A previous post about the tasering of a University of Florida student got me thinking about all of the police abuse I've witnessed or heard about growing up in Gainesville. To be honest this incident is only remarkable because it actually made the news. From causing minor annoyances to killing innocent people I can't really think of a time where there wasn't anything other then hatred for the UFPD and its citywide counterpart GPD. I was pleasantly surprised when arriving at AU I found out how kind and gentle our public safety officers were, and for that matter the DC metro police as a whole.
Since the seventh grade it had been standard practice for our teachers to tell their students at least once a year to never talk to a police officer without a lawyer, even if you didn't do anything wrong. My first personal experience with UFPD came on July 27, 2004. I remember it well because it just happened to be the very first day I had my driver's license. After playing pool at the university rec center I was driving home with a friend of mine when I was pulled over on campus for what I would later find out was suspicion of a stolen vehicle. After being spread eagled on the front of the officer's patrol car, patted down and having my car searched for almost an hour the officer laughed at me for being pulled over on my first day and sent me on my way. This was the first of seven such incidents. Each time I was let off without so much as a warning. I have been pulled over by Gainesville police for everything from suspicion of illegal U-turn to having out of date tags on my license when in fact they were in date. Each time I was verbally abused and patted down. After the first time I wised up and no longer permitted any kind of attempt to search my car. If I added all of my friend's stories this blog would run on forever.
These are only petty grievances, something to complain about to your friends but nothing worst then a sprained wrist or a weekend in jail. The reason I wrote this post was for two incidents far more serious then even last weeks tazing.
The first is a 2003 incident that sadly was never given its full day in the media spotlight because the victim was far too ashamed to come forward. A nineteen year old University of Florida student was raped in the Alachua County Jail by his fellow inmate. While prison rape is not uncommon, this particular incident stood out for several reasons. The kid was serving his first of four weekend sentences for attempting to distribute marijuana. He was placed in a cell with Randolph Jackson, a thirty-five year old convicted rapist who had also been accused of raping three previous cellmates. After placing him in his cell the cops simply walked away, having to know what was going to happen. Jackson, who is HIV positive, quickly forced a ballpoint pen to the kid's throat. In the aftermath the kid required several stitches in his rectum. Of course nothing ever happened to the officer's involved as the whole episode was said to have been a simple fault of jail overcrowding.
Corey Rice is a name some of you may foggily remember hearing about several years ago. This happened on one of my favorite streets in Gainesville, known for countless late night adventures. Around 1 am on June 30, 2001 thirty year old Corey Rice, an architecture grad student, was pulled over for failing to stop at a stop sign by Officer Jimmy Hecksel. As the officer approached his window Rice slowly backed up, and then began pulling away. Claiming Rice was trying to run him over, Officer Hecksel unleashes seven shots with his forty caliber, hitting Rice three times. Rice would die several hours later in the hospital. While I could not find the video itself, stills from the video show that it looked like at no point was Officer Hecksel in danger.
While countless pages have been given to the tasing, little was made about these previous incidents. As a result I was only able to find small press releases about this incident. Police Brutality Prison Rape Corey Rice
Showing posts with label police brutality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label police brutality. Show all posts
September 26, 2007
September 21, 2007
Don't Tase Me, Bro!
As many of you might remember, on November 14th, 2006, Mostafa Tabatabainejad, an Iranian-American UCLA student, was brutally tasered by campus police. Tabatabainejad reportedly refused to show his student identification card in the UCLA Powell Library when campus police arrived to complete night security rounds. Tabatabainejad was ordered to vacate the premise, yet when he didn’t immediately do so, additional UCLA officers were called in and the taser came out. Video captured at the scene showed the officers tasering Tabatabainejad at least five times and reports later suggested that the taser was used until it reached its “drive stun” capacity, which causes pain without incapacitating the target.
After watching the chilling footage, it’s surprising that this event didn’t ignite some widespread awareness. Ironically enough, the officer that tasered Tabatabainejad, Terrence Duren, was knighted “UCLA Officer of the Year” back in 2001, and following the tasering incident, he only suffered a 90-day suspension.
