was. Even while in said cuffs, he was trying to incite the other students. Have you ever been a part of a mob before? I was once at a basketball game. A fight on the court spread into the stands, it was VERY scary, and I got hurt.. Mobs are ugly, and if the officers felt they had to had to tase him to prevent him from turning a group into a mob - then so be it. People like to see cops as “The Man”. Well - they’re human, and they feel fear too. People in fear do things they might no normally do…
Living in a free society does not mean do-whatever-you-please. You have responsibilities as well. Crimes of violence occur on college campuses. the police are there to help prevent that. Part of preventing that is to make sure that people on the campus are supposed to be there. The occassional ID check does not constitue harrassment - it’s part of living in a society which includes some elements of danger to it’s citizens by other citizens.
Ever been stopped for a traffic violation? Did youy tell the cop to get fucked whne he asked for your license? I’m guessing not. Did you get out of the car and start yelling at other motorists about abuse of power, and try to rally them to your cause? Again - I’m guessing not.
The onus of this incident is on the student. He turned what was an acceptable use of police authority into a media circus.
Dear Dave,
Read the articles. You clearly haven’t.
Thank you.
Dear Esra,
Ok…
The first quote is for your benefit - so please be kind enough to note the 2nd quote…
Quote 1: “Tabatabainejad was also stunned with the Taser when he was already handcuffed, said Carlos Zaragoza, a third-year English and history student who witnessed the incident. ”
Assuming the completely unbiased Carlos is correct - and I have no reason to believe otherwise - you are correct. Your boy was cuffed. See my previous statement regarding inciting a riot.
Qhote two: “The officers used the “drive stun” setting in the Taser, which delivers a shock to a specific part of the body with the front of the Taser, Young said.
A Taser delivers volts of low-amperage energy to the body, causing a disruption of the body’s electrical energy pulses and locking the muscles, according to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union.
“It’s an electrical shock. … It causes pain,” Young said, adding that the drive stun would not likely demobilize a person or cause residual pain after the shock was administered. Young also said a Taser is less forceful than a baton, for example.”
Please explain, Esra, what the officers ought to have done when the student refused to follow their requests? Walk away and say “OK - you, out off all these people don’t have to show an ID. have a nice night”. Or when he tried to incite the other students? Perhaps: “OK - you’re getting us a little worried now. There’s a LOT of students here. We’re gonna go now”. Or when he repeatedly refused to get up (work with me here Esra - and assume, just for the fun of it - that he could actually have risen to his feet). Perhaps they might have said: “Oh forget it. Ifyou’re just going to sit there and be limp - we’re going to Starbucks. Leave whenever you feel like it”.
Ok - I’m being a little sarcastic - but seriously - tell me why A) the cops shouldn’t ask for ID’s, and B) why your boy shouldn’t have to show his, even though it’s a reasonable request that every other student that is asked - does…
Hey,
As most of you, I’m outraged by this act of indubitable police brutality.
But I think in all of the confusion, people aren’t paying attention to the details that prove the police’s claims false.
In all police statements that I’ve read about, they claim that he was trying to insight a protest (not that I see what’s wrong with that, you know land of the free and all) but on this video (by far the best one I’ve found on the internet) it clearly shows that the students only got up and started acting after the police started taizering the victim. There goes their protest theory.
Also, and perhaps more importantly, it shows that the student was clearly under the police’s control (and handcuffed) while being tazered. And so, why tazer him? Because he wouldn’t get up!?!?! What? Three officers of the law, with all there training, courage and merit, can’t carry, or at least drag, one guy?
These are the details that have to be highlighted. These are the details that prove that police brutality took place.
I don’t know where you guys got his video. But you have to get it out there. And not just on this website, but on YouTube as well! The videos they have there, don’t show half of what this one does, and those are the videos that everyone sees. Those are the videos that someone who won’t research what they see a little, will be exposed to!
Please take it upon yourselves, to fight for what you believe in, to publicize this particular video. Who knows? Maybe it’ll make a difference.
Renato
Daaave you talk as if I was his mom
A) I think “my boy” didn’t show his ID because he didn’t have it on him, not because he refused to for ‘rebellious’ reasons.
B) The cops have every right to ask for IDs.
They do not, however, have the right to taze the student while he was leaving minutes after being asked to leave the lab/building. And unless everyone is in on the “being tazed after he was handcuffed” conspiracy, these cops were taking it further than they should have.
Yes the student was a riot and unnecessarily loud, perhaps yelling “get off me” was an overreaction, but the consequences are still not justifiable. If he got tazed only once maybe he deserved it, but more than that is just ridiculous. Judging from that video and the reactions of the students, they probably thought so too - especially since (don’t forget this part) other students were being threatened to be tazed just for asking about the cops’ information.
It is totally wrong to be on these cops’ side in a case like this. You’ll see - even the highest of officials will apologize on these cops’ behalf.
This is a classic case of a set up to get publicity for the Mullah’s through thier agents, NIAC being one of them, watch other puppet organizations on Mulla’s payroll like IABA, NIPOC and IMAN to follow . I wouldnt be surprised if IAPAC , folks like Amirahmadi, Titra Parsi, Houghoghi and Babaie to jump on board. This is as free of advertising as it comes.
