News: Disturbing report from LA that UCLA campus police tasered a student in the library several times after he failed to show his ID at the library and then allegedly refused to leave the library after 11 p.m. Apparently, by UCLA policy, non-students cannot use the library after that time, so the campus police were performing a random check. The individual, however, was a UCLA student, Mostafa Tabatabainejad, who reportedly failed to produce an ID upon request and then did not leave as requested. (More from LA’s local ABC station and the UCLA Daily Bruin)
Apparently, a student caught some of the incident on video and uploaded it onto YouTube. You can hear (but not see) some of the tasering, followed by a lot of yelling and screaming. In a statement, Interim Chancellor Norman Abrams said an internal investigation was underway, “I can assure you that these reviews will be thorough, vigorous and fair.”
Analysis: This is very disturbing. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions without knowing more facts (the video itself does not show exactly what happened leading up to the confrontation), but I really doubt that any good policy should allow campus police to resort to tasering an individual who is not presenting a threat of physical harm to others. (Truthfully, when I first heard the story, I thought it was a hoax because it sounded so incredible that campus police would actually be using tasers.) Credit to the other UCLA students in the video who were asking the campus police to stop or identify their badge numbers, as well as those students who had the good sense to document the incident on their cellphone cameras.
[UPDATE: If you are looking for the video of the Florida student tasered at a John Kerry speech on September 17, 2007, go here.]
The Utube Blog 
Hey there those pigs are lucky they no on beat the shit out of them ! I dont know what went on there but no dout he did anything to deserve that. Im glad in Canada not China ? Or Usa Was it because he was Black ? Bad ass cops
That is absolutly disgraceful behaviour on the police’s side. No we dont get to see what lead up to these actions, but repetitve tasering cannot and is not the way to sort out this type of situation. The uni Police are supposed to reinforce safety on campus and this footage shows that they demand respect from the student, yet do not give any. How can this be called security? How would they have resolved this situation if the individual had a weapon, like a knife or even a gun? Whilst watching the footage I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the guy being tasered. That must have been such a frightening experience, all in the hands of the law. And if I attended that Uni I would be wondering if the law acts like that, what do the criminals act like?
i’m so shocked at what I saw. It’s really sad that the police could not try other tactics. If “stand up” didn’t work why continue trying! I believe trying noval ways to get things done would have been the intelligent thing to do. I feel deeply for the students who were victimized by the very people who are suppose to protect the student body. I also feel there is trauma to all those students who had to witness the violent tactics these officers chose to employ. I commend the students who were able to capture this on video to show the world how our justice system is not always working for the people.
I’m a UCLA student and several of my friends were in the library when the incident happened. For a long time there has been a policy of randomly checking student IDs after 11pm. It’s an effort to ensure a safe environment for students using the 24 hour library. Over the past few weeks the policy has been escalated to ID every student in the library.
Dozens of students of all ethnicities had already been carded by the Community Service Officers (CSOs). CSOs are part time student employees with basic law enforcement training. When Mustafa refused to show his ID (which he had) and refused to leave, the CSOs called the Westwood PD. Three officers arrived (btw, they were white, black, and asian) and told Mustafa he needed to produce a student ID or leave. He refused. They tried to escort him out but he went limp and refused to move. The cell phone video being circulated all over the internet begins well after all of this when Mustafa had already been tasered once.
UCLA is a very diverse campus. It is located in an incredibly wealthy area, but over one third of UCLA students come from families living in poverty, the highest rate of any elite university in the nation. Our police force is diverse as well. IF the Westwood PD were truly racists then these sorts of incidents would be far more prevalent then they are. When you have 38,000 students, over 75% of whom are not white, it’s absurd to say that racial profiling occurs on an everyday basis because one Middle Eastern student was told to produce identification (which he had but did not show) just like every single other student in the library. The story is getting so much attention because these things never happen at UCLA and UCLA is an elite, nationally renowned university. The cell phone video is highly inflammatory, but does not give the full picture of exactly what happened.
I was extremely disturbed by the contents of this video. It’s obvious that the police officers used an excessive amount of force and abused their authority here. Mustafa posed no physical danger to anyone involved and did not become violent at any point. Tasers are only used in these types of extreme cases so their use was completely uncalled for. Not only that, Mustafa was restrained and handcuffed when he was tasered. Not once, not twice, but 5 times! As someone of middle eastern descent myself, I find it hard to believe that this abuse of power was not racially motivated. People of other races and ethnicities should think twice before claiming otherwise. Just imagine if this were your brother, sister, son or daughter and then try to evaluate the situation.
