so colin and i got into a heated gtalk debate last night about mostafa tabatabainejad, the UCLA student who got tasered for refusing to show his student ID at the library. you can read colin's arguments here.
there has been a fair bit of debate over this spectacle; not only over who to blame, but what actually happened.
the idea of racial profiling has been thrown about (tabatabainejad is persian), which would have had merit, if it weren't for the fact that the library regularly checks all patrons' IDs at night for added security.
we shouldn't undermine the most important part of this story: police brutality. while tabatabainejad was an idiot for refusing to show ID and making a fuss, he was in no way a threat to the cops or to other students (of course, it doesn't help that one of the cops has a history of this type of thing). the use of tasers in this situation was completely unnecessary. the guy got tasered five times. not once, not twice, five! watch the video. the cops threaten him with tasering after he refuses to comply with their orders. why the fuck would you threaten to immobilize somebody with shocks when you want them to get up? that is the complete opposite of logic!
