Trust me, I’m a Daily Bruin columnist: Column 1
By Jed Levine
Nov. 20, 2006 9:00 p.m.
Mostafa Tabatabainejad is totally guilty.
Some may say it’s premature to make conclusions about the
incident last Tuesday, in which Tabatabainejad was stunned with a
Taser five times in Powell Library after refusing to follow the
orders of university police officers.
But I don’t think that’s jumping to conclusions.
It’s more like passing judgment over an event I know very
little about and am mostly speculating on based on my
preconceptions and personal agendas.
Or some other elaborate euphemism like that.
Either way, I carefully synthesized the scraps of facts that
were available in those first 24 hours, cross-referenced them with
my existing biases, came to my conclusions and joined the
appropriate Facebook group: “Powell Taze: Taze Him
Again!”
Public discourse blasted across the Internet faster than a
Republican congressional scandal, shaping into a national news
story almost overnight.
Facebook groups began sprouting up by the hour, polarizing our
campus into two sides: UCPD-supporters and race-baiting
terrorist-lovers.
Saying that Tabatabainejad was targeted because of his race is
absurd, because I just don’t believe it.
Why would race be a motivating factor in the physical assault of
a man of Middle Eastern descent who was making a scene in a crowded
building in a post-Sept. 11 context?
Police officers are infallible beings, and it is our duty as
Americans to trust their actions and not ask questions or demand
inquiries.
If officers with years of experience felt it was appropriate to
use a Taser, then they must have been correct.
After all, people with experience don’t make mistakes, and
people in positions of power never abuse it.
Much attention has been focused on a study that said Taser use
of three to five seconds can cause temporary inability to move
one’s muscles for up to 15 minutes.
This means that if Tabatabainejad was stunned with the Taser for
more than three seconds, he would have been physically unable to
respond to the officers’ commands to stand up.
I’m not a forensic pathologist, but I am an international
development studies student with an Internet connection, and after
careful analysis of the video I’ve concluded that
Tabatabainejad was stunned with the Taser each time for 2.9
seconds.
The only thing keeping Tabatabainejad down was his own crushing
hatred for L.A.’s finest.
I think we should look at some of the positive sides of all this
controversy: Now that millions of people across the U.S. have had
the chance to watch the video, they’ve finally been able to
see the beauty of Powell Library’s Romanesque foyer.
If only we could get someone pepper-sprayed in front of Royce
Hall and tear-gassed on Kerckhoff Patio, we would have a fine
YouTube recruitment series.
Do you think the other Jed is full of it like I do? E-mail
this Jed at [email protected]. Send general comments to
[email protected].
