Quote:
Originally Posted by hulk
Hence why they tazered him instead of shooting him a few times as he lay on the ground. They removed all threat from him without lasting harm to his person. And here's a kicker, n0nsensical - you don't live in a free society. Freedom of speech and belief does not equate to a freedom of action.
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Yeah, I think this might be the most outrageous post in the thread yet. I'm not sure what kind of police state you're running down there, but this is the United States of America, and we fought for freedom from tyranny and we don't take it lightly. Some of us, anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dilbert1234567
tasering him makes it impossible to pull a weapon, while your being tasered. Cattle prodding is a stretch, cattle prods hurt much more than a taser. There is an investigation, as there should be, just don’t judge them guilty before the investigation finishes.
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So it brings the point back up: why don't the police taser EVERYONE who's suspected of a crime and doesn't make it convenient for the police to arrest them to make sure none of them pull weapons?
Once again, I'm not saying this kid is in the
right. When asked for ID he should either produce it or leave, and if he doesn't leave he should be made to leave. (Although there may or may not be a "racial profiling" aspect, and I think it would be wrong for him to be singled out to provide ID, I can't really comment on that because I don't know if anyone else was asked for ID or if not why he was singled out) What I'm saying is that his removal should have been handled in a
civilized manner worthy of a democratic republic. Police torture as a means of coercion is not civilized and has no place in, yes, a free society. And when I say free society, I'm not talking about the freedom to do
whatever you want. I'm talking about the freedoms we do in fact have taken as a whole, including freedom from tyranny of the authorities. Now sure, UCPD is a minor authority, and tasering a harmless suspect may be a minor tyranny, but I'm still calling it tyranny, and fear of the police is not the reason we should be following the law.
If someone is trespassing on my property and I tell him to leave, even if I tell him I'm going to punch him in the face if he doesn't leave, if I punch him in the face, that's still assault and battery, and it wouldn't be right for law enforcement to do it either. You still have rights when you're suspected of committing a crime, and in fact you still have rights when you're convicted of committing a crime in a court of law which I'll note the police is not. We have courts, judges, juries, and lawyers for a reason. You still have the right to not be physically violated unless you present an obvious threat. The possibility of having a weapon is not an obvious threat because again, anyone could have a weapon at any time, but the police don't go around tasering everyone suspected of committing a crime just because they could pull a weapon when they go to arrest the person. Police torture and fear of the police don't belong in a liberal (in the classical political science sense) democratic republic.