[privacy] Police Use Stun Gun on Student for Not Showing ID at UCLALibrary

[Rob Thompson]

On 11/16/06, Larry Seltzer <Larry at larryseltzer.com> wrote:
> I guess he should have showed his ID.

I have a funny feeling that if I were the one sitting there, that I
would have been left alone.  Looking at his name kind of gives me a
bad feeling in my stomach that that had a lot to do with what
happened.

If the guy was just reading his book and not causing a ruckus (sp?) in
the first place they should have just left him alone.  If he was doing
something wrong and they asked him, well then shock away...

What I would like to know is:

Was he the first student that night that they asked for ID?  And was
he doing anything suspicious that caused him to be asked?

>
> Larry Seltzer
> eWEEK.com Security Center Editor
> http://security.eweek.com/
> http://blog.eweek.com/blogs/larry%5Fseltzer/
> Contributing Editor, PC Magazine
> larryseltzer at ziffdavis.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard M. Smith [mailto:rms at computerbytesman.com]
> Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 1:25 PM
> To: privacy at whitestar.linuxbox.org
> Subject: [privacy] Police Use Stun Gun on Student for Not Showing ID at
> UCLALibrary
>
> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,229942,00.html
>
> LOS ANGELES -  A UCLA police officer shocked a student with a stun gun
> at a campus library after he refused repeated requests to show student
> identification and wouldn't leave, police said.
>
> The student, Mostafa Tabatabainejad, was shocked Tuesday at about 11
> p.m. as police did a routine check of student IDs at the University of
> California, Los Angeles Powell Library computer lab.
>
> "This is a long-standing library policy to ensure the safety of students
> during the late-night hours," said UCLA Police Department spokeswoman
> Nancy Greenstein.
>
> She said police tried to escort Tabatabainejad, 23, out of the library
> after he refused to provide identification. Tabatabainejad instead
> encouraged others at the library to join his resistance, and when a
> crowd began to gather, police used the stun gun on him, Greenstein said.
>
> Tabatabainejad was arrested for resisting and obstructing a police
> officer and later released on his own recognizance. He declined to
> comment Wednesday night.
>
> The incident was recorded on another student's camera phone and showed
> Tabatabainejad screaming while on the floor of the computer lab. It was
> the third incident in a month in which police behavior in the city was
> criticized after amateur video surfaced. The other two involved the Los
> Angeles Police Department.
>
> ...
>
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-- 
Rob