Those who profess to favor freedom, yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
Frederick Douglass, American Abolitionist, Letter to an associate, 1849
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November 17th, 2006

UCLA student gets tased

posted by Shinka in Politics |

Watch this video, and if you can’t get through it without wanting to kill something, let me know.

Mostafa Tabatabainejad was tased by university police, after he failed to exit the university library quickly enough when he failed to produce the ID that is required of all students using the library after 11. He was tasered once when he didn’t get out quickly enough, and then repeatedly after that for failing to stand up after being tased the first time. Other students who asked the police for their names and badge numbers where threatened with tasing.

Tasers are not something to be taken lightly. They are intended for subduing a violent suspect as a replacement for guns in the hands of law enforcement agents. They should never be used in place of negotiation, and especially such a benign “crime” as not having your student ID readily available in the school library.

Unfortunately, it seems to be product of our nature that human beings can behave in this way. When too much power is given to someone in a position of authority, they will abuse it.

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