UCLA Taser incident
On November 14, 2006, Mostafa Tabatabainejad, a fourth-year University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) student, was drive stunned five times with a Taser by campus police while handcuffed.
Tabatabainejad, being confident the campus police would take his side as he felt he was being harassed and singled out because of his Middle Eastern ethnicity, invited the community officer to do so.
When the campus police arrived they did not ask questions but instead handcuffed Tabatabainejad and attempted to physically remove him from the library.
Tabatabainejad, an Iranian-American[1] of Muslim heritage,[2][3] said through his lawyers that he refused to identify himself because he believed himself a victim of racial profiling and that the tasing was an instance of police brutality.
Tabatabainejad filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the officers used excessive force and that they violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
At approximately 11:30 p.m. on November 14, 2006, Community Service Officers were conducting routine checks of students' BruinCard IDs in Powell Library.
[7] Terrence Duren, a former Marine and 18-year veteran of the UCLA Police Department, tasered Tabatabainejad multiple times.
[8] In an October 2003 incident, Duren shot and wounded a homeless man in a university building, a case that went to trial.
In May 1990, Duren was accused of using his nightstick to choke Kente S. Scott, who was idling in front of a fraternity late on a Saturday night.
[8] Duren stated that all of the past allegations against him regarding police misconduct and use of excessive force were investigated by the UCPD and proven false.
Prior to joining the UCPD in the late 1980s, Duren was fired from the Long Beach Police Department due to "poor report-writing skills and geographical knowledge.
Various media accounts following the incident reported the common assumption from several students that Tabatabainejad "was hit with a Taser five times when he did not leave."
[6]According to the UCPD press release from soon after the incident, "Tabatabainejad went limp and refused to exit as the officers attempted to escort him out."
[19][20] On November 18, 2006, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini condemned the incident, and urged punishment for those responsible.
[19][20] On November 18, 2006, the University of California Students Association passed a "Police Brutality Resolution" regarding recent incidents at UC Santa Cruz and UCLA.
[14] Tabatabainejad's former lawyer, Stephen Yagman, announced on November 17, 2006 that he planned to file a lawsuit against university police alleging "brutal excessive force" and false arrest.
Yagman, who characterized the incident as an example of police brutality, claimed Tabatabainejad was the only person who was asked to show ID.
On January 17, 2007, Tabatabainejad filed a federal lawsuit alleging the campus officers used excessive force, and that they violated the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
[27] According to the lawsuit, Tabatabainejad has bipolar disorder and informed the officers of his condition, but was treated in a way that constitutes discrimination under the ADA.
According to UCPD Chief Karl Ross, the new policy is considerably longer, includes specific definitions of appropriate and inappropriate use, and explicitly prohibits use against a "passive resister".