I certainly would not send my children to a university that tolerates such behavior. Unless UCLA takes prompt action, and suspends the officers involved in this incident pending further investigation, I sincerely hope that thoughtful alumni and donors will refuse to support the university’s fund-raising efforts.
I really dont know what to write because this makes me so mad. How can people do these things? It is so hard to understand why they had to taser the guy more than one time or even once. Mustafa could have felt it was racism by the csos or he might have just been very stubborn but no one, of any race, deserves to be treated in that manner no matter what the issue was in the first place. Thanks to all those people that were there and stood up for that poor guy, I would have (and many more who feel empathy after watching this would have too).
Without knowing the whole story, we really can’t say shit. I highly doubt the use of a taser was necessary.
On another note, the individual was a student and knew the policy. The campus police randomly check IDs, the students produce the ID upon request, that’s how it works. Not real difficult. Regardless of whether or not he thought he was being singled out, he should’ve shown his ID. I say the whole mess was caused by stupidity on BOTH parts.
Are you kidding me!!? UCLA, pull your head out!!
A man refuses to obey the rules of the campus? Refuses to cooperate with police?
And has to be restrained and dragged out?
Where are the people saying: “Hey, bonehead! Cough up an ID or go somewhere else! You know the rules. You enjoy the security of the building. Show some respect for those trying to ensure the safety and security of the students!”
I can think of about three crimes he’s committed. We live in times where a little cooperation and consideration from the citizens is necessary. But, if you don’t like the policies don’t force an issue with the people who have no control over the policy-namely, the police. Your breaking the campus rules! What did you expect? Did you really think they were going to leave you there? Sorry, buddy, you were going. They only thing you had control over were the manner in which you were going to leave- and you chose poorly.
They tazered you rather than fight with you. Did it make you compliant? Did it pacify you? Did it do any lasting harm other than make you scream like a girl and render incapable of hurting the police or anyone around you?
Sure, maybe the police should have just thrown the cuffs on you and dragged you out instead of lighting you up again. Or you could have just complied with one of their commands and stood up and walked out under your own power-with dignity. A dignity that would make some question the necessity for such a policy.
Frankly, I think you should be tried for trespassing, failure to comply with a lawful order, resisting arrest, attempting to incite a riot, and breaking UCLA rules. If you are found guilty on any count, expelled from school and fined. Maybe a little jail time. Call it research for your future career in freedoms activism.
As for the police- guys, c’mon. I know your procedures were followed and you did not violate any laws, but get real. Next time issue the warning; inform him of what’s going to happen if he does not comply, and then get HIM OUT OF THERE ASAP. Slap the cuffs and drag him out quickly. If he resists, zap him. But get him out of there. Considering the environment, there was a better way.
S
The cops should have just jumpped this dope’s ass, handcuffed him and gragged him away by his beard. Much adoo about nothing. They guy was uninjured what the beef?
The kid got what was coming to him.
When you break rules, you compromise the safety of the collective. Some of these silly americans need to consider that before trumping the race card.
If the guy truly did not have an ID then we could speculate about the racial profiling etc… To know that he actually had his ID but did not want to show it is really f… stupid.
For the campus security they should have just isolated him (handcuffed him, I don’t know if they can do that) and wait for the police to come and take the matter with him. It would have been a lot more effective to tell the guy to seat tight until the police comes and let him think about it.
Mustapha wanted some attention and to feel like he was a victim which he was not. Well he got what he wanted with a price he hopefully now understands. Of course he might still feel that it was all because he was middle eastern.
What part of stand up does this student not understand. Just another spoiled brat thinking the rules apply to everyone else but him.
I am glad none my friend or kids attending this outragous school
I think the kid got zapped should sue the these three bastard for damaged
I have not heard once these security guys had asked if the kids is able to stand up after his got paralized by the taser
There are so many people talking how do you know this kid can hear him or understand the instructions
Why didn’t other security step in ask him if he is okay to stand up or walkout on his own or warn him if he does not proceed he will get zap again
They already cupped the kids what else can the kid do to harm other people
Have anyone of you ever get zap by one of this taser
I am sure you can not stand up on your own for at least 10 minutes
Plus all these stooges already force him down to the ground
so they can practice the taser on the kid
Poor kid if he is my son I will do all my power to sue these bastard
If this is your kid or your brother be in this situation I am sure none of you can sleep over it
some of you think this kid is need attention I think you all wrong
I am a UCLA student, and what students, like Eric, are NOT mentioning is one important fact: the incident happened in the COMPUTER LABORATORY aka the CLICC lab. Any student will tell you that this is a highly unusual place to be “randomly” asked for an ID. When you are asked, it is usually in the main library when you’re asleep on a couch or underground in the stacks where it is dimly lit. I believe that Mustafa was discriminated against based simply on the location of the event.
