edited: Tasering at Club Nationals Afterparty

Only in the U.S.

COps can't prevent real crimes so they make up ones and call it doing their jobs. I was at the party and you could tell that if it wasn't that kid it would have been somebody else for something "more serious". They were out for blood. They were totally out of line. Drunk people aren't hard to subdue. Just remember CSTNY= (4 dead in OH.) Kent state. What did you expect. I hope that they all went to their megachurches on Sunday and asked Jesus to forgive them. Next time you pigs get bored try to do your f'n job or go home and kick the dog.

deadgopher wrote:

Only in the U.S.

COps can't prevent real crimes so they make up ones and call it doing their jobs. I was at the party and you could tell that if it wasn't that kid it would have been somebody else for something "more serious". They were out for blood. They were totally out of line. Drunk people aren't hard to subdue. Just remember CSTNY= (4 dead in OH.) Kent state. What did you expect. I hope that they all went to their megachurches on Sunday and asked Jesus to forgive them. Next time you pigs get bored try to do your f'n job or go home and kick the dog.

Stellar thinking. Nothing wrong with you, grow up.

I've been in enough confrontations with cops to know that if they're showing an interest in you one of the only things that should be coming out of your's or your buddies' mouths is 'yes sir' and 'no sir'. There are plenty of good cops out there, but trying to argue anything with a cop - especially when alcohol is involved - is a guaranteed way to ruin a night out. On the chance you're talking with a crazed asshole, you're going to be arrested and most likely roughed up. It happens a lot, and cause is almost always secondary to the way you address these guys when they flag you down.

Now that is not to say that cops aren't often wrong. The morons on here trying to equate harmless pranks with an actionable and arrestable (and taseable? wtf) offense are total jackasses. The world is not black and white, discretion and judgment can be used to avoid messes like this i.e. injured persons and likely lawsuits. Dwight Schrute is not a role model, he is a jackass.

He wasn't tasered for being in the bathroom. That "harmless prank" I'll agree is stupid, but it's illegal, so don't complain on here that you were kicked out of somewhere for doing it.

His friend was tasered for what sounds like being unruly, uncooperative, and trying to interfere in police matters.

A) the officer was right to kick you out of the place

B) your friend is dumb for picking a fight with a cop

C) we don't have the other side of the story but it's clear he was tasered for saying "what's your problem" and walking at a police officer.

if you're in a bar and someone starts saying "what's your problem, he did nothing wrong, what's your problem buddy" and walking at you.....do you feel threatened? If so it's a threatening act and a cop can taser you.

Understand the laws before you break them, and if you don't like them change them. But don't break laws and then complain about the punishment, that's foolish.

Were you there? Grow up, your talking about the cops right? I agree.

Any word on who it was that ended up getting tasered? Was it the Reebok rep who covers the Atlanta area? Is he okay?

No, it wasn't...

How does Nick support himself?

As poorly as he ran - are you sure he didn't get tasered after the 1st lap of the race?[/quote]

The guy is an Olympian. What do you do?

Police come in all varieties.

It probably varies by area, but I think the truly honest cop is a relative minority.

A lot of them are outright unscrupulous. I suspect they develop the mindset that everyone they encounter is scum and that it's OK to abuse their power to get people in trouble.

Tasering seems to be a hot topic recently in southwest ohio, this is a linnk to a news article a week or so ago.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/12/05/ddn120507taserweb.html

i guess women who are 7 months pregnant and 150 pound runners seem to be a real big threat to the police in the area. watch out if you fall into either of these categories.

I wasn't at the party, but an M.D. on our team commented that the energy level on tasers is likely calibrated for a typical weight and body fat percentage. Using that same setting on a lean runner with less fat to buffer the electrical charge will have a much stronger effect. These tasers have to be used very carefully to avoid crossing the line into potentially deadly force, especially against an unarmed person.

Ohio is the worse State EVER.

Ohio is the worst State EVER.

Fellow observers -

This has turned into a serious legal affair.

Please, if you observed this incident, contact me with your name/phone/email address via the email address below.

haywoodjb@hotmail.com

the cops stole our beer from the corner...

you guys Clearly didn't need anymore to drink anyway.

I think that one of the challenges with a private party such as the post meet party in a commercial facility is that the athletes treat it is a private party with friends while to the police it's a public bar, so the expectations for what's allowable are fairly different. Since most of the runners know each other, they treat it as more of a frat type house party - a bathroom is a bathroom and people will socialize in their almost as much as in the kitchen,(as compared to going into a bathroom in someplace like a mall, where there are a lot of strangers) and add to it a fairly common human behavior of when you see a friend getting handled roughly you tend to get involved to "protect" them, be the protection verbal or physical, you respond as you would in any provate gathering with friends. On the flip side, to the police, the banquet room was a public bar, and most people in bars don't react much when someone is dragged out, so they probably don't have much experience with 400+ people at a party that all know each other, and some of them challenging their behavior.

If I understand the definition of assualt properly, touching someone is battery, while assualt is making them fear for their safety. It sounds like the officer feared for his safety and tasing was his response. What's sad, is that for the lack of experience in that situation for both parties, the individual that was tased will probably suffer a lot more in terms of ramifications if they do get charged with assualt, since in most states assualting an officer is a felony. I personally hope things get settled without such a big long term impact and everyone learns something from the incedent that helps them prevent another one from occuring.

Sam from Bellingham, please email me at

haywoodjb@hotmail.com

I ask all of you as runners, that if you observed the incident, please contact me. It is of the utmost importance to a fellow athlete.

haywoodjb@hotmail.com

If this contact email is for the defense of these athletes, please let us know as I was there and could probably shed a little light on the situation.

On the other hand, if this contact email is for the purpose of a lawsuit, I am not interested. The guys arrested were behaving like idiots.