UF student tasered by the police.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

A UF student got tasered (is that even a verb?) after asking questions about the '04 elections and Kerry belonging to the Skulls in Yale. He was certainly disruptive but, did he deserved to get a taser shot while subdued on the floor?
[youtube=425,350]TIYTJ75U4NU[/youtube]

[Bluenose]

What an abuse of power.

[Sibling Chatty]

It's Florida. One of the locales of residual officially sanctioned racism against black people in the US, and heavily under the Republican thumb. The fascist attitude of law enforcement is a given for black people there, according to the black people I know who live or regularly visit there.

Tasering shouldn't be used unless the ONLY other alternative is a bullet or a tranq dart.

Another viewpoint:
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/19/3949/

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

She (Naomi Wolf from the article that Chatty linked) just was interviewed by Colbert (who did a wonderful job placing her arguments into perspective).

Talk about synchronicity.

[Darlica]

Is USA turning in to China? or East Germany in the good old days or maybe Iran?
Is this the kind of democracy the Bush administration wants so spread in the world?

I feel sick.

I would like to see the officers that took the decision to taser this student punished. But I fear that their decision to do so have it's roots far higher in the hierarchy since they newer would have dared to do a thing like this if they didn't expected support from above on the ladder.

If students can't ask unwelcome questions to politicians who the h***  will do it?  Most journalists sure won't.

I think the line should be drawn at physical attack, had the student tried to attack Kerry with his fists or started throwing things, fine, but arguments, words no...

[Swatopluk]

I waded through a lengthy discussion on that yesterday.
Having no sound on this PC, I can't completely judge the event just from the images.
One main point of discussion is the behaviour of the other people present (including Kerry).
According to The Guardian the student was known to be a prankster and attention whore.
Another point is whether the officers were acting on their own initiative and whether they were present near the mike the whole time. The answers seem to be no (order from behind) and yes (preemptive deterrence?).
As one commenter put it, (s)he would not go near that mike, if that meant the risk of being attacked with a taser in case of an "improper" question.

A taser might have been justified, if the boy had started wielding a basball bat but definitely not in the situation at hand (he was already on the ground anyway.

[anthrobabe]

I too haven't heard it yet- only seen the video.

A tough one for sure-- our department (on a university) do not carry tasers(yet). They are in discussions/research into purchasing the newer ones that have a camera attached to the taser itself-- giving the users/used ons point of view.

My brother is a former corrections officer in Nevada(recently finished his nursing BA so now in the prison hospital) and he will tell you about how a taser saved his life (used to subdue a violent attacking prisoner)---

Big issue-- the correct use and proper time to use them. Training- it is adequate, current, correct.

I don't like them myself-- but they can be useful. I don't think they are over used or abused on a really large scale-- but more rational study is needed.

If this was a purely political thing then I'd say totally incorrect and wrong.
But I was not there- and the entire story can not be told by a video.

A while back there were many videos on YouTube of police abuse against some skateboarders in Hot Springs Arkansas-but it was only after investigation by the prosecuting attorney(yes cops can be and are prosecutable) that the entire story came out--- the videos were creatively edited to make a good man look very evil and abusive.

Sorry but cops are human beings and they do and will make mistakes, unfortunately some are really nasty people who have no right to call themselves public servants-- the public eye is a good thing- helps everyone stay on their toes. No one likes and wants the police- but what is the alternative?

That Mr. Kerry was present no doubt influenced some decisions-- "over reaction" on officers part to "protect"- but we've got to protect everyone not just senators.  Most are amazing human beings who do a thankless difficult job-- imagine juggling a turned on chain saws for 12 hours a shift.

I've been tasered---I've been pepper sprayed(can't carry either on the job with out having it done to you-- nearly if not all departments in the USA have this policy), no we don't carry tasers right now and in my position I won't anyway- it was and is a training option as the department is considering them.

The right to public free speech is one of such great value- anyone charged with "protecting and serving" has to keep this in mind.