The campus police was wrong but they were lured into this by a very carefully planned conspiracy. Watch the details get investigated over the next few weeks. How come there was only one student recording? How come the recording did not start from the begining of the incident? Did you hear the student swear at the police? tell them fuck your patriot act? How come his attorney is a 2 time disbarred attorney who was the only attorney trown out of the Federal Court?
Things are never what they seem.
What do we learn from this incident?
Always have and present your college ID when using the Powell Library at UCLA after 11pm.
What do we learn from this incident?
Always have and present your college ID when using the Powell Library at UCLA after 11pm.
especially if your not white
He didn’t have his ID with him. That’s why he left… is it just me or you guys are forgetting the fact that he was leaving… or are you just making a big deal out of it without knowing a single fact about the case except what you think happened. Read the story and watch that freakin’ video.
Also…I here that these “random” ID checks are always aimed at non-whites.
Thank god I don’t live in the states… come to think of it, we don’t even have cops in my university and I hardly see a security guard either. It feels good to live in a free country and not a country pretending to be free.
“i hope they both got jumped that nite”
Yikes
“As well as losing their jobs and their pensions, I think that these officers should be arrested.”
Seriously, Yikes.
“The other students should have just rushed the cop and beat the living crap out of them.”
Um. Yeah.
I know everyone is getting worked up, but just take a second to reflect on what you’re literally advocating.
Saying that he was tazered “just because he forgot his ID”, isn’t true.
Cop: “Can I see your ID?”
Student: “Well, actually I forgot it today.”
Cop: “Oh, In that case.” *ZZZZZAAAAPPPP*
That’s not exactly how it went down.
This thread is actually really tame and reasonable compared to some others.
Errr I’m iranian myself & I’ve got 2 main view points on this whole situation.
1. The cops didn’t need to taze a guy 6 times to get him out the door & into the cop car.
2. Todays students are too pompous for their own good. The guy as far as I can tell didn’t have his id & had to leave. For whatever reason as he was leaving he was going to be detained and instead of just following what the officer was asking he made a scene. Started shouting don’t touch me etc.
To be honest he asked for what he got. He gets tazed & starts shouting about patriot act & abuse of power instead of saying ok ok you got me I’ll comply.
Even more so you then see students going up to police officers telling them hey give me your badge number? Are you kidding me? Whoever it was that asked that should have been tazed on the spot.
How does anyone expect the police to do their jobs if they have to answer to every prick on campus when they want to taze/arrest/detain/question. We’ve basically got statutory law in new zealand that protects police for this very reason from law suits etc & it’s because of events like this.
Peaaaaaaace
That was veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy sad
I’ll kill any F*** american police or soldier I can…american people are also responsible..more than 75% of Iranian citizens in america have MA..I ve read a comment sb said he deserved that..You deserve another 9/11
“You deserve another 9/11″
Heh? I think you need to calm down dude.
Another 9/11 or two more, wouldn’t make any difference. Don’t you know about “martyrs”? Right another 9/11 is going to solve anything? You sound like an American blog I know of, “Nuke ‘em” that’ll show who’s boss…..yeah right….
Haha, a little angsty are we?
What’s MA?
Sigh…
Oh LORD,
What an injustice world we are living in….
In a society that innocent fears the oppression and injustice of the police we have no hope than you Lord.
Truly, You are the Best Just,
the Most Powerful,
the Severe in Punishment.
We ask you to punish any oppressor.
Oh Lord, please help us to live like real human beings,
to RESPECT each other,
to LOVE each other, no matter what race we are.
Amen, Mohammad.
I condemn this act not just due to the racial discrimination which is now happening more frequently by police!! (A recent video was just posted in yourtube showed how couple of polices beating a black guy so violently), but I also condemn this act since it is against treating a human being and abusing his/her right in a public place. There should be restrict rules for polices not taking advantage of their powers when it comes to behave toward public. Imagine a society where violence rules and no freedom of act subsist, how can you declare democracy?!!!!
hey fatjoe,
Everything you said actually exist in a third world country… do you know why the thrid world countries are fucked? In the civilized world cops don’t touch you unless they have to and in this case there were no need for it… maybe you should go back to your jungle.
I figured that someone would voice their true intent. That didn’t take long. Remember, those are the stakes.
Interesting that both my comments have been deleted. I guess my comments weren’t unhinged enough and didn’t include Americans dying like the quote Brando has in his last post.
Good luck, people.
http://alohadump.blogspot.com/2006/11/ucla-student-tazed.html
It’s funny… killing 2000+ people for 1 kid being tased…
Trickish Knave,
Your comments were not deleted. They were flagged under “spam” for some reason and I had to go back and find them.
It’s a technical problem, no need for any dramatic reactions or stating that we are deleting comments that oppose our opinions. We never did that and never will. As you can see, there are a lot of different opinions expressed on this site. Different opinions have never been an issue for us. We welcome them with wide opened arms, in fact.
Hope to see more of your comments.
I agree with trickish naive as he more eloquently expressed the points I made just earlier.
There was excessive force used by the police & they didn’t go about arresting the guy the best way possible
But at the same time, the student acted like an idiot when he was being arrested & his unruliness only made the situation worse. He brought it on himself.
In Response to JINA, you are living in a dream world if you think the police, ESPECIALLY, in america will not touch / use force against a person when it is not necessary. Thats a fact of life. Police are humans too and they all act differently in given situations. Why do you think some police stop you when you are caught speeding and give you a ticket while others give you a warning?
