Who's Involved:
Mostafa Tabatabainejad
Tabatabainejad, a 23-year-old senior double majoring in philosophy and North African studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, was asked by campus police to provide photo ID on the evening of November 14th, 2006. When he refused, he was tasered, handcuffed, and then repeatedly tasered after being handcuffed. The American-born Tabatabainejad, who is of Iranian-American ancestry, initially refused to show ID as a form of civil disobedience against what he believed to be an instance of post-9/11 ethnic profiling.
UCLA Campus Police
Six officers were involved in the arrest of Tabatabainejad. The officer who discharged the taser, Terrence Duren, was UCLA campus police's 2001 Officer of the Year. Duren has been accused of choking a student with a nightstick in 1990 and shooting a homeless man in 2003, but was cleared of wrongdoing in both cases. He has offered to explain his actions to campus Muslim student groups. (Tabatabainejad is actually a member of the Baha'i Faith, not a Muslim.) "Let the independent watchdog run its course," Duren told the Los Angeles Times in a recent interview. "I have nothing to hide."
Norman Abrams
The acting chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, Abrams ordered an independent investigation into the incident on November 17th, 2006.
Merrick Bobb
Bobb was commissioned by Abrams to lead the investigation. Bobb is best known as the staff attorney for the Christopher Commission, which exposed widespread police brutality and racial profiling in the aftermath of the Rodney King beating.
Civil Liberties Issues:
Police Brutality
Was the repeated tasering of Tabatabainejad justified under the circumstances? Officers argue that it was, due to the crowd that had begun to surround Tabatabainejad and the potential that other students might help him resist arrest.
Racial Profiling
Was Tabatabainejad targeted for police harassment, and/or excessively harsh treatment, because of his Middle Eastern ethnicity?
Event Profiles:
November 17th, 2006
UCLA Launches Independent Investigation Regarding Student Tasering Incident
November 14th, 2006
UCLA Student Tasered
Other Coverage:
UCLA student reporter Sara Taylor has provided extensive firsthand coverage of the UCLA taser controversy inside the pages of the Daily Bruin, UCLA's student newspaper:
- Officer Named in Taser Incident (11/21/06)
- Student to File Suit in Taser Incident (11/20/06)
- UCLA Community Gathers to Protest Taser Incident, Campus Violence (11/17/06)
- Community Responds to Taser Use (11/16/06) (includes video footage of taser incident)
Around the Blogosphere:
Accidental Blogger: "But the police proceeded to use a taser gun on him - five times. Later they explained that the use of the taser was necessitated by Tabatabainejad's refusal to get up and move. Did they not teach the police what the simple effect of a taser gun is on a normal person? One is 'immobilized' and 'cannot get up'! What kind of idiotic behavior is this?"
AMERICAblog: "This is disgusting what they did, and it's even more disgusting that they continue to minimize it. One of the recommendations this commission needs to consider is whether they need a permanent watchdog over this UCLA police department."
California Conservative: "This isn’t about inappropriate action by the police, it’s about inappropriate behavior by a vitriolic student who was all worked up and yelling anti-establishment rhetoric like he just finished reading the DailyKos or DemocraticUnderground."
Objective Justice: "Do you think it makes sense, as a 'pain compliance technique' to use an instrument that sometimes kills people when they are passively resisting? ... Should the police be able to kill someone who refuses to stand up?"
