What Does it Take to Get Tasered?
This is the burning question that SDSU students are asking. When 21-year-old Joshua Gandy was told to get off his skateboard yesterday, he got a little mouthy with the campus officer. Or did he?
If you saw his interview on the news today, you know that Joshua’s speech is rambling and his language is absolutely peppered with expletives. And I quote:
The security guard, you know, he says “Hey! Get off your skateboard!” You know, and he’s just like all up on my @#$^#, you know? And I had a headache, and I don’t want to talk @#$^@ bike security. And he like starts grabbing me, and like trying to put my arms behind my back. And I’m like $@^#@ moron, are you serious? You gotta be @#$@# doing this in front of this many people? Like, you’re $@%^$ with the wrong kid! You know? I did not do that much. And you know he still ^%$@ arrest me!
Perhaps he wasn’t so much showing resistance to the officer as talking in the same relaxed, albeit idiotic, manner that he speaks to everyone. Just listening to his explanation made me want to taser him on behalf of English teachers everywhere.
Language aside, Joshua didn’t think he deserved being tasered, and students at SDSU agreed. They held a demonstration on campus today, donning “I got tazed” t-shirts and showing off on their skateboards.
The video of the incident (caught by cellphone camera) has been withdrawn from YouTube, but it’s still being replayed on the news. It’s no Kent state, but it is hard to watch.
Lest you think this is an isolated incident, let me assure you that it isn’t. This isn’t even the first time such a thing was caught on film. In November, campus police tasered a student at UCLA. It was reported that he wasn’t carrying ID so he was asked to leave the library. When he didn’t comply, he was repeatedly tasered, while onlookers watched, objected and filmed.