Not every person reacts the same to a situation and in this case these officers used force against the guy to show him they were serious. He dug his own grave when he decided to shout & scream at them after being tazed instead of saying I’m sorry or something to let them know he wanted to comply.
If this does not meet your classification of Civilised, I apologise Jina. Maybe america isn’t civilised, but in a country of around 300,000,000 people, be happy cops are getting more tazers than guns.
Yeah, if I was a cop I’d taze people for them to take me more seriously. I wouldn’t think of another option seeing as that kid is a “rebellious prick,” I’d just taze him!
He was yelling because it’s painful. I wonder what you’d do if you were tazed - jump back up and scream “SIR YES SIR!” ? Or cringe in pain? The latter is more likely. Unless you’re superman.
I think many people here are against the fact that this kid was unnecessarily tazed several times while realizing the fact that the kid should’ve been more cooperative, but that doesn’t justify what happened. After being tazed several times, the kid was just physically worn down and yet, they still ask him to stand up. That’s pretty stupid. You don’t ask someone to stand up after physically abusing him, no matter how much of a “brat” he was. He was clearly not a threat unless those cops were extremely paranoid. In my opinion these cops were having their fun. Don’t forget that they also threatened to taze other harmless and innocent students who KINDLY asked them for their information. In my opinion, they will most likely get in trouble because the evidence against them is overwhelming.
[...] Iranian American Student Abused By UCLA UCPD With Tazer Gun [...]
[...] The recent event in UCLA brought about new insight into the hidden layers of our e-society.The story began from blogs. Personally, I first heard of the story in Iranian Truth. I was so shocked that I copied the post (which is now modified) in my blog and also in here. Then, I tried to inform more people using Balatarin (an Iranian link dump) and also email. These actions took less than half an hour, after which I was only an observer for over three days, reading people’s comments in YouTube and elsewhere. Amazingly, we all seem to be full of hatred. We just really need a reason to bombard each other. Read the rest… [...]
[quote]On 18 November 2006, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini condemned the incident, and urged punishment for those responsible[/quote]
This is how stupid the situation has become. Our foreign ministry spokesman is commenting on the tazering of a student in a university.
To the person who said the evidence is overwhelming I laugh. The onlything overwhelming about this situation is the HYPE & BIAS the police officers involved now face when this thing goes to court (which it likely will)
I agree however with your comment Esra in that “most people agree that this kid was unnecessarily tazed several times while realizing the fact that the kid should’ve been more cooperative”
And in reality, if most have come to that conclusion that really should be the end of the matter and people like our (Iran’s) foreign minister should not be making rediculous comments like these in relation to such a minor event.
I’ve seen the video 3-4 times and although as you said Ezra he would be in pain, I’ve also seen demonstration videos of the tazer (we’ve recently introduced it here in New Zealand) in which people who’ve been hit by it have no where NEAR cried, screamed & shouted as much as this guy. It’s as simple as saying I surrender i give up after the first tazer & surely it would have been over. Had he said words along those lines ~ i give up etc. and been tazered AGAIN, there’s no doubt in my mind the police would be COMPLETELY rather than PARTIALLY at fault.
But thats not the case is it.
“be happy cops are getting more tazers than guns.”
Thank you, fatjoe: that’s about the best that can be said for America at the moment.
As an American, I am shocked at that people don’t see that America IS a melting pot. My friends, family, co-workers, etc. are of every faith, religion, and ethnic group.
We all grieving together when these sorts of horrible atrocities occur, because at those times the ties are as close as family and blood. I know readers out there know what I’m talking about….
This incident is disgusting. It is an excessive, unnecessary abuse of authority.
Here is a petition I found to sign:
(you will need to copy/paste it into your address bar)
To: UCLA UCPD
We condemn the recent excessive and unnecessary force used in the case of the Iranian American student abused at the UCLA Powell Library. This is a case of police brutality and warrants immediate action taken against the police involved. Please support this cause by signing the petition to further investigations in this matter.
Sincerely,
(your first, last name)
hhtp:www.petitiononline.com/uclaucpd/petition.html
Allright. Seriously. Some of the positions of folks in here are really scary and telling. It’s time to calm down and defend or apologize for the things we’ve said. Iranians flatly stating that they’re pro-terrorist, then claiming profiling? That’s an odd position to have.
Really? The best? It is honestly your position that absolute best thing that can be said about America is that cops are getting more tasers than guns?
Over 600 officers have been murdered in the last ten years and many people are now saying police should be completely unarmed. Think of what you’re accountable for if you get your way.
Some people are saying now that police shouldn’t even ask anyone for their ID, or have tasers.
That is a very counterproductive idea. (Which I believe is precisely the intent)
At this point I think they’re stretching the case just because they can. People are over-dramatizing the whole thing.
Brando I’m very glad you came back because I found an article that sort of echoes your views. It makes good points, here’s some of it (from Iranian.com):
Admittedly he makes good points - but I have never seen this as racial profiling. The fact that this kid is going to make this about “race” is really pathetic. However I am still with him on this case. I think the reactions from the police were just disappointing - the kid was being rude and loud, that is hardly the equivalent of violence and thus they overreacted and tased him more than it was necessary.
I don’t think this should be an attack on the police in general. It is 2 cops who in my opinion did a mistake - the entire police department shouldn’t pay for that. No laws should change. The cops just need to be more professional with their work. This opinion might change if I knew more about the case.
