Commentary on the UCLA Powell Library incident.

The tasering of a student at UCLA's Powell Library on November 14th, 2006, is unfortunately just one example of how out of control police powers are in the United States today.

Allegedly, the incident began when the student refused to show his student ID after 11:00PM. This is a longstanding campus policy which is posted in the library. Upon refusing to show his ID, the student was told to leave. At some point a tragic bit of miscommunication occured, and the student ended up being dragged out of the library by the police and being tasered multiple times over a seven minute period.

No matter what happened, and who was at fault for the miscommunication, I can't imagine that the student posed any sort of physical threat to the officers involved. If he was really being difficult all they would have had to do was handcuff him and escort him out, rather than tazering him.

I'm not sure what official campus policy about police use of the taser is, but it would stand to reason that it should only be used as a very last resort, and only when officers are in danger of imminent physical harm. In this case, it was being used as a cattle prod, which is absolutely unacceptable and unnecessary.

Not surprisingly, the UCPD officer identified in the incident, Terrence Duren, has displayed a penchant for brutality and overreaction in the past. Not only has he choked a student with a nightstick outside the Theta Xi fraternity, but he also shot a homeless man in Kerckhoff Hall.

Looking at the bigger picture, what exactly does this mean to the future of peaceful protests? Are citizens going to be tasered for merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or heaven forbid, for not showing their proepr identification (or not having the right chip embedded under their skin)? It's coming, my friends. This is merely one step in the march to a full on police state.

So what's the moral, and what do we do? It's simple: Know your rights, carry a video camera, and any time you see something like this taking place roll tape and share it with the world.