# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 7:28pm 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/990216/61 "2023-09-19T19:28:46Z")
God I’m so depressed this turned out to be a racism thing. It does that far too often. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 7:36pm 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/990216/62 "2023-09-19T19:36:20Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > You remember the time before ubiquitous cameras? That just about sums it up, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 7:38pm 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/990216/63 "2023-09-19T19:38:11Z")
I wanna know who cut the lights? That’s usually a school official. I’m sure it’s in a locked area. The whole thing was fixin’to be a free for all. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 7:53pm 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/990216/64 "2023-09-19T19:53:50Z")
The Daytona Beach News-Journal has an article with some [body-cam footage](https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2023/09/19/alabama-band-director-stunned-arrested-at-game-taught-at-new-smyrna-beach-mainland-high-schools/70900453007/). For those who don’t want to watch it, I’ve made a partial transcription from the captions and some description. I did my best to be even-handed, but if you feel I’ve left something important out, feel free to offer it as a correction. > [@](#): > > [Band is playing.] > Officer 1: “When we say go. Let’s go.” > [Officer is between Mims and the band, extending his hands toward Mims and gesturing.] > Mims: “Get out of my face.” [Gestures for the officer to move aside and conducts. This seems to be repeated.] > Officer 1: “I got my troops. They gone sweep their asses out, okay.” > > Sgt: “Load them up, before I contact the superintendent.” > Mims: “Get out of my face.” [Gestures them aside again.] > Officer 2: “Call your band! Tell them to stop!” > [Mims leans forward, head cocked the way you do when you’re trying to hear someone better. He’s facing into a marching band at full volume, after all.] > > Sgt: “We got to go. The minutes is over.” [Apparently pointing to the scoreboard.] > Mims: “I know. We’re fixing to go. This is our last song.” > Sgt: “Cut it.” > > Mims (uncaptioned, but audible enough that I’m quoting it): “Get out of my face, man.” > Officer 1: “What you gonna do?” > > [Mims bends down for something, Officer 2 speaks while he’s bent down.] > Officer 2: “You will go to jail for (unintelligible).” > Mims: [Thumbs up] That’s cool! > Officer 2: “Please!” > Mims: “Cool! That’s cool!” > Sgt: “It’s okay, I’m fixing to contact the school.” > Officer 2: “You will go to jail for [unintelligible].” > > Officer 1: “They got to go. They got to go.” > [Mims resumes conducting, getting the band back on track for the finale of the song.] > Officer 2: “Are you going to keep going?” > Sgt: (Unintelligible) > Officer 2: “Are you going to keep going?” > > [Mims ends his conducting, band continues playing final bars. Field lights turned off, despite a few people still being on the field and the other band still being in the mostly-empty bleachers on the other side. Mims gestures for the band’s attention and signals the end of the song.] > > Sgt: “Let’s go!” > Sgt: “Put him in handcuffs.” > > [Song concludes. After Mims conducts the cutoff, he climbs down off his ladder. The body-cam wearer was still in the stands, and I can’t make out much in the dark until they climb down as well, but this seems to be when things got physical. There’s a muddle of what sounds like argument, and students started screaming. There’s a ruckus as the cops apparently try to cuff Mims as he’s being restrained by several of them.] > > Mims: “Get off me, bruh! Get off me, man!” > Officer 1: “Put him in jail. Put him in jail.” > Officer 2: “I’m fixing to tase you.” > Officer 1: “Tell him to stop. Tell him to stop.” > > Officer 1: “He swung on the officer, he got to go to jail.” > Mims: “I did not swing on the officer, man. Y’all [unintelligible]…” (I think I heard “grabbed”.) > Officer 2: “He’s going to jail because I asked him to respect [unintelligible]. That was not respectful to me.” > > [Mims is being restrained in a mass of people.] > > Officer 2: “Put your hands behind your back. Put your hands behind your back.” > [Taser discharge sound, other cops back away from Mims. One guy in a white shirt still has his hands on Mims’s shoulders (he has an ID badge at his belt, but is not in uniform–no idea what his involvement was). Mims stands for a moment, looking around, and there’s some uncaptioned talk. Then there’s the second taser discharge, which drops Mims to the ground.] I will note that from the time Mims responded to the Sergeant, saying that this was the last song and they were “fixing to go” to the point the song ended and he climbed off his ladder was _1 minute and 8 seconds_. (I also suspect from his body language when he listened and replied to her that he did not hear or understand much of what they were saying outside of that.) As to the racism angle: Both the sergeant and the cop who tased Mims were also black. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 8:00pm 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/990216/65 "2023-09-19T20:00:26Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Both the sergeant and the cop who tased Mims were also black. Yes, I think white cops and Black cops both treat minorities worse than white people. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 8:21pm 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/990216/66 "2023-09-19T20:21:55Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Yes, I think white cops and Black cops both treat minorities worse than white people. I don’t dispute that, but I think this is (as I said in an earlier post) more about “respect mah authoritah” than anything else. Anything other than instantaneous compliance with what an officer wants–even if the other party may not understand what the officer wants–is an arrest-worthy offense. Officer 2 even says it out loud: “He’s going to jail because I asked him to respect [unintelligible]. That was not respectful to me.” Would they have escalated this way with a white band director? Probably not. I’m sure they would expect more official pushback if they did, and that is wrong. But they shouldn’t have escalated it with _anyone_. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 8:26pm 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/990216/67 "2023-09-19T20:26:38Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > As to the racism angle: Both the sergeant and the cop who tased Mims were also black. I think every single person in the video is black. Also note that he was not “tazed for continuing to play”. As is almost always the case in these stories, he was tazed because he fought the 3-4 officers who were attempting to arrest him, after 30-60 seconds of them attempting to get him to put his hands behind his back. One officer claims in the video that the director attempted to hit an officer, and the director denies it. The actual start of the physical contact was not caught on the released video. It’s not at all clear what happened between when he stopped the music and walked away and when the officer with the body camera walked up to the arrest in progress. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 8:30pm 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/990216/68 "2023-09-19T20:30:22Z")