Also, does anyone know whether or not the police really threatened him before he was removed? They probably said they’d do something - but I don’t think the kid saw the tasing coming. Ghana needs to support his statement with some facts.
After a 103 post, only 2 ideas on how to prevent this going forward??? I guess it’s time to do the American thing and just have fun with this.
I don’t understand such the fuss over some trespassing prick carrying a backpack filled with who knows what, in a vary public place, yelling like a mad man. The reason that it’s funny is that no bomb went off and that it’s clearly set up, it’s kinda like watching the movie Jackass. What’s that other show on MTV, Boiling Point? Maybe give each contestant a $100 for every time they get zapped in less than 10 minutes by an officer. I think it’s time our reality shows get kicked up to the next level.
Dear Peter,
What?
I didn’t understand any of that.
After my original post 43, and your follow-up post 44, I haven’t read 1 other idea on how to prevent anything like this going forward. It’s just a lot of crap on how’s rights everyone thinks were violated. Other than that plain out-right crazy mother talking about killing cops and soldiers… NO ONE here seems determined to prevent stuff like this, they just want to give there 2 cents.
Honestly, I don’t blame them. There are a lot of things I’ve been known to do, but making assholes like the one getting tazed to stop acting like asshole hasn’t been one of them. The only good I see out of this is if South Park or Mad TV did a skit on it. How funny would it be if little Stewart got tazed every time his mother asked him to do something and he didn’t?
I think thats the point everyone is missing here.
They all think that because he got tazed when he was trying to leave it was all the cops fault. But in reality you have to account for the fact that you’re living in a post 9/11 America and a kid without id, in a crowded place such as that with a back pack really should be investigated which is what they were trying to do.
The level of paranoia about unidentified people with back packs & cases etc left behind with no owners is amazing & has even reached New Zealand. Just last week the Hotels, Cafes & Offices in the Central City were all evacuated while the Bomb Squad blew up a suit case which was left unattended on a park bench.
It contained perfumes
So why are you all suprised?
Post 9/11 world my arse… it’s the same bloody world as before but those who wants to control you make it seem different to control you. Idiots fall for what the government say and go along like bunch of sheep. If you don’t know what a police state is go look it up and this is EXACTLY the start of it. Using fear to do what normally would be considered normal. Study about Nazi Germany or Stalin’s USSR if you are not too busy making a fool of yourself.
How about current day Iran as an example or Saddam’s Iraq. Idiots never get it till it’s too late.
Nicely put fatjoe. No offence if you really are fat, but these kids need to stop ordering in pizza and get out of the dorms a little more. Really, do we get our schools and colleges secure and protect the future of our nation or do we worry if some psycho’s feeling are hurt because he’s making an ass out of himself? If you think that’s a hard question, wait till you get a life.
Not surprised, I think many of us just don’t agree with how it’s being justified.
Not part of our mission statement. We are here to have worthwhile discussions, not save the world.
Many of us are also neither American nor are living in the U.S, so there is pretty much no way we can prevent these things from happening. We are not lifesavers. Or news busters. We are people who know no more than the average person does from the media and that is what we are here to talk about - so that we can learn from each other based on our different experiences. Having constructive discussions is a good thing unless you eat up whatever’s in the media as facts that should not be debated.
Also, while it is nice to have you here, your comments are lacking sense. Please stick with the facts rather than asking those who disagree with you to “get a life.” And much to your dismay, this has nothing to do with MTV or Jackass. You have yet to clarify your comparison.
Hmmm… that guy wasn’t fat. Protecting the people by beating up the people sounds kinda stupid. I don’t know what Jackass is and never watched MTV… hmmm what’s your point Peter?
Yes, Jina, this is a fine example of the sort of thing that happens in a police state. That’s why Americans are upset and ashamed.
Please note, however, that in a police state the officers involved in such incidents aren’t disciplined because they did what they are suppossed to do and the public makes no outcry because they’re afraid.
My point is that as long as there’s wack jobs like this, there are going to be police to taser them. He’s luck he just got the taser, you’re probably to young to remember this but there used to be a time when the police carried big wooden batons. Talk about leaving a mark, this joker got off easy.
As for the 2 cents part Esra, I’m sorry and I stand corrected. I haven’t taken the time to read your mission. I guessed I just jumped in here trying to come up with a solution. I thought securing the college would prevent stuff like this going forward. There are many schools in America that have large fences with school representatives at the gates. There are all types of housing developments with guard gates where your name must be on a visitors list. I’m not sure where you’re from but in America, it has and can be done.
“this has nothing to do with MTV or Jackass”
I’m not the one that turned this into a comedy. I was just thinking of ways to make it better. He’s the one that knew there were camera’s in the crowd, he the one that made an ass out of himself. Have you ever watched the movie Jackass or the Show Boiling Point on MTV. This is what we in America think is funnier than shit. Some asshole making an ass out of himself in front of a camera. Anything that has to do with asses is funny in America, it could just be a little kitten, but if he caught on tape farting out of his ass then it becomes funny. If this isn’t comedy, I don’t know what is. Assholes making asses out of themselves, funny, period… The only thing not funny here is the officer that probably has to relocate because of all the negative publicity. One day you’re working a college campus with all these beautiful people everywhere and the next you’re working the midnight shift in Cracktown.
“Hmmm… that guy wasn’t fat.â€
In America, fat people sit around and eat pizza. I was assuming that fatjoe is a fat person that sits around and eats pizza, I didn’t want to disrespect fatjoe.
