CAIR protests taser campus shooting

ANAHEIM, Calif., Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A U.S. Muslim organization has called for a probe into the shooting of a UCLA student with tasers.

The Southern California office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR-LA, issued a plea Thursday for an independent investigation of the incident Tuesday when Mostafa Tabatabainjead, a UCLA student, was shot repeatedly with taser stun gun shocks by campus police. The entire incident was captured on video.

CAIR-LA said UCLA students had "expressed their concern" to it about possible civil rights violations by police officers in the affair.

CAIR-LA said Tabatabainejad was asked to leave a computer lab after he failed to produce a student ID during a random check. While Tabatabainejad was being shot, he told the officers firing the tasers that he had a medical condition.

In a statement, CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said: ""It is hard to see the justification for repeatedly using pain-inducing weapons on a person who was apparently not a threat to any officer or student."

"We call on state and national authorities, including the FBI, to launch an independent investigation of this disturbing incident," Ayloush said. "Given the circumstances involved, only an outside, independent probe will ensure that the civil rights aspects of this case are being taken seriously and will be addressed in an impartial manner."