Ron & Ian discussing the TASER INCIDENTS

[No_Willie_Jokes_Yet]

I hate to say this but if I'm at a USF football game from now on that is anything like the Louisville game, I'll be in the 1st wave and I'll definitely respond with an equal amount of any physical force with which I'm met. The penalty isn't too bad for a first-time offender, and I'd say it's worth it ;-)

Then you might want to change your name to "TazadUSF".

[Guest_Pariah]

Be careful, they might mistake you for a hostage and put "several" holes into your dumb ass. Then they will smear you on tv even though you did nothing wrong.

[USFMikeB]

Excessive force was used.  Ambiguous warnings were given.  The situation is screwed up.

[BullAlum05]

Just thought I would throw my .02 cents in on this...

I also sit in the front row of the student's section, usually right next to BigShoop.  I also witnessed an RJS employee state that we could rush the field as long as we didn't touch the goal posts.  One question I would like to throw out there is...where were the warnings????  The RJS staff and TPD had to know that students were going to attempt to rush and I did not hear one attempt at a warning.  That's all it would have taken.  A couple of TPD to look up at the students and say, "Don't even try to rush", or maybe an announcement, or even some kind of gesture to let us know we had no right to the field.  Considering there had been no precedent set prior to this, I would have thought it would have been the proper thing to do before administering beat downs.  Unfortunately, there was no attempt at a warning.  I even tried asking the RJS employees whether we could rush and they looked at me with a blind face.  

I have been to previous USF games where they lined the wall with RJS staff and allowed us to rush, while keeping the goal posts protected, so don't tell me that the simple act of having the TPD and RJS staff there was warning enough.

I'm usually the first person to defend the authorities when they must put the club down on some dumb drunk, but what I saw that Saturday night was a joke and looked like it was orchestrated by Mickey Mouse.  

[Guest_Pariah]

New Orleans Police Beating Caught on Tape

Oct 9, 3:53 PM (ET)

By MARY FOSTER

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Two New Orleans police officers repeatedly punched a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication, and another city officer assaulted an Associated Press Television News producer as a cameraman taped the confrontations.

There will be a criminal investigation, and the three officers were to be suspended, arrested and charged with simple battery Sunday, Capt. Marlon Defillo said.

"We have great concern with what we saw this morning," Defillo said after he and about a dozen other high-ranking police department officials watched the APTN footage Sunday. "It's a troubling tape, no doubt about it. ... This department will take immediate action."

The assaults come as the department, long plagued by allegations of brutality and corruption, struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the resignation last month of Police Superintendent Eddie Compass.

The APTN tape shows an officer hitting the man at least four times in the head Saturday night as he stood outside a bar near Bourbon Street. The suspect, Robert Davis, appeared to resist, twisting and flailing as he was dragged to the ground by four officers. One of the four then kneed Davis and punched him twice. Davis was face-down on the sidewalk with blood streaming down his arm and into the gutter.

Meanwhile, a fifth officer ordered APTN producer Rich Matthews and the cameraman to stop recording. When Matthews held up his credentials and explained he was working, the officer grabbed the producer, leaned him backward over a car, jabbed him in the stomach and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade.

"I've been here for six weeks trying to keep ... alive. ... Go home!" shouted the officer, who later identified himself as S.M. Smith.

Police said Davis, 64, of New Orleans, was booked on public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. He was treated at a hospital and released into police custody.

"The incidents taped by our cameraman are extremely troubling," said Mike Silverman, AP's managing editor. "We are heartened that the police department is taking them seriously and promising a thorough investigation."

Davis, who is black, was subdued at the intersection of Conti and Bourbon streets. Three of the officers appeared to be white, and the other is light skinned. The officer who hit Matthews is white. Defillo said race was not an issue.

Three of the five officers - including Smith - are New Orleans officers, and two others appeared to be federal officers. Numerous agencies have sent police to help with patrols in the aftermath of Katrina.

Under normal circumstances, it takes unusually offensive behavior to trigger an arrest on Bourbon Street. But New Orleans police have been working under stressful conditions since the hurricane.

Officers slept in their cars and worked 24-hour shifts after the storm. Three-quarters lost their homes and their families are scattered across the country.

"Our police officers are working under some very trying times," Defillo said. "So it's a difficult time, but it doesn't excuse what our jobs are supposed to be."

Many officers deserted their posts in the days after Katrina, and some were accused of joining in the looting that broke out. At least two committed suicide.

Conditions have improved - officers now have beds on a cruise ship - but they don't have private rooms and are still working five, 12-hour days.

Compass, the police superintendent, resigned Sept. 27. Despite more than 10 years of reform efforts dating to before he took office, police were dogged by allegations of brutality and corruption.

On Friday, state authorities said they were investigating allegations that New Orleans police broke into a dealership and made off with nearly 200 cars - including 41 new Cadillacs - as the storm closed in.

Yeah baby their all Cadillacs now!!

[lotsofbull99]

Fans should be allowed to carry tasers for their own protection

[FazaUSF]

Fans should be allowed to carry tasers for their own protection

HELL YES! AMEN! I'LL DRINK TO THAT!!!