UCLA and Taser Drama

The story behind the stun

By Affad Shaikh

I am surprised by the coverage of this event, and a decent article can be found on City on a Hill Press at UCSC. In fact, it blows my mind what is out there on the internet- news, youtube, and blogs. I know that I must be doing something right when you can find my name on frontpage magazine- a whore house for fear mongering, evangelical, monstrous right wing extremists. Now I would like to address some critical points raised- sort of like "from the horses mouth"- since I was involved with the evolution of this case.

Point Number One- CAIR Rushes In

In "CAIR's Campus Martyr" there were references made to how CAIR jumps into an issue with out evaluating. Such biased and petty claims are unbecoming of any decent journalist, thats why I consider it "yellow journalism". But this give me an opportunity to explain what happened and why CAIR even got involved. When other organizations have also stated something similar to CAIR's statement.

First, CAIR was contacted by American Muslim students attending UCLA as well as concerned parents. We never took any stance that judged the situation, nor did we jump to any conclusion. After viewing the video footage, it became apparent to me, that we were limited in what we can do, and if anything we should try to get UCLA's viewpoint. Why wouldn't anyone with a decent soul and a moral fiber, want to know what happened? Anyone who views the tape and judges that "he deserves" it, does so without keeping American traditions in mind- a person is innocent until proven guilty- and that is the mind set I took.

Second, CAIR requested an independent investigation. Its alright for say, President Bush to screw up in Iraq and then take the Iraq Study Groups investigation in how to handle the situation with a degree of respect, to call for an investigation into any matter involving anyone who is of minority background ghastly and beyond the scope of being American. Obviously there is some biased amongst those who make this claim.

Third, CAIR never stated Mustafa was Muslim- look at the press release, it states clearly that he was of "Iranian decent". Was CAIR at any point representing Mr. Tabatabadenijad- NO. We represented the Muslim students who contacted us, their parents and all concerned organizations on campus- and our representation was fairly limited, we only issued a press release requesting some sort of investigation.

Fourth, it was stated that CAIR- specifically me- had requested the suspension of the officer involved. False, during the course of the entire incident, CAIR stance was and continues to be that there needs to be an impartial investigation. It was only through an LA Times article that we learned of the Terrence Duren's previous involvement in other incidents- based on this information, I would say that administration should take the course of suspending the officer involved, for the students safety, the officers, but also for the administration's own investigation. An officer at LAPD involved in a situation similar to this obviously would be given paid leave of some sort.

Fifth, "CAIR's Campus Martyr"- you have to be kidding me. What drama does this guy write for. Again, I believe policy and procedure is about the extent of the actions and not the politics. You don't lynch a man stealing something from the store, there is something called due process in the United States, it might not be written out in code, but its an American value I was raised with- I hope to find it in the way any organization, agency or individual lives their life. The fact that Tabatabadenijad turned out to be of Bhai'a faith has not correlation to how CAIR got involved, we are in the end an organization working to empower and bring justice to those disenfranchised and oppressed.

Finally, CAIR was supporting the work and requests of the student groups. We had outreached to Tabatabadenijad and strongly urged the family to seek legal counsel since he was booked and had a hearing date- from the President on down, seeking legal counsel is not a crime. After facilitating meetings with the Police Chief and the Chancellor, which CAIR did not attend since it was more a student and school policy issue, CAIR left it to the students to manage the situation.

Point Number Two- Loss of innocence

What extremist in this country want us to believe is that some people are not privileged to have an opinion, to have a voice, to be given the benefit of the doubt, to be in essence participating citizens.

Granted, we can discuss how Tabatabadenijad response to the situation was not proportional or inappropriate, but the fact of this incident is that we should have learned from our experience with the Civil Rights movement that there is such a thing as Civil Disobedience and passive resistance. Here, Tabatabadenijad passively resisted what he felt was discrimination- he can cry foul all he wants, people can label him what they want- but at the end of the day he felt discriminated against. Not to draw any literal parallel to the African American civil rights struggle, but Rosa Parks felt discriminated against and she took a stand (there is no way we can compare Tabatabadenijad's case to that of Rosa Parks, but please take it as a comparison and nothing more).

And a matter not seriously discussed is the idea of the "use of force" and whether it was appropriate? He was tased once, then at least six more times in the legs and then told to get up- I have not been tased but how do you expect someone to walk when you repeatedly taser them in the legs? I find it hard to think that at a college campus, where students are studying that this sort of force be applied in the situation- but again I understand the desire and need by Police officers to contain the situation. The thing that remains is the question and it relates to policy, one that can only be answered if the policy is examined. Until then we can continue to go back and forth on how appropriate the matter is.

What I and CAIR believes is that there needs to be an evaluation of the policy and procedures used by the UCLA PD when it comes to such situations. LAPD has specified differential treatment when it comes to force applied to a case of "passive resistance" and that involving "active resistance". Further more, UCI PD, according to the Police Chief has such a definition in place, so why is it wrong for any person to request an evaluation of the policy and procedures of the UCLA PD? How is it that an organization or a person requesting such a thing is whinnying, complaining or trying to get PR? Is it not the purpose of government and its agencies to enforce laws and policy based on what is drafted by individuals appointed and/or elected? If a policy, which looks good on paper, happens not to work out in practice, not deserving of closer scrutiny and possible change?

When has America become a place where what authority demands, citizenry must blindly follow? Last time I checked, we are and will continue to be a democracy- with inherent problems- but always recourse for addressing issues of concern. That is how I see the case at hand and I hope that an investigation will shed further light on these issues of concern.

Point Number Three- The Age of Citizen Journalism

Out of this entire mess, one of the most interesting questions I was asked by a reporter was regarding my thoughts of the use of technology and information sharing. (Fox LA Channel 11 reporter) This honestly blows me away! (not literally)

Its amazing how video phones, internet via cell phones, blogs, youtube, and other information sharing mediums are pushing the way that we take in and process information. Had this incident not been caught on the cell phone, I doubt it getting as much publicity as it did. But what this technology presents to us, especially in the West and maybe for oppressive regimes, is that actions of the government agents are likely to happen under strict scrutiny. At any given time some one can be recording and mass distributing information.

Mind boggling how information can change the way we go about doing our daily lives. I hope to speak on this further under the title "The next phase: Development of the Participation Age"where credit is due to the CEO and founder of SUN Microsystems.

Final Point- UCLA Administration deserves a hearty "Good Job"

While the administration was slow in acting- I don't blame them, the situation snowballed with the release of the video- they took appropriate action. They issued a press release on the internal UCLA PD investigation. They issued a following press release explaining UCLA PD Taser policy as requested by CAIR's Press Release. They were responsive to the students and very much interested in their opinion in the matter. Chancellor Abrams also appointed Merrick Bob as an independent investigator to look into the incident as requested by the students in their meeting as well as suggested by CAIR. I hope that UCLA continues to have this working and concerned relationship with the community and the students and applaud them whole heartedly for their efforts.