# The players tried to leave the field, the marching band refused to yield, what details have been concealed, the way they tased this guy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 16, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216 "2023-09-16T19:45:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/322 "2023-09-21T12:32:36Z")
> [@mjmartin](#): > > Verbally? It’s called the 1st Amendment. Disobeying the law is an ACTION, not a verbal expression. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/323 "2023-09-21T12:34:00Z")
> [@mjmartin](#): > > Please post to said Alabama law. Should be a trivial search. _sigh_ You know, there are many very understandable reasons that you could believe that the police messed up here. Suggesting that there are no possible legal ramifications of refusing to comply with a lawful order, without even doing 8 seconds of research is certainly… a position. But since that’s your position, let me oblige. [AL Code § 32-5A-4 (2022)](https://law.justia.com/citations.html) > [@](#): > > No person shall willfully fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order or direction of any police officer or fireman invested by law with authority to direct, control or regulate traffic. I’ll do it this time since I’ll admit I was curious to see Alabama’s exact language in this case, but I hope you won’t continue to ask others to narrate the internet for you. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/324 "2023-09-21T12:34:06Z")
> [@mjmartin](#): > > I asked for a statute and you posted a traffic regulation. I also posted this: > I found this more general statement: " Disobeying a lawful order of a police officer carries higher penalties to those who refuse to follow orders lawfully issued by an officer of the law. **It’s a second-degree misdemeanor, meaning its punishable by up to 60 days in jail, six months of probation and/ or a $500 fine**." Now, again I say, YOUR TURN. ---
**Author:** ![mjmartin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@mjmartin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmartin)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/325 "2023-09-21T12:34:30Z")
Still waiting for some citation on that. I ask because the interference laws in nearly every state require actual actions, not a failure to act. ---
**Author:** ![mjmartin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@mjmartin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmartin)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/326 "2023-09-21T12:36:48Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I’ll do it this time since I’ll admit I was curious to see Alabama’s exact language in this case, but I hope you won’t continue to ask others to narrate the internet for you. Again, thats a traffic regulation. Hint, the word traffic is right in the citation you posted. See any vehicles in the video? I’ll only explain statutes to you once: when this is in the heading: “Title 32 - Motor Vehicles and Traffic. Chapter 5A - Rules of the Road.” it doens’t apply to band leaders in a stadium. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/327 "2023-09-21T12:38:50Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > No, but it is against the law. Any lawyer will tell you not to contest a directive/ticket/mandate with a police officer. Contest it legally through the courts. He should have left as directed. Then, he and his school could have filed a complaint. It might very well have ended up with a policy change in how that kind of situation would be handled in the future. That would ultimately benefit many people. Instead, we have a mess. This kind of mess is how change happens. Licking the boot on your throat does not result in change. Abuses of power on a daily basis even if reported and properly adjudicated almost never result in actual punishment of the abuser. Unless there’s a big brouhaha. Like this. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/328 "2023-09-21T12:39:44Z")
Disobeying a police directive is a “failure to act” in accordance with that directive and, as we can clearly see, it is against the law. Therefore, your statement has no relevance in this debate. ---
**Author:** ![mjmartin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@mjmartin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmartin)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/329 "2023-09-21T12:40:46Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Disobeying a police directive is a “failure to act” in accordance with that directive and, as we can clearly see, it is against the law. You have provided absolutely no evidence for this. Not a single statute that he violated, except a traffic law. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/330 "2023-09-21T12:41:46Z")
I’ve provided a lot of evidence, you just don’t want to acknowledge it. I posted once citation twice, and you continue to ignore it. Adios, amigo. ---
**Author:** ![mjmartin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@mjmartin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmartin)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/331 "2023-09-21T12:42:42Z")
You posted a TRAFFIC REGULATION. They were not on a public street. You have posted no other statutes. Not one. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/332 "2023-09-21T12:48:43Z")
In my experience, searching a states legal code is frustrating and slow. So i don’t expect anyone to immediately respond to that kind of request. But i have to agree that the traffic law is irrelevant. Can you add the source and context of the second cite? > [@Jasmine](#): > > " Disobeying a lawful order of a police officer carries higher penalties to those who refuse to follow orders lawfully issued by an officer of the law. **It’s a second-degree misdemeanor, meaning its punishable by up to 60 days in jail, six months of probation and/ or a $500 fine**." ---