It never seizes to amaze me how differently power can affect people. For instance, back in 1996 when I was appointed supervisor of arts and crafts in my Cub Scout den (we were not exactly the most macho den to say the least, but we made some impressive holiday magnets), the power certainly got to my head. Before I even knew it, I found myself dictating who had access to the feather and bead decorations. While I never exactly whipped out a taser and set my amateur craft-making peers straight, the ability to impose by authority was always somewhat tempting.
Three days ago, power got to the heads of University of Florida police when Andrew Meyer, a fourth-year student, acted a fool at a Constitution Day forum with Senator John Kerry. At the forum, each student was able to ask Kerry one question, yet Meyer decided to savor his moment in the limelight and aggressively ask three arguably controversial questions:
1). Why did Kerry concede the 2004 presidential election before results were tallied and despite allegations of election irregularities?
(Based on the findings of Greg Palast’s 2006 book Armed Madhouse, which Meyer held in his hand during the forum)
2). Why doesn’t Kerry support the movement to impeach George W. Bush?
3). Were Kerry and Bush members of the Yale University secret society called Skulls and Bones?
After Meyer condescendingly threw out his questions, his microphone was cut off. Two university police were ordered by the event organizers to seize Meyer, and in doing so, they pulled him down the auditorium as he shouted “Help!” and “What’d I do?!” numerous times.
Kerry, carefully still perched on the auditorium, said “That's all right, let me answer his question.”
By the time that the two university police officers had dragged Meyer to the back of the auditorium, two more officers joined in, wrestled him to the ground and attempted to handcuff him. Next, the officers threatened Meyer to either stop resisting arrest, or he would be tasered. Meyer began to beg for the officers to let him go and desperately pleaded, "Don't tase me, bro! Don't tase me!” Seconds thereafter, Officer Nicole Lynn Mallo drive-stunned Meyer in the shoulder, leaving him helplessly crying in pain. I would not know what to do with myself if someone actually called me “bro,” but I do know that taser would not have been involved. Meyer was then escorted by police and detained overnight in the Alachua County Jail, where he was charged with resisting an officer an officer and disturbing the peace.
What did Kerry do throughout the altercation, you might ask? He played it safe and nervously stated, “Officers, can we… folks… Hey folks, I think that if everybody just calms down, that this…” Later on after the forum awkwardly wrapped up, Kerry issued a statement the day after that read:
“In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way. I believe I could have handled the situation without interruption, but I do not know what warnings or other exchanges transpired between the young man and the police prior to his barging to the front of the line and their intervention. I asked the police to allow me to answer the question and was in the process of responding when he was taken into custody. I was not aware that a taser was used until after I left the building. I hope that neither the student nor any of the police were injured. I regret enormously that a good healthy discussion was interrupted.”
Not aware of the tasering, John? Those blood curdling screams, moans and cries must have just been for kicks. I know that’s how I get attention when I need help at CVS. What Kerry should have done was step up to the police and defend Meyer’s first amendment rights. After all, Kerry repeatedly stated during the arrest and tasering that, “It’s okay! I will answer his question.” Rather than presenting himself as a liberal sage willing to humor the crazy kid’s question, Kerry should have discarded his political status and used the microphone for a better purpose than mumbling, “Officers, can we… folks…” Until the social gap between politicians and the public is bridged, the notion of the politician will continue to carry an air of coldness and corruption.
You might be wondering how this is remotely humorous. Despite the “Don’t tase me, bro!” line, there is nothing particularly side-splitting about Meyer’s plight. What was funny, though, was Kerry’s reaction to the mess. His fumbling response to an innocent -- if mildly stupid -- student being brutally tasered for asking perfectly reasonable questions was priceless and very characteristic of how most politicians would have reacted to such an incident. Kerry could have done a lot more than just idly pretend that the horrors that were occurring mere yards away in fact weren’t. In my personal opinion, Kerry should have been a true bro and stage dived and crowd surfed his way to the scene of the tasering and rescued Meyer.
After watching the chilling footage, it’s surprising that this event didn’t ignite some widespread awareness. Ironically enough, the officer that tasered Tabatabainejad, Terrence Duren, was knighted “UCLA Officer of the Year” back in 2001, and following the tasering incident, he only suffered a 90-day suspension.