I'm a college student myself--- I'm not going to shut up just because what I say might be unpopular or otherwise.

Tread carefully and with an easy step--

[Darlica]

The Police mostly does a wonderful job protecting the ordinary Joe's and Mary's from all kinds of scary people, that non of us would like to deal with if we had the choice, no question about that.

But one still has to be able to question decisions like taseing a student or any other person who might be disruptive, obnoxious and even a bit aggressive, as long as the said person doesn't has a weapon, or are a serious threat to anyone.
I would have liked to hear what the officers said and how they reasoned before they choose to intervene.

As I understand it the person who got taserd on the Florida University is a known prankster who likes to make a ruckus and the post the resulting movies on YouTube...  I don't agree with that kind of behaviour either, it's a bit like the story about "the boy who cried Wolf", but it is nothing that should result in this kind of police action IMHO.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I've read a few articles and seen a few different shots of the incident. The kid wanted to get attention, he gave his video camera to a girl so she could videotape his intervention. The kid took the microphone out of his turn (that may be the reason for the cheering while he was removed), and in the ones with better audio he resists his removal asking 'what did I do'? Kerry wants to answer the question and requests (without much energy) to let him speak, then the kid is subdued a female(?) officer seems to be talking to him while on the floor while the kid keeps resisting (still subdued by 4-5 officers) and shouting. Then he cries 'Please don't taser me!' followed (in one video) by the familiar cracking of a taser. The shock doesn't stun him but apparently causes him a good deal of pain, a few of the attendants start screaming, and then the kid is removed from the room.

Was he threatened with a taser if he didn't calm down by the officer?
Did he saw the taser drawn before his 'don't taser me' cry?
---
What bothers me is that the use of the taser was apparently as punishment (for not shutting himself up) rather than danger to anyone in the room.

Freedom of speech becomes pointless if there is the threat of violence against you every time you use it in an uncomfortable fashion.

[anthrobabe]

"Freedom of speech becomes pointless if there is the threat of violence against you every time you use it in an uncomfortable fashion."
I agree with you 100%---

I wasn't there- but it does seem that while he is on the floor he is being asked/told to cut it out and stop resisting (they might have been trying to handcuff him- or even get him to be still so the could pick him up and walk him out) and the taser was unholstered and that's when he yelled out "please don't taser me"---- but again I wasn't there and it is hard to tell.I'm wondering if their was an issue with his hands- if he was trying to resist a handcuffing and maybe putting them in his pockets or clothing then that is most surely why he got tasered-- anyone can have a gun/weapon and that is disaster. Plus- they had to be on pure adrenalin and thinking- we've got to get some control.

Taser/pepper spray should not be punishment- I agree with that.

Darlica, the officers narrative will eventually be public as part of the freedom of information act--- the police report is part of the public record-- so maybe it will shed some light on this incident. Most likely a new source will get it and publish it. I'd also love to hear what disussion(s) he had with the person he gave his camera to as well-- I'd like to know what was going on with them as well.

Tasers cause intense pain-- but it passes--it is better than other painful methods of control used in the past, or just killing someone(aka Kent State)-- now that was a real cluster-fuck.

Controversial -- you bet, it's a tightrope act- I just hope all turns out well for everyone involved -- including this young man. He sure did get attention-he is a true pirate if nothing else. 

Everyone of us- no matter who we are or where we are or what we do- has to remember that with cell phone cameras and all now that we are in view and being watched all the time.

[Griffin NoName]

Everyone of us- no matter who we are or where we are or what we do- has to remember that with cell phone cameras and all now that we are in view and being watched all the time.

Now I understand how wise our grandmas were telling us to always wear clean underwear !

[anthrobabe]

Everyone of us- no matter who we are or where we are or what we do- has to remember that with cell phone cameras and all now that we are in view and being watched all the time.

Now I understand how wise our grandmas were telling us to always wear clean underwear !

Thongs!!!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Don't do a Spears/Hilton girls.