“Protecting the people by beating up the people sounds kinda stupid.â€
Are you really suggesting that normal law-biding citizens and nut jobs like this guy should be treated the same? If you think protecting the youth of America from a wacko is “kinda stupidâ€, then maybe you shouldn’t visit America. The police are here to serve and protect, hurting some assholes feeling isn’t high on their list of things not to do, I’m sure.
If any good comes out of this, I hope it’s the realization of the lack of security. Really, some wack-job with a back pack full of who knows what walks into in a library with 100 or so students at close range. This could have been much worse than it was. Thank God it was only some punk with diarrhea of the mouth. If I had a child at UCLA or was attending college there, I would really be taking a closer look at the security and how they are planning to improve it.
you are all so eager to cry for racism. get over it, all UCLA students are familiar with the ID check procedure, essential for the safety of ALL UCLA students. Screaming in the middle of Powell and refusing to leave should exacerbate physical action. Do your medical research, tazer victims are perfecty able to stand within seconds of tazering, and if half of the victims energy was used to leave the premises instead of causing a ridiculous scene, additional tazers never would have even become an option. this was not racist, this was the result of overeager law officials and a moron who disrupted hundreds during midterm study.
Esra’a : Good job on enforcing some rules. This is a good lively discussion.
Peter, I’m for most of the stuff that you’re saying. You’re making your point well, but don’t oversell it. The cops did a good job of getting control of him without anyone getting injured. Until the cuffs go on. At that point they should be done shocking them.
equalviwere said it best. You can’t really argue with that…..
ps: I’m actually slim ironically, fatjoe’s just a nickname ~ ie. fatjoe the singer
Are you people forgetting the fact that he was leaving and at the exist when the cops interrupted him? Why ignore a crucial fact and go on talking like this kid was still sitting on the computer refusing to show the id card? It is established that he didn’t have his ID card, and was leaving and almost could have gone without any problem if the cop didn’t do what he did.
If you think cop had the right to do what he did after he said he had a medical condition and threatened the other students to taser if they don’t’ shut it is fucking stupid of you all.
Go back and live in your jungles if you think the cop had the right to touch this student and tazer him multiple times (at least 4 times I counted on the video). You don’t deserve to live in a civilized world, better just move to Iran or Saudi Arabia or some shitty place like that… you’ll like the cops there considering what you say about this incident.
You just gave up any credibility you had Jina. Your comment (paragraphs) went from Misinformed to Incorrect to Racist.
Well done.
He was going to leave but that is irrelevant. He had no ID and therefore for all the cops knew he could have been there with bad intentions. They had every right to detain him & find out why he was there.
Wake up already.
It’s not he was going to leave, he WAS leaving. Most student never carry their bloody ID… you’ll be fucking tasering the entire student body if you do this.
Sigh…
Yup… I am racist… how?
I don’t want to move to my jungles.
This officer was already the subject of two previous complaints.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-taser21nov21,0,1459046.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Since this is kinda been turned into an Islamic thing, have any of you, ie. Jina, had a chance to watch Ted Koppel’s documentary? Grass-roots Iran: Is it friend or foe? Did was a young man 16 that went to jail over a week because he had coffee with his girlfriend in public. I didn’t know that NO ONE can hang out with anyone of the opposite sex. Does anyone know what happens if your gay? I just don’t get the way they treat their women over there.
I’m sure if you get this riled up over a some kid running his mouth and getting tased, You surely must rip into the Iranian Government. Can you send me a link to a message board were you really let them have it or do you agree with the way they treat their women?
Its a shame & its sickening.
UCLA has a big suit coming up. The young man could retire happily from UCLA which hires unreasonable,trigger happy rascals. If a student can not feel safe inside his school’s
library imagine how he would feel on the street.So much for the racial profiling!
Adios liberty. America used to be the land of the free!
Not sure what you mean here, Peter. People have been going back and forth with whether he’s Muslim or Baha’i. How does this matter? It’s not like the police would base anything on his personal beliefs.
So how is this turning into an Islamic thing? There’s no relevance.
Peter, care to explain how this is an Islamic thing?
I know what happens to gays in Iran, they get hanged if they are discovered.
We are NOT talking about Iran, we are talking about USofA and UCLA. Stick to the bloody topic.
Ohh a guy who taser hobos tased a student. Haaaaa and the way he acted is funny to.
Also, explain how a person who have been hit by a taser can stand up. If you can explain these I’ll respond to your comments, otherwise have fun.
The Bloody topic is “Iranian American Student Abused By UCLA UCPD With Tazer Gun†I’m not the one that turned this into a Islamic thing. All those human rights abuses in Iran and you mean to tell me you’ve never wrote on a message board how you felt? Some Iranian student runs his mouth and all of a sudden you got something to say? You’re just like the guy that’s yelling at Israel to stop firing rockets at his house but when Hamas knocked on his door 30 minutes earlier, he showed him where the ladder to the roof was. I’m done trying to reason with you.
The fact is, Officer Injuries down 80%, Suspect Injuries down 67%, Lethal Force down 78%, Baton Strikes down 56%… If you think Tasers are going away anytime soon, you truly are misguided.
Peter, one must read your comments with a sigh.
I don’t even know where to start with you. Seems like this is the only article you’ve ever read on this website.
