Students Protest Taser Incident

A recording of the screams of a UCLA student being stunned with a Taser gun spurred a demonstration yesterday on Sproul Plaza against the actions of the UCLA police that called for the prevention of similar occurrences on campus.

The protest, which was organized by a group of concerned students and alumni, centered around an incident last Tuesday in which a student was stunned with a Taser five times after failing to produce his student identification card at a UCLA library.

“Despite the fact that they are on another campus, they’re still students, and what happened happened in what was supposed to be an academic atmosphere,” said sophomore Yaman Salahi, a student organizer at the protest.

Speakers expressed dismay at the incident, in which UCLA senior Mostafa Tabatabainejad was stunned with a Taser, and the response the incident has received from the UCLA administration, which has set up an investigation into the incident.

“How is it that the police didn’t know this was wrong?” said organizer Chris Cantor, a UC Berkeley alumnus. “The administrators are still making excuses. That’s intolerable, and that’s why we’re having a protest here today.”

Protesters first marched inside Sproul Hall and then to California Hall, where they were barred from entering the building, to deliver multiple copies of a letter addressed to UC President Robert Dynes, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and Victoria Harrison, chief of UCPD at UC Berkeley.

The letters, each individually signed, outlined the students’ demands, which included the institution of a moratorium on Taser guns, action to be taken against the involved police officers at UCLA, and the establishment of a commission to review the police departments at all UC campuses.

The students said they hope to hold a meeting with Harrison, Dynes and Birgeneau to discuss the demands.

Mitch Celaya, assistant chief of the UCPD on campus, said the letters will be reviewed with Harrison, despite the fact that her term as systemwide coordinator of the UCPD ended last summer.

“We clearly want the student population and staff to be comfortable and feel confident with our police services,” said Celaya, who added that UCPD officers at UC Berkeley do not carry Tasers.

While Celaya said the police force has no intention of introducing Tasers, they also do not have a written policy against the use of Tasers.

Assistant Vice Chancellor Charles Upshaw received the letters addressed to Dynes and Birgeneau and said they have been forwarded to the Chancellor’s office.

“Anyone who has seen the tape would be disturbed by that, but it hasn’t happened here,” Upshaw said.

The protest drew more than 100 people at its peak.

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