[Sibling Chatty]

Let that taser be placed near the heart or in certain physical/emotional instances, and let's discuss the effects.

I can't access the medical links on it (not going to pay access fees set for doctors) but there are significant cardiac issues) as well as other links about it.

http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?noframes;read=96724

http://www.mywesttexas.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14876248&BRD=2288&PAG=461&dept_id=475626&rfi=6
In the past nine months, at least six people in Texas -- including three in Fort Worth -- have died after authorities shocked them with a Taser gun. Just last week in the Dallas suburb of Euless, a 17-year-old died two days after being shocked three times with a Taser. Police say he was high on drugs and violent.

National statistics on Taser-related deaths vary. The American Civil Liberties Union reports more than 130 deaths in the U.S., while Amnesty International reports more than 120 deaths in the U.S. and Canada -- both figures since June 2001. The groups want Taser use suspended until studies are done on how the device affects people on drugs or with heart conditions.

Taser International, the primary manufacturer of stun guns, did not return several calls seeking comment for this story. The company said in a May interview with The Associated Press that its product is safe, based on independent studies, and in only about 10 percent of deaths cited by Amnesty International did medical examiners list Tasers as a contributing factor. The company also contends Tasers have saved more than 6,000 lives -- suspects who otherwise might have been fatally shot by police.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona attorney general have said they are examining Taser's safety claims. Amnesty International and the ACLU say studies cited by the company were done on healthy people and only found no significant heart effects immediately after a shock. In one study, Taser's top medical officer was a consultant.

A Taser shoots two streams of electricity that deliver a 50,000-volt jolt for 5 seconds, temporarily immobilizing a person by over-stimulating the nervous system and causing muscles to lock up. Officers can use the device from 15-35 feet away from a suspect.

A Taser also can be used like cattle prods, affecting only the muscles in the area where it touches someone's skin. However, because a Taser is not a firearm, it is not regulated by the government.

http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/1116

The death of a 56-year-old wheelchair-bound disabled woman in Florida after being shocked by a Taser stun gun has only heated up the controversy on both fronts. (That one strikes home for me.)

In early September a Chicago teenager was caused to go into ventricular fibrillation as a result of being shocked with a Taser. That was significant because Taser International has always maintained that its stun guns cannot cause this usually fatal heart disturbance in which the heart loses the ability to pump blood.

Many lawsuits allege Taser has ignored credible research suggesting the device can be extremely dangerous, if not fatal.

Numerous police officers in several states have claimed they suffered serious injuries after being shocked with the device during training classes.
[/b]


Video for PsychoBastard Central...

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/owwwww!/video-of-xrep-wireless-taser-shotgun-shocking-some-dude-276481.php

Each battery is crammed with enough juice to dole out a full 20-second cycle of pure "non-violent" punishment. 20 seconds! Good lord, that's a long time to be gettin' Tasered. It also has such neat features as three "torsion spring fins" which help the XREP stay straight and fly right into the fleshy part of that guy trying to steal an air conditioner.
-----------

The one medical article I could access...

http://www.acep.org/webportal/membercenter/sections/tact/equip/taser.htm

Although credited with saving hundreds to thousands of lives, controversy exists regarding an increasing number of deaths temporally associated with TASER® use [1,2,3,4]. Investigative reports have uncovered undisclosed relationships between TASER International and purportedly independent studies on the safety of the TASER®, raising questions of bias [5,6,7,8]. In this climate of uncertain risk, law enforcement and the public at large are left with many unanswered questions regarding the safety of the TASER®.

The only federal regulatory review of stun gun safety was performed by the Consumer Products Safety Commission in 1976, on the first generation TASER® [3]. The technology was deemed "not likely to be lethal to normally healthy adults". No formal FDA safety review has ever been performed, as the TASER is not a classified as a medical instrument. The purpose of this paper is to review recent studies involving the TASER, and to place them in the context of the increasing number of deaths.

[anthrobabe]

OH yes-- their are very definite issues with tasers-- most assuredly their are issues.