LOS ANGELES - A 23-year-old student was administered multiple stun gun shocks by UCLA Police Department officers in the Powell Library computer lab, it was reported Wednesday.
Video shot from another student's camera phone shows the man screaming while on the floor of the computer lab as officers used the stun gun on him at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Daily Bruin.
Watch Channel 4 News at 11 a.m. to see video of the incident obtained by NBC4's Robert Kovacik. It will be posted here afterward. He had been working at a computer in the back of the lab and had failed to produce a student ID during a random check performed by community service officers, the newspaper reported.
According to a UCLA police sergeant, the student was identified as Mostafa Tabatabainejad of Los Angeles.
He was given a citation for obstruction/delay of a peace officer in the performance of duty and then released from custody, the sergeant said.
The sergeant said he saw Tabatabainejad after it happened and that he did not appear to have suffered serious injury.
"If he was able to walk out of here, I think he was OK," the sergeant said.
Officers were escorting Tabatabainejad out of the computer lab when the trouble started, according to the Daily Bruin. One of the officers placed a hand on one of his arms, to which the student objected.
As a second officer approached, he repeatedly yelled "get off of me," the newspaper reported.
It was then that one of the officers shot Tabatabainejad with a stun gun, dropping him to the floor as he cried out, according to the newspaper.
"Any student who witnessed it was left with an image you don't want to remember," said a witness who asked not to be identified.
When asked whether the student resisted when officer attempted to escort him from the building, the witness said, "In the beginning, no. But when they were holding onto him and they were on the ground, he was trying to just break free. He was saying, 'I'm leaving, I'm leaving.' It was so disturbing to watch that I cannot be concise on that. I can just say that he was willing to leave. He had his backpack on his shoulder and he was walking out when the cops approached him. It was unnecessary."
The video shows the student shouting, "Here's your Patriot Act, here's your f---ing abuse of power," the newspaper reported.
Officers told Tabatabainejad to stand up and stop struggling, which he allegedly refused to do. He was then struck with the stun gun at least once more and taken into custody, the newspaper reported.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyvrqcxNIFs
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by perfectbeast2001
Cop or Not? Your telling me you would smash a cop in the face for somebody you don't even know and face 5-10 for assault on a police officer. Give me a break! That kid could have walked out but chose to make a scene from what I saw. But then again I guess you would have to be there to get the whole story.
Also, yeah if I saw you or some random guy being beaten or tased unnecesarily (sp.) I would help out, but if it were cops I would have to assume the guy deserved it and their is no way I am going to a jail for some random guy.