This does not answer my question.
How is this incident Islamic? Who turned it Islamic? Where does it say “abuse against Muslim” instead of “Iranian-American”? Do you know that many Iranian-Americans abroad aren’t even Muslims? His religion does not matter. Stop trying to make this about Islam when clearly it is irrelevent to the whole case.
Make your case clear. Otherwise stop claiming that we are misguided, it makes your comments less enjoyable to read.
Great. Goodbye!
Sorry, but this website is for the open-minded and those willing to learn. You seem to fall under neither.
I don’t want tasers to go away, just used appropriately and have you heard, this cop used the taser on a homeless guy also. You are defending an asshole.
You picked the wrong asshole to defend.
Ohh this topic of the post is irritating me also, HE IS A FUCKING AMERICAN. Fact that he is of Persian origin is second.
Hold on a sec, we are once again talking about America… stick to the topic.
I don’t think anyone here support Hamas so you are coming to a freaking false conclusion again. You have already made up your conclusion about ALL Muslims. Hold on, we are also against the Iranian government and their actions. Read our Mission Statement and rest of the blog more carefully before jumping to false conclusion.
The gay get hanged in iran last I checked. It is pretty strict yeah.
hej guys & selam alejkum brothers and sisters
I was very frightened & shocked, if I saw this clip. I did not think that “in the country of the unlimited possibilities” these f****** cops have possibilities like this. I hope he’s getting heal and the cops will pay enough for this act.
Notice: In Germany and Switzerland an prehaps Austria some people are reading this
PS: Oh, Islamic things…Do you know what is happening in “Islamic” countries. Where childs and women can’t sleep because of the noise of the bombs? Where the “Rescuer” are abusig the people mentally and sexually (Abu Ghraib) ? Do you know which kind of people are in the prison of Guantanamo-Bay, without a Court hearing or a lawyer???
I’m sorry if my English is bad
Yours faithfully Hasan
You guys may wanna read some updates here.
Machiavelli? Talking about Tupac in court?
Do you really want to see this guy on the loose? I for one am happy this took place - at least they caught the guy before he really gets to abuse his powers even further. What a nut.
Okay guys, the guys who are defending this asshole and calling the victim an asshole. RESPOND or reword your stories now. Whatever makes you happy.
suppose that article says it all. Violent cop
OK Esra, forget everything I’ve said, I’ll start over. Before you mentioned that many of the people on this board are not from America and therefore can’t control how situations like this are handled at UCLA. I STRONGLY disagree with that. Never in my entire life have I heard a good idea from another person and then after finding out where there from just dismiss it. Throughout history, there have been little “no-bodies†that have come up with great ideas that affect almost everyone on the planet. No one gives a crap where there from. You can keep telling yourself that you can’t make a difference or WE can come up with ideas on how to prevent these situations. Do we really just want to sit here and talk about it or do we want to make a difference?
Honestly, how would you have handled this unruly person on private property? If someone’s on my property and I ask them to leave and they give attitude, there’s a good chance it’s going to get ugly. I really could see myself grabbing the bitch by the back of the neck and throwing him off my property. Does this make me a bad person? Am I to give someone 10 seconds or 10 minutes? Really, how should have the officers handled this? And Jina, if you’re going to respond, suggest anything but he was heading for the door.
p.s. Esra, it was Jina that I was done trying to reason with
He is a student at UCLA. Your example is flawed. He is paying customer at that university. This is like my landlord kicking me out of my house for not having a bloody id to prove that I live there.
If I were at my home and didn’t have the paper work to prove that I own that house when asked for (not that I didn’t have the paper work, just that I didn’t have it at that time), do the cops have the right to kick me out of my house? Ponder that.
About the heading for exit thing. That is a crucial point. You can’t sentence a person without knowing the circumstances were. Take in all facts and don’t dismiss an important fact without giving a reason, so you want to give me a reason as to why you are dismissing this fact?
Because we control Planet Earth and have a huge influence on American policies? Come on Peter, what’s wrong with discussing things? How can we come up with “solutions” without discussing the facts and learning from each other’s opinions?
What are you referring to? No one did that here.
Peter, we are not talking about universal things like math, philosophy, political ideas, etc where any contribution can be applied in any other country, because all countries have these fields.
We are talking about a recent incident which took place in America. You don’t expect a handful of Middle Easterners to change American policies. Unless of course said Middle Easterners fly planes into buildings - but we’re not that mentally ill. What makes you think we should sit here and discuss ways to prevent this when many of us can’t even relate to the situation?
This is a Middle Eastern & North African project, not a global one. If you want to find youth who will change American policies - you have come to the wrong place. Read the domain. We are Mideast Youth. Not American youth. We aim to make a change in the Middle East, not America. We do not understand America as well as we understand the Middle East. Thus when we talk about foreign news, we talk about it as outsiders. People discuss things. Do you ask everyone to “shut up and prevent it”? It doesn’t work like that.
You watched the video, and I think you never went any further than that. Because if you read the reports, especially the most recent ones revealing the identity of one of the cops, you would know that the cop was guilty of doing this in the past. He was fired, he tried to choke a fratboy, he tazed a homeless person, and he talked about “The Prince” in court to justify his brutality. Is this the kind of guy you want to help keep your nation “secure”?
Nope. But the cop, judging from his past, is a bad person. And not professional with his work, so don’t be surprised if this kid ends up winning the case. Since the officer has been suspended in the past, I think this might result in him being fired. Which, in my opinion, is a very good thing.
