Slashdot Mirror
University of Florida Student Tasered At Political Rally
An anonymous reader writes "During a political rally at the University of Florida, an annoying student was tasered while attempting to ask Senator Kerry (D-MA) some questions regarding the 2004 election. Police are looking into whether excessive force was used to prevent the student from going over his alloted question period." There are also several YouTube videos available of the incident.
If anyone mods you a troll I hope someone else goes back and mods you back up, because I share your views. Fortunately, though, everyone wins. The hack gets some air time and gets his talking points in the headlines, and a politician gets some extra face shots on the pages.
E pluribus unum
You are 100% right. The best way to "resist" is to comply without making it easy for them to do their job. Offer no resistance, go limp, and go to the station to get booked.
If you aren't prepared to get arrested, don't get involved in protesting, period. Find something safer to do, like writing angry letters or singing folk songs. If you go up against The Man, you better have your end-game figured out. A lawyer on speed-dial is also a good idea.
I've got a bad attitude and karma to burn. Go ahead. Mod me down.
The police came up to him and grabbed him. They never asked him politely to step back or to walk with them. They never accused him of any crime or told him why he was being detained. I think he was legitimately shocked and freaked out. I agree that he should not have physically resisted arrest, but it was perfectly reasonable for him to ask what was happening.
The police could have stopped for two seconds and asked him calmly to follow them, or said anything to him. Instead of treating him like a person, they treated him like an animal. They acted like his words were meaningless or inaudible. I would have been yelling as well. Perhaps they weren't legally required to say anything to him, but they did a rotten job of helping to defuse the situation.
I found the whole episode despicable. I didn't really like the guy, but he sure didn't deserve to be treated that way. Why did they jump immediately to arrest? I don't think we live in a country where asking too many questions is supposed to lead to arrest. Why not walk up to him and calmly say, "Sir, we have to ask you to leave the building."? And if they were going to arrest him, why not talk to him and explain things calmly? Instead they took the course of action most likely to induce panic.
The guy's attempts at resisting were not putting anyone in any significant danger. He was obviously already overpowered with ease. The taser was a serious abuse of power. ALL they had to do was hold him down until he agreed to stop squirming. I'm sure once the sense of panic passed he would have stopped resisting.
If anyone was trying to cause a violent confrontation, it was the police. (By the way, not following all of Gandhi's principles is also not a crime.)