Hundreds of UCLA students, faculty, staff and community members
gathered in Meyerhoff Park Friday afternoon to protest the multiple
uses of a Taser on a UCLA student by university police.
A Taser was used five times on Mostafa Tabatabainejad, a
fourth-year Middle Eastern and North African studies and philosophy
student, in Powell Library Tuesday night after he reportedly failed
to comply with police officers’ instructions to leave the
building in a timely manner.
Tabatabainejad failed to produce his BruinCard during a random
check after 11:00 p.m., a university policy intended to ensure that
only UCLA students, faculty and staff can use the facility late at
night.
Tabatabainejad did not present his identification because he
believed he was being targeted because of his Middle Eastern
appearance, said Stephen Yagman, Tabatabainejad’s
attorney.
SLIDESHOW + DBTV
Click here to see a slideshow of photos from the student
protest. Click here
to see DBTV coverage of the student protests held Friday.
UCPD maintains that officers used force because Tabatabainejad
repeatedly refused to comply with officers’ instructions and
physically prevented police from escorting him out of the
building.
In a statement released Nov. 15, UCPD said Tabatabainejad also
“encouraged library patrons to join his
resistance.”
Following a press conference organized by more than 50 student
groups, more than 400 people gathered to listen to eyewitness
accounts as well as student leaders’ opinions on the
incident, which has drawn international media attention.
Students led those in attendance in chants including,
“one, two, three, don’t Taser me” and
“UCPD, you disgust me.” Protestors wore signs reading
“I’m a student, don’t Taser me” and
“I’m studying, don’t Taser me” in protest
of the incident, which some protestors labeled as police
brutality.
“I personally couldn’t sleep that night,” one
speaker said. “This was majorly excessive. There was no
reason for (police) to do this once they had complete control of
the situation.”
Protestors marched to the campus police station, filling the
streets of Westwood Boulevard and the entire front lawn of the
station and shouting, “Hell no, we won’t go.” The
building was locked and the lights on the first floor were turned
off as police inside the station put on their riot gear.
Acting Chancellor Norman Abrams announced in a separate press
conference that there will be a UCPD internal investigation into
the incident as well as an independent investigation conducted by
Merrick Bobb, a veteran law enforcement watchdog.
Students at the protest overwhelmingly opposed the police
officers’ actions, and The Daily Bruin has received hundreds
of letters from concerned parents and community members. Some
letters from parents and prospective UCLA students say after
reading about the incident and watching the video footage a student
captured of it, they have dropped UCLA off of their list of
prospective colleges.
The incident has attracted both the attention of students across
the country as well as international news media outlets. Students
at other universities have written submissions and editorials for
their campus publications regarding the incident, and UC Berkeley
students are planning a protest for Tuesday.
The Turkish Press reported Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, an Iranian
Foreign Ministry spokesman, condemned the use of the Taser on
Tabatabainejad, who is U.S.-born but of Iranian descent.
“Iran is quite serious about protecting the interests and
rights of its citizens and will spare no effort at upholding their
reputation and dignity,” he said, asking that the police
officers involved be disciplined.
Still, some members of the UCLA community have questioned how
much Tabatabainejad himself is to blame.
“If you’ve been told to leave, you need to
comply,” said Christo Rose, a fourth-year computer science
student, who added he thought the use of force in this situation
was excessive. “(Police) have no choice but to
respond.”
A number of Facebook groups in support of the officers’
actions have also been created since the incident, in addition to
groups expressing alarm about the officers’ actions.