FYI: I just contacted Norman Abrams office who is the acting Chancellor, Telephone: 310-825-2151, Email: chancellor@conet.ucla.edu He is open to any and all suggestions. His secretary assured me that where I’m from doesn’t matter in the slightest bit.
Jina, with over 35,000 students, do you really expect security to know everyone that is a paying customer. Chances are, if a landlord owns a house, he knows who’s paying him the rent. Wouldn’t you agree?
All he had to do is tell the security guard that it seems he misplaced his ID. Packed his stuff up or ask if he could leave it there to save his spot and run out to the car or dorm and grab it. Was this his first time he had gone to the Library after 11:30 pm and didn’t know that security guards check everyone’s ID? He should have just went and got his ID and then got back to studying for midterms. If you really think he was hading for the exit, then why was he urging others to join his resistance? Urging others to join your resistance when there are men with guns in front of you. Hmmm He’s not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed I’d say.
Hahah. Alright, I’ll call and demand certain policies to be in place - even though I am not familar with UCLA, I am not familar with the American environment, I’ve hardly ever been to the U.S (unless an airport counts,) and I don’t actually think that this is worthy of this much action when things are being taken care of. There’s a law suit. That means you patiently wait and see what happens, you don’t harrass people on the phone and complain especially if you don’t have much of a connection to the incident.
Calm down, why don’t you?
“what’s wrong with discussing things?â€
Esra, yes there is a time for just sitting around and discussing things. Ie, did you see that movie, do you think this shirt matches my pants, do you think so and so likes me… There are plenty of times when I feel it’s ok to just discus things.
There’s nothing wrong with this but you must be young. Someday, maybe it will be a near death experience like I had, when things make you upset, you’re going to want to come up with ideas to make things better. Someday, if you make it to old age, you’re going to look back at your life and ask yourself if you truly made a different or were you just the one that sat there and talked about it. If just sitting here and talking about it is what you want, then I will respect your wishes and leave you alone, just let me know.
Yes, this is what we do on this site.
We talk about hairdos and pants and what we ate for dinner. Yes, this is exactly what this website is for! You have us exposed.
Esra don’t mistake paying customer for paying resident.
The library is & remains the property of UCLA & it’s highly likely that it will be stated in the Universities Regulations that students in areas such as the library after hours will have to have id on them else for all the police & security know it could be a trespasser.
What some people are also misunderstanding is that as the student was leaving already, it’s the cops fault. Cause he was on his way out so why’d they stop him. It’s simple.
Security asks a person in the library after hours for id, the person doesn’t have any. At that point the security guard for whatever reason (possibly because the guy wouldn’t leave) goes & brings other officers.
At this point it doesn’t matter if he’s leaving or staying, the officers HAVE THE RIGHT to detain him & find out what he’s doing there without ID. For all they know he could be there doing something illegal etc.
In the end if he hadn’t acted like such an idiot starting to shout & scream let go of me dont touch me, he wouldn’t have been tazed. He would simply have been escorted somewhere else & questioned etc.
Simple.
Hi fatjoe,
I’m not saying what he did was right. Where did I say that the kid shouldn’t cooperate?
My main argument is that the reaction from the cops was completely unnecessary and over-done.
One of the cops has a history of reacting with brutality. Read the recent reports, he has abused his powers before and has been fired and suspended as a result of both cases, and these are only the things that we know of. Judging from his history, I assume he got away with many similar incidents.
Can anyone give me an example in the complete history of our planet that anyone asked others to “join your resistance” when they were leaving an area? Is it really not easy for you to see his true intentions?
I don’t know where most of you are from, but I find it rather sad that you don’t feel you can make a positive change. Perhaps your afraid of jail time if you try to do anything more then “discuss thingsâ€. In America, if you take issue with something, you write or call those that have the power and you express your feelings. If you ever get the chance, watch the movie Pay it Forward, one person can make a positive change.
Good Luck with just your discussion
Peter, you are by far the most dramatic and whiny commenter we have so far.
Stick to the topic, or stop writing irrelevant comments while pretending to be the Gandhi of the Internet.
Sheesh.
Esra’a, that’s an insult to all Gandhi wannabes. At least they shut up and do something rather than just complain like a little bitch.
I just do not understand how you can come to a website full of outspoken activists and individuals who are responsible for starting many campaigns and claim that they do not talk about anything of particular worth.
Americans have the freedom to act and increase awareness on shitty policies. We in the Middle East do not have that - so don’t come here and ask us to do things millions of Americans can do themselves. It would help a lot if people read the mission statement before complaining about the way we handle things. Furthermore - why am I talking about this in a thread about a tazed student? I knew someone would write a comment that would totally change the direction of this otherwise good and healthy discussion.
The problem is that if you delete the irrelevant comments, its writers accuse you of limiting “freedom of speech” and thus you must be a hypocrite.
Sigh.
A comment policy page is in order.
Esra,
No need for a comment policy, I’ll just come back in a year after to see how far along you’ve come with your discussion. You put it best, what was it you said?
