A UCLA senior was stunned by a Taser at least four times by University of California Police Department officers Nov. 14 when he did not produce his identification card during a random ID check at a university library and resisted officers' attempts to get him to leave.
The incident, which set off a Nov. 17 protest of about 400 UCLA students, faculty, staff and parents, is in some ways reminiscent of a Sept. 10 altercation between Chipalo Street '06 GS and Brown Department of Public Safety and Providence Police Department officers, which was prompted by the student's refusal to show his ID.
News of the UCLA controversy has gained notoriety nationwide due in large part to an amateur video of the confrontation, caught by an onlooker with a cell phone camera and posted on YouTube.com.
The six-minute clip, which had been viewed more than 1.6 million times on the site as of Monday, shows Mostafa Tabatabainejad struggling with police as a crowd of students gathers around. Though it is at times difficult to tell what is happening in the video - the camera is often pointed away from the action or blocked - Tabatabainejad's screams are audible throughout as officers stunned him with the Taser.
Tabatabainejad announced Nov. 17 that he plans to sue the UCPD for "brutal excessive force" and false arrest, and he has said through attorney Stephen Yagman that he did not cooperate with the officers because he believed he was a victim of racial profiling. Though born in the United States, Tabatabainejad is of Iranian descent and Bahá'Ã by religion.
Tabatabainejad and officers engage in a loud verbal confrontation at the beginning of the video clip, which was recorded around 11:30 p.m. in UCLA's Powell Library. Witness and police accounts of the incident report that Community Services Officers, who are student volunteers, originally asked Tabatabainejad to leave when he did not present his BruinCard ID when asked to do so. When he did not leave the library immediately, the CSOs called UCPD officers, one of whom grabbed Tabatabainejad by the arm.
"Get off me!" Tabatabainejad responded loudly in the video. Witnesses and Tabatabainejad's lawyer said at this point Tabatabainejad was headed for the door, though a police account disputed that.
A few seconds later, the video shows an officer stunning Tabatabainejad with the Taser for the first time. An officer told him repeatedly to "stand up" and to "stop fighting us." According to a Nov. 17 UCPD press release, Tabatabainejad went limp and refused to be escorted out of the library.
"I'm not fighting you! I said I would leave!" Tabatabainejad shouted in the clip.
"Get up or you'll get Tased again," the officer said before stunning Tabatabainejad a second time.
Several students are seen in the video asking the officers for their names and badge numbers. One student shouted, "Stop it, you jerks!" after the officer shocked Tabatabainejad again.
At one point in the video the same officer holding the Taser warned a student asking for his badge number that he would "get Tased too."
The officer also stunned Tabatabainejad with the Taser when he was already handcuffed, junior Carlos Zaragoza told the UCLA Daily Bruin, a student newspaper.
"(He was) no possible danger to any of the police," Zaragoza said.
Police have said they had no way of knowing at the time that Tabatabainejad was a UCLA student and that he was unarmed.
Tabatabainejad was released from custody after being given a citation for obstruction/delay of a police officer in the performance of duty, according to the Daily Bruin.
An e-mail sent to Tabatabainejad's UCLA e-mail address early Monday morning was not returned.
UCLA Police Department Chief Karl Ross said checking for identification after 11 p.m. is "a longstanding university policy to ensure the safety of all students." He said the practice was "so routine that many of the students place their IDs on the table next to them so as not to be disturbed."
At a Nov. 17 press conference, UCLA Chancellor Norman Abrams urged the university community "not to rush to judgment" and said it is difficult to determine what happened in the altercation based on the video evidence alone.
Abrams also announced the appointment of an independent investigator, Merrick Bobb, whom he called "one of the nation's leading authorities on police conduct." The UCPD is also conducting an internal investigation.
The officer who repeatedly stunned Tabatabainejad with the Taser, Terrence Duren, has made headlines before, the Daily Bruin reported in a Nov. 21 article. In 2003 Duren, who has been with the UCPD since 1988, shot a homeless man inside a university building. In addition, Duren has had to defend himself against allegations of harassing students on more than one occasion. However, Duren said he was exonerated of wrongdoing in every such instance, and he has remained on the force.
"People are going to complain about you," he told the Daily Bruin. "That's just the nature of the business."
Berky Nelson, director of student activities at UCLA and the administrative representative on UCLA's Undergraduate Students Association Council, said he hopes to see the positive relationship between the UCPD and students restored and commended students and police for their behavior in the incident's aftermath thus far.
"We think that we'll come to some level of satisfactory agreement," he told The Herald. "Everyone has decided to let the dust settle."
Two UCLA administrators reached by e-mail declined to comment.
The USAC has passed a resolution calling for a transparent investigation of the incident, the temporary suspension of the officers involved and a review of UCPD policies.
USAC President Marwa Kaisey supported the resolution in an interview with The Herald, though she emphasized that the UCPD was "a great police force" and "a much better alternative to (the Los Angeles Police Department)."
Shaun Doria, the only member of the USAC to vote against the resolution, said "there was a big political divide in the resolution." He said the resolution was initially presented in an unbiased way, but some council members who were "closely involved" with protestors at the Nov. 17 rally brought forward amendments he didn't agree with, such as the call for the suspension of the officers.
Response at Brown
A number of student groups at Brown have already responded to the UCLA incident, including Students for a Democratic Society and the Coalition for Police Accountability and Institutional Transparency, which was formed following the Sept. 10 incident at Brown.
"We see this as an instance of racial profiling," said SDS member Will Lambek '09, "and it should be investigated on those grounds as well."
Lambek said SDS collected about 200 signatures on Monday and Tuesday for a petition written by the Muslim Students' Association that expresses outrage at the UCLA incident.
Jane Wang '07, a member of Co-PAIT, said the UCLA incident has helped bring awareness to the issue of police brutality.
"These things are happening all the time," she said. "In Providence, this happens every night."
The Brown student, Street, who was arrested and charged with assault of an officer and resisting arrest in September, said he was assaulted by police officers. A judge dismissed both charges against Street on Nov. 1.
Following the Sept. 10 altercation, approximately 200 students participated in a protest and marched to DPS headquarters. The University conducted its own investigation into claims of police misconduct in the incident, finding that DPS officers' actions were justified and did not cause injury to Street.
"Maybe it's time to re-think policing at Brown," said Josh Teitelbaum '08, a member of Co-PAIT.
Walter Hunter, vice president for administration, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that he does not expect to see DPS recommend that Brown "even consider purchasing Tasers unless there is clear and convincing evidence that questions raised in recent reports regarding their appropriate use and safety have been satisfactorily resolved."
Combiz Abdolrahimi, chair of the UCLA chapter of the National Iranian-American Council, one of 50 groups that sponsored the Nov. 17 rally, said the relationship between students and police is still tense.
"Some students don't feel safe, including myself," Abdolrahimi said. "Could it happen again?"