Here is some background: in order to be on a computer in the CLICC lab, as in the case of Mustafa, you have to have an ID merely to log on to a computer and BE in that area of the library. The procedure is the following:
1) You walk in
2) Give your ID to a CLICC worker
3) It gets scanned
4) You get a temporary vibrating device that will notify you when a computer is available
5) It vibrates
6) You turn it in, in exchange for a computer that you must LOG INTO using your Password
Thus, the mere fact that the CSO were asking him for an ID in an area where he was most obviously a student is highly suspicious and raises flags. Without going into the racial aspect of the discrimination, I have to say that he was clearly picked on due to this fact. The rule that students have to have ID at all times in order to be in the library does not apply in this situation because being where he was, as an already identified student on a computer, establishes that he was indeed a “student with ID.” It was self-evident.
And, in response to Eric’s comment about UCLA being a “diverse” campus, I have to interject another important observation: our campus is diverse inasmuch as it is segregated. Walking around campus and viewing the statistics in the university guide, one would think that our campus is so diverse. But, speaking from a student’s perspective, this observation is very superficial. One could easily note this by noticing that at this school, clubs and extracirricular activities are very racially stratified. I found this intimidating when I started school here. Rock climbing clubs and reading circles are overshadowed by the huge membership in clubs for Asian-Americans, Lebanese-Americans, Israeli Americans, etc. If you’re of a race or identify with a religion, chances are the students here can name it or will try to name it.
This is where racial discrimination may be the case with Mustafa. Persians Americans make up one of the strongest student bodies here– they also happen to be the most affluent with major businesses in the area– and I’d be dumbfounded if the CSO and the officers had no idea what race he belonged to before they started zapping him.
Btw, I’m not Persian. I’m white. And, please check out the link below. UCLA should improve, and unlike other students, I think this should start by fixing our problems instead of hiding them behind our fancy $98,000 logo.
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=7237
Thats incredible that all those students stood and watched as this guy was being tortured by some campus police. It jsut shows how people are scared of authority, its our jobs as students to question the rules society places on us.
Good job to the person who recorded it and posted the video up. Also, to those students who asked those guys for badge numbers.
In world history its the students that make the changes in society, they lead the revolutions….im not talkign about getting up and fighting, but simply helping those in need when they are down.
Its your world.
Muraly
We do not know all the facts, but on the face of it it would seem that the police used excessive force.
Holding a full and public inquiry would be the common sense approach with whoever is in the wrong being held to account with the punishment being equal to the crime committed either on the student or police side.
The subject could have put an end to this at anytime. He even could have prevented the entire incident. With that said, the Officers involved are told to utilize the taser instead of going hands on. That is a safety issue that benefits the Officers and the subject. The use of force begins with officer presence, verbal commands, taser or chemical agent and then hands on. The taser does not render one helpless or crippled. The subject is given a jolt and when it ends it is over. He could get up and fight or just comply with the Officers request. Like I said, the Officers followed protocal to use the taser to gain compliance. The subject was so determined to be defiant that obviously the taser was not enough. I believe this will come down to a training issue. It is not normal for a person to endure these shocks when all that was asked of him was to rise and leave. There is more to this subjects story. I believe each time he was tased the Officers surely thought it would be the last. Maybe the subject knew he had an audience and wanted to play this act out as long as possible.
This immature and inconsiderate person did not follow the rules, did not leave when asked, and could have possibly posed a threat to others. He was lucky we have tasers (non-lethal).
maybe I should drive the wrong way on the freeway because I want to
go into a bank where I have no account and take money because I want it
demand a restaurant feed me because I want food
break any rule I feel like because I want to
and if I get stopped by authorities who are required to enforce rules
cry racism, infringment of my freedom, violation of my right to free speech
violation of my civil rights
-how is it that so many here do not understand that a right requires a corresponding duty…?
the student had a right to the library and a duty to show i.d. as stated in the rule’
he lost his right by not performing his duty
I am glad that some get it – if you do not want to follow UCLA’s rules – leave UCLA
If you do not want to follow California law – leave California
If you do not want to follow the US Constitution leave the USA
(many on Capitol should leave – to bad so many are brainwashed and do not vote the bums out of office)
without the rule of law – chaos
try driving the wrong way on the freeway next time you drive if you need proof
your kidding me how many police and campus security personel does it take to physically lift a man and carry him to the exit the abuse of the taser was unwarrebted and totally over the top if you ( the police ) cannot use your common sense and manually remove a non-conforming human being then you should really consider handing in your badges and getting a job somewhere you dont have to use your brains at all speed humps are a good idea