“There’s a law suit. That means you patiently wait and see what happens, you don’t harrass people on the phone and complain especially if you don’t have much of a connection to the incident.â€
I’m sure you’ll get real far in life as you wait for the courts to make a decision. I’m going to pray for you tonight, that you don’t become one of those people that just likes to hear themselves talk. You talk about wanting to discuss things but yet you don’t answer any of the questions I honestly had. Ie. an example in the complete history of our planet that anyone asked others to “join your resistance†when they were leaving an area, or Jina, Can you send me a link to a message board were you really let them have it or do you agree with the way they treat their women? Message 123
I think Arash said it best, “I hope something good comes out of it.†I hope some good comes out of this as well, but it won’t be from this discussion, I’m sure.
Dude.
Tazers.
We’re here to talk about tazers. Stop being so goddamned dramatic.
No actually, this discussion was saved in PDF format and faxed to the president’s office. Didn’t you know? UCLA changed its security policies because of this very discussion. Praise be to Allah! We have succeeded.
Are you making an extra effort to be hilarious here?
Your very irrelevent post that also makes no freakin’ sense is in violation of our new comment policy. If you don’t want to talk about an Iranian-American student who was tazed at UCLA, don’t post in this thread, or your comments will be deleted.
Thanks.
Now go save the world or whatever it is you do in your free time.
Esra’a
I can imagine that your face was red when you typed the last comment!
Haha, not really. I don’t mind Peter. It’s just that he never does what he’s asked and he’s too whiny for his own good.
To be back on topic, I didn’t hear any updates on this case, I wonder if the revealed cop was charged with anything. Considering his history, I should hope so.
My dear friends,
I condemn the act of the officers and I believe it was not necessary to go that far.
They could have handed it much better without harassing him.
However, I was reading Quran and here is a little advice for Mostafa (who was tazered) and all of us.
“The good deed and the evil deed cannot be equal. Repel (the evil) with one which is better (i.e. Allah orders the faithful believers to be patient at the time of anger, and to excuse those who treat them badly) then verily he, between whom and you there was enmity, (will become) as though he was a close friend.†(41, 34)
I know that this is hard especially at the situations like what Mostafa experienced that couldn’t control his anger as Quran also refers to this as follows:
“But none is granted it (the above quality) except those who are patient – and none is granted it except the owner of the great portion (of happiness in the Hereafter i.e. Paradise and of a high moral character) in this world.†(41, 35)
May Allah give this quality, increase kindness and friendship between all of us and enter us to his Paradise.
HEY JOE MEYERES I GOT A FUCKING MESSAGE FOR YOU YOU WASP CUNT, IS YOUR NAME
JEFF FOXWORTHY?
the student DID leave what happened was that
the police barely gave him a chance and not only did they tazer the student, but they THREATENED to tazer anyone else who would get close and stand up to him. WATCH T HE VIDEO
AND GET THE FACTS
Here’s a little something for all you that claim that someone can’t get up for minutes after they’ve been tasered.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jycsQe1F-sE&mode=related&search=
If this drunk red-neck can take it 5 times, don’t you think that whiny Iranian UCLA student could handle it?
I guess you missed the part where the “whiny Iranian” mentioned the fact that he had a medical condition. Different people give different physical reactions to these sorts of abuses.
Ya ~ agreed wit peter.
Hey Mohammad.
Good quote. We could equally apply a quote of similar injunctions to the guards with all the power in this situation. The problem as I recognize it from my own experience, is that we cannnot just read the Holy Bible or the Holy Qur’an. We have to put the words into guided practice through our lives. It is almost impossible to suddenly pick up one of the holy books and expect it to change our behavior without practice, daily practice. This is true with any kind of training or skill.
You seem to be a good man from your words, God Speed.
If this drunk red-neck can take it 5 times, don’t you think that whiny Iranian UCLA student could handle it?
sigh…
Esra,
How would I go about finding out info on the police officer/s that did this? http://www.gaymiddleeast.com/news/article100.html
Thanks in Advance
[...] This is in response to the UCLA taser incident MidEast Youth had a very lengthy discussion about this incident. Go here to learn more about it Filed Under: Racism, United States, Student [...]
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salam !
Persian: man nemidunam ke shoma mifahmid man chi migam ya na . vali mani befarma , benshin va betamarg hamash yekieh, mohem ineh ke be che zabooni harf mizanid.
vaghti mibinid yeknafar esalatan iranieh ye joor digeh harf mizanid. mesl e kasani ke nejad parast hastand. hanooz in chizha dar amrica hast???
English:I don’t know if u underestand me or not, but i think there is e defferent between ‘please take a seat’ , ‘ sit down’ and ‘ sit the hell down’.
when u (americans) see someone who is iranian u talk to them in a racist tone !!!!!
are americans still racist !!!????!!!???
salam !
Persian: man nemidunam ke shoma mifahmid man chi migam ya na . vali mani befarma , benshin va betamarg hamash yekieh, mohem ineh ke be che zabooni harf mizanid.
vaghti mibinid yeknafar esalatan mal e ye keshvar e digast ye joor digeh harf mizanid. mesl e kasani ke nejad parast hastand. hanooz in chizha dar amrica hast???
English:I don’t know if u underestand me or not, but i think there is e defferent between ‘please take a seat’ , ‘ sit down’ and ‘ sit the hell down’.
when u (americans) see someone who is a foreigner u talk to them in a racist tone !!!!!
are americans still racist !!!????!!!???
Well, it’s been a little over a year. I just came back to see how far you got on this. Looks like you should have taken my advice and talk to the administrator if you wanted to see any change. I TOLD YOU SO!!!!