The Invisible Library

Just in case you needed more proof that the Patriot Act was a bad idea:

UCPD officers shot a student several times with a Taser inside the [UCLA] Powell Library CLICC computer lab late Tuesday night before taking him into custody.

No university police officers were available to comment further about the incident as of 3 a.m. Wednesday, and no Community Service Officers who were on duty at the time could be reached.

At around 11:30 p.m., CSOs asked a male student using a computer in the back of the room to leave when he was unable to produce a BruinCard during a random check. The student did not exit the building immediately. 

Eyewitness reports claim that the officers continued to use the Taser on him after he was handcuffed and subdued and that they threatened bystanders who were looking a little too concerned. But hay, I’m sure he was really a terrorist, not just a swarthy student.

This madness has got to stop and unfortunately, I have serious doubts as to weather the new Democrat-controlled Congress will have the balls to challenge the constitutionality of the patriot Act. Which means we librarians are going to have to find ever-elaborate ways to protect our patrons (and ourselves) from the more inane and despicable aspects of this fruitless law.
Hat tip to Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Making Light.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 19th, 2006 at 1:40 pm and is filed under Politics, Library News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.