UCLA Police Taser Student For Not Showing ID

[Fengzi]

You are never required to show ID, a common misperception. Yes, it's nice to show your ID as common courtesy, but if you don't want to, you can go down to the station with them. perfectly legal.

This wasn't a case of someone just walkng down the road and a cop asking to see his drivers license. The guy was on private property and those in charge of enforcing the rules of that property, the campus police, asked for his id as a requirement for being in the library. His choice was to show it to them or leave. It seems he didn't want to do either.

I wouldn't call it a mistake, I'd call it a right..

I've had my share of run-ins with the police and as I've grown older I found that excercising this right isn't always the best option. Kind of like pouring gas on fire.

Yep, peaceful resistance 101. Ever watch hippies protect trees? Guess what happens to them. Hint: *They don't get tased*..

Well, what happens to them has a lot to do with how redneck the local sheriff is. Some of those boys don't go for new fangled contraptions like a taser. They like to do things the old fashion way Trust me, not every tree hugging hippie is fortunate enough to have a news crew documenting everything the police do.

Or.. or.. or... call for back up and carry him to a police car as he is not being a threat to the officers. Shoot him? Shut up.

Or...or...or...just let him do what he wants, maybe bring him a coke and a bouquet of flowers. Maybe bring him a pair of slippers and give him a massage. Please, give me a break. The LAPD has a lot more important things to do than coddle to the whims of some jackass who wants to start some shit..

Yes we don't know what happened, but it could just be both sides were being dicks and only one side paid for it.

Could be, I won't argue this point at all. But the the sad fact is, when it comes down to a situation like this, it's usually not the cops who pay for it. The best way to deal with a cop is always "yes sir, no sir" be polite and do what they tell you to. Unless you want to be a PrisonPlanet headline, that is. Don't forget, their job basically guaruntees that they deal with scum for a good portion of their day. The last thing they want to deal with is some jackass who wants to start an argument.

The bottom line is that if the guy had just shown his student id, or even said something like "I believe your only asking me because I'm Middle Eastern so I won't show you, but I will leave", it wouldn't have happened. But he didn't. He decided to start shit and he paid the price. Did the police go too far? Probably. But remember, it was his actions that got him tased. As the saying goes "If ya can't stand the heat stay out of the kitchen"