**Author:** ![mjmartin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@mjmartin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmartin)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/333 "2023-09-21T12:50:23Z")
I agree, but then they shouldnt be posting about what the law IS if they havent read the law. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/334 "2023-09-21T12:57:51Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > Even the CNN article sets out with a misleading first sentence. He was _arrested_ for not stopping quickly enough (he did stop the performance before the arrest), he was _tazed_ for resisting arrest. That’s not true either. He was tazed because a trio of cops with Small Dick Energy wanted to prove that they were big manly men. Anyways, “He was resisting arrest” is **not** a valid reason to taze someone. "He was resisting arrest which made him a threat to my or a civilian’s life " would be, but even the lying pieces of shit in this story aren’t trying to peddle _that_. > [@tofor](#): > > Also, I think a few posters seem to be under the impression that there was only one cop. In fact, there were at least 3 police and I think a half-dozen police and school security combined. Which is even more proof that no tazer was needed. You’re telling me that all those people couldn’t control the situation without potentially lethal force? > [@puzzlegal](#): > > And the actions of the band director caused what harm to who? They made the policeman feel like he wasn’t a big strong manly man! 😭 > [@Jasmine](#): > > You’re just not getting it. It was a police directive, not a hypothetical situation being discussed in a Harvard law class. Once people decide it is okay to defy authority based on their own interpretation of the law or a situation, you’re opening the door to anarchy and the chaos that ensues. Ever heard of “abuse of power”? Once you start obeying the police unquestioningly and insist that others are bad people of they don’t do the same, you’re opening the door to a police state. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/335 "2023-09-21T13:00:52Z")
Anyway, here’s my scorecard, so far: 1. Police were wrong to issue an arbitrary order in an overly aggressive way. 2. Mims was right to question it, but wrong to then resist arrest. He should have gone quietly to the station after the game. 3. police were wrong to tase a non-violent man standing in front of them. Honestly, 1 & 2 are boring routine things. People fuck up all the time. Police are impatient to clear the field, director knows he was wronged and argues instead of meekly submitting to arrest. People are assholes. It’s common. But 3 is horribly dangerously wrong. 3 implies we are are living in a police state. 3 is the police violating the trust the people put in them when issuing those weapons. And that’s why i think the police should be clearly, strongly, and publicly punished for overstepping their appointed role. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/336 "2023-09-21T13:01:23Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > If you read about tasing, it was hailed as a breakthrough in policing. It was a way to disable a criminal without killing him or damaging him permanently. Now, and in this very thread, it is referred to as an overly violent police response to someone who is breaking the law. And yes, defying a police directive is breaking the law. Tasing was hailed as a step forward when it was believed that cops would only use tasers in situations where the alternative is lethal force with a firearm. Do you think this was an appropriate use for a firearm? Or was this one of the very, very, very many moments when police jumped straight to a taser because it’s easier than dealing with people and less paperwork than killing someone? ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/337 "2023-09-21T13:17:15Z")
Neither should police, the actual professionals in this situation. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/338 "2023-09-21T13:19:16Z")
By the way, for anyone who prefers the style of the pit for this type of discussion, it’s also come up in the omnibus police misconduct pit thread. > [@Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread #2](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3702): > > In Birmingham the police got the bright idea to demand a band director stop the band’s performance after a football game, because the police wanted to go home. They berated him, and when he didn’t immediately comply, they surrounded, assaulted, tased and arrested him. All over finishing a song that had 1:30 left. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/339 "2023-09-21T13:22:43Z")
And tasing is a huge step forward from using a firearm. I’m a fan of police being armed with tasers. That’s why I find it extremely upsetting when they abuse tasers. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/340 "2023-09-21T13:26:34Z")
> [@mjmartin](#): > > Again, thats a traffic regulation. Hint, the word traffic is right in the citation you posted. See any vehicles in the video? The definition of “traffic” is not absolutely limited to motor vehicle traffic. It includes pedestrian traffic, and it’s not limited to roads. It can apply to driveways, parking lots, and adjacent spaces that can influence or impinge on the flow of traffic. For example, directing people at a high school football game to clear the field, so that the parking lot can be cleared of traffic, so that the surrounding roads can be cleared of the temporary congestion that follows football games. All of those tasks very much fall under the authority of traffic control, this is not considered fringe or controversial outside of message board threads. I am not going to suggest that this is the strongest law in the books in this case, but I’m also not paid for paralegal work, and I’m definitely not paid to connect easily connectible dots. However can observe that there’s an individual who does get paid for this (defense counsel), and in his public interviews he has at no point suggested that the police were outside their authority to arrest, or that his client’s activities were lawful. That should be a big fat hint right there. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216/341 "2023-09-21T13:29:21Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And tasing is a huge step forward from using a firearm. I agree, which is why if police did what they were supposed to and used tasers as a _substitute for firearms_ in situations that require immediate neutralizing force but not lethal force - then tasers would be a huge boon for policing in America. Instead, many officers seem to take their new “less-than-lethal” option as license to become far more trigger happy. When cops tase someone in a situation where no weapon at all was required, their having a taser goes from being a good thing that allows them not to shoot someone to being a bad thing that escalates situations. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’m a fan of police being armed with tasers. That’s why I find it extremely upsetting when they abuse tasers. I agree that in theory tasers are better than guns, but if they mean cops go for their weapons ten times as often because they know it (most likely) won’t be lethal, that’s a problem. The bar for using a taser should be as high as the bar for using any weapon - imminent threat of harm to the officer or bystander. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-players-tried-to-leave-the-field-the-marching-band-refused-to-yield-what-details-have-been-concealed-the-way-they-tased-this-guy/990216.md?page=18)