It never seizes to amaze me how differently power can affect people. For instance, back in 1996 when I was appointed supervisor of arts and crafts in my Cub Scout den (we were not exactly the most macho den to say the least, but we made some impressive holiday magnets), the power certainly got to my head. Before I even knew it, I found myself dictating who had access to the feather and bead decorations. While I never exactly whipped out a taser and set my amateur craft-making peers straight, the ability to impose by authority was always somewhat tempting.
Three days ago, power got to the heads of University of Florida police when Andrew Meyer, a fourth-year student, acted a fool at a Constitution Day forum with Senator John Kerry. At the forum, each student was able to ask Kerry one question, yet Meyer decided to savor his moment in the limelight and aggressively ask three arguably controversial questions:
1). Why did Kerry concede the 2004 presidential election before results were tallied and despite allegations of election irregularities?
(Based on the findings of Greg Palast’s 2006 book Armed Madhouse, which Meyer held in his hand during the forum)
2). Why doesn’t Kerry support the movement to impeach George W. Bush?
3). Were Kerry and Bush members of the Yale University secret society called Skulls and Bones?
After Meyer condescendingly threw out his questions, his microphone was cut off. Two university police were ordered by the event organizers to seize Meyer, and in doing so, they pulled him down the auditorium as he shouted “Help!” and “What’d I do?!” numerous times.
Kerry, carefully still perched on the auditorium, said “That's all right, let me answer his question.”
By the time that the two university police officers had dragged Meyer to the back of the auditorium, two more officers joined in, wrestled him to the ground and attempted to handcuff him. Next, the officers threatened Meyer to either stop resisting arrest, or he would be tasered. Meyer began to beg for the officers to let him go and desperately pleaded, "Don't tase me, bro! Don't tase me!” Seconds thereafter, Officer Nicole Lynn Mallo drive-stunned Meyer in the shoulder, leaving him helplessly crying in pain. I would not know what to do with myself if someone actually called me “bro,” but I do know that taser would not have been involved. Meyer was then escorted by police and detained overnight in the Alachua County Jail, where he was charged with resisting an officer an officer and disturbing the peace.
What did Kerry do throughout the altercation, you might ask? He played it safe and nervously stated, “Officers, can we… folks… Hey folks, I think that if everybody just calms down, that this…” Later on after the forum awkwardly wrapped up, Kerry issued a statement the day after that read:
“In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way. I believe I could have handled the situation without interruption, but I do not know what warnings or other exchanges transpired between the young man and the police prior to his barging to the front of the line and their intervention. I asked the police to allow me to answer the question and was in the process of responding when he was taken into custody. I was not aware that a taser was used until after I left the building. I hope that neither the student nor any of the police were injured. I regret enormously that a good healthy discussion was interrupted.”
Not aware of the tasering, John? Those blood curdling screams, moans and cries must have just been for kicks. I know that’s how I get attention when I need help at CVS. What Kerry should have done was step up to the police and defend Meyer’s first amendment rights. After all, Kerry repeatedly stated during the arrest and tasering that, “It’s okay! I will answer his question.” Rather than presenting himself as a liberal sage willing to humor the crazy kid’s question, Kerry should have discarded his political status and used the microphone for a better purpose than mumbling, “Officers, can we… folks…” Until the social gap between politicians and the public is bridged, the notion of the politician will continue to carry an air of coldness and corruption.
You might be wondering how this is remotely humorous. Despite the “Don’t tase me, bro!” line, there is nothing particularly side-splitting about Meyer’s plight. What was funny, though, was Kerry’s reaction to the mess. His fumbling response to an innocent -- if mildly stupid -- student being brutally tasered for asking perfectly reasonable questions was priceless and very characteristic of how most politicians would have reacted to such an incident. Kerry could have done a lot more than just idly pretend that the horrors that were occurring mere yards away in fact weren’t. In my personal opinion, Kerry should have been a true bro and stage dived and crowd surfed his way to the scene of the tasering and rescued Meyer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)