Politics

"Stand Up, Or We'll Tase You Again"

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UCLA student–with a suspiciously Muslim name of Mostafa Tabatabainejad–is tased repeatedly by campus cops the other night for not having his ID while using a library computer lab, and for complaining when they grabbed him while he was on the way out.

When he wouldn't get up quickly enough after being tased, they tased him again–and threatened to tase witnesses who wouldn't walk away.

UCLA Daily Bruin account of the assault.

Video of the assault. (Man, the citizens' panopticon eyes really are everywhere these days. The shooter doesn't get very close until about a minute or so in, though you can hear the victim screaming pretty much from the start. The Patriot Act is mentioned.)

An short account about the dangers of tasers by me from the April 2005 issue of Reason.

Sometime Reason contributor Declan McCullagh's account (from which I first heard of this awful tale).

In These Times magazine's November cover feature on abuse of and hazards of tasers.