If officers were behind me hollering I believe I’d realize something was amiss and do more than cock my head in their direction. It might behoove me to listen to their suggestions very carefully. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 9:01pm 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/990216/69 "2023-09-19T21:01:19Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > If officers were behind me hollering I believe I’d realize something was amiss and do more than cock my head in their direction. You mean, like reply that you were aware of the situation and were going to comply? Like Mims did? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 9:05pm 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/990216/70 "2023-09-19T21:05:00Z")
Like, turn around. Step down and say “yes sir, officer were leaving instantly” I don’t wanna be tazed, hand cuffed, arrested, taken to jail. Lose my ride home, spend lots of money bailing out and hiring a lawyer. Talked about incessantly on news and social media. Not much idea of a good day. At. All (Not to mention being a bad example to young people) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 9:07pm 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/990216/71 "2023-09-19T21:07:54Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Like, turn around. Step down Turning around and getting closer to the police officer seems awfully aggressive… ---
**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 19, 2023, 9:16pm 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/990216/72 "2023-09-19T21:16:14Z")
Yeah, that could have gotten him killed with these bozos. The video i was saw had a clear view of the moment before he was tased, and he was standing still. There’s simply no justification for tasing a man who is standing in place, arms at his sides. Even if he is objecting to being arrested. The officers were way over the line, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 10:08pm 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/990216/73 "2023-09-19T22:08:46Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > It escalated to tasing because, according to the article, the guy deserved to be tased. He resisted arrest and was physically aggressive. This basically amounts to saying “He deserved to be arrested because he got arrested”. > [@tofor](#): > > As is almost always the case in these stories, he was tazed because he fought the 3-4 officers who were attempting to arrest him Do you have any evidence that they were attempting to arrest him? Because near as I can tell, what they were attempting was just assault. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 10:34pm 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/990216/74 "2023-09-19T22:34:29Z")
I still wanna know why the stadium lights were turned off. Maybe the school board wanted to save the expensive electric costs. Those things ain’t cheap to run. Maybe the fracas in the stands caused the police to decide this had to end before shooting started. Maybe the visiting bus was blocking an outlet. Causing jams to people leaving. The band director/bus driver should have stood his band down as soon as he was asked. He knew exactly how long the song he was directing would last. He was showboating. IMO We’ll never know the truth of the situation. Too much garbage is already being shown. Edited? Who knows. ---
**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 19, 2023, 10:43pm 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/990216/75 "2023-09-19T22:43:26Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Maybe the fracas in the stands caused the police to decide this had to end before shooting started. The fracas was caused by the police. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > The band director/bus driver should have stood his band down as soon as he was asked. He knew exactly how long the song he was directing would last. He did know. And he told the police he would wrap up as soon as they finished that song, which took about a minute. They needed him to STOP THIS VERY MOMENT. Because they were assholes, as best as i can tell. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 10:52pm 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/990216/76 "2023-09-19T22:52:16Z")
I never want to _always_ blame police for mitigating every little public misbehavior, people getting stirred up or rivalry at a football game. We’ve seen it. These things can get out of control quickly. Maybe this area is known to be a high crime area. We don’t have that information. The band director should have known the lay of the land. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 10:57pm 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/990216/77 "2023-09-19T22:57:44Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I never want to _always_ blame police for mitigating every little public misbehavior, people getting sirred up or rivalry at a football game. I don’t either so I withheld having an opinion until we got more facts. It’s pretty clear now that the force was uncalled for and excessive. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 10:59pm 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/990216/78 "2023-09-19T22:59:28Z")
Okay, okay. I will hush. Apparently people know more than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 11:02pm 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/990216/79 "2023-09-19T23:02:32Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > We’ve seen it. These things can get out of control quickly. In this case, it got out of control quickly because the police took it out of control. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 11:14pm 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/990216/80 "2023-09-19T23:14:51Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > They needed him to STOP THIS VERY MOMENT. Because they were assholes, as best as i can tell. And he did not RESPECT MAH AUTHORITAH!!! That’s all he’s guilty of. Not being subservient to a power figure. I’m not sure if there is an actual law on the books that says this explicitly, but many police sure act like there is. [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=3) [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=5)