if he was already handcuffed, then no, a defendant should not be tasered, pepper sprayed, or anything else done to him
the video did not show that, and up until the last few posts, I didnt know he was already handcuffed (if that was truly the case)
Even though Gray thinks he is such an expert on such incidents, and he is not just the guy I thought globe-trotted handing out bibles, and converting people to Christianity, I wiill give you guys a quick lesson on what I could have done as a police officer in New York State under the same circumstances....
If the student didnt have his required ID, I could have charged him with TRESSPASSING, simply because he had no proof that he was a student at the university (I probably would not have done that, however), but then if he refuses to leave the building, then I could again charge him with TRESSPASSING.
Once he became the village idiot, yelling all sorts of nonsense and acting the fool in public (what did the Patriot Act have to do with this anyways ??), he could then be charged with DISORDERLY CONDUCT
Now, I can take him into my custody, and place him under arrest. If he doesnt comply, or struggles, then I can charge him with RESISTING ARREST
Now, the way New York State's use of force laws go, in laymans terms, the police are allowed to basically "one up" the defendant, which means if he is using his hands or feet, or in anyway struggling to prevent the arrest, I dont have to sit there and wrestle him back, and turn this into a WWE match, I can use pepper spray, a taser, or my collapseable baton (ASP) to bring him under control, to execute the arrest. If the defendant has a knife, gun, stick, etc, then I can use my service weapon to stop the defendant...I dont have to turn this into a Bruce Lee movie where its his knife against my Baton, or my baton versus his stick, etc
So, if thats the way things went down, what they did was perfectly legal, and the police were justified (again, it was a 6 minute tape where you couldnt see everything), but if he was tasered after the cuffs went on, then its not justified...under no circumstances
I personally think the kid was looking for trouble, and has no respect for authority...if a police officer requests you to do something, dont be stupid and try to look like a tough guy in front of a bunch of people, do what he requests
If that was my son under those same circumstances, and he acted like that, the taser would be the LEAST of his worries, once he came home