High School Band Director gets tazed for refusing to stop playing after a game

Birmingham band director hit with Taser, arrested after football game (usatoday.com)

"The police have the duty to protect the students and the parents who attend the football games," Guster said. "The police have a duty to make sure they clear the stadium in a timely manner and make sure everyone gets in their cars and gets home safely."

By ignoring police multiple times, Mims set a "horrible" example for the students, said Brian Higgins, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.

Shortly afterward, a "physical altercation ensued" between Mims, Birmingham City School system security personnel and Birmingham officers, police said in a press release.

In the release, police said that while they tried to take Mims into custody for disorderly conduct, Mims:

◾ Refused to put his hands behind his back.

◾ Allegedly "pushed" the officer who was trying to arrest him.

School officials on Monday said Mims is on administrative leave with pay, AL.com reported.

Police shocked Johnny Mims three times
Video footage shows police using a Taser or stun gun on Mims three times as he falls to the ground in front of his marching band, parents and other onlookers. Students began to scream and filed out of the stadium stands and toward the parking lot, footage shows.


It remains unclear if band director Johnny Mims was lawfully arrested, attorneys in Birmingham told USA TODAY. It makes sense that police wanted to clear the stadium that night, said attorney Eric Guster, because Thursday's game came just weeks after a teenager brought a gun to a football game in nearby Hueytown, Alabama, causing players to drop to the field to try to protect themselves.

 

Not surprising in the least.
Libbies make a living off of siding with the criminals.

 

I really don't know know nor do you since obviously we were not there.
I have enough trust and respect for police force that they would make a decision based on what they felt was needed at the time they were there. I truly believe they were trying to keep anything from getting out of hand whether or not thats true I don't know.but I also posted another article that a surrounding town had an incident with a gun and students I believe it was the week before at a high school football game.
You have to have a little comment sense in this. Also I can't imagine any cop stopping a school function because they want to leave, plus they know everyone has cell phones . They know the world's watching them and a large portion of our country is out to make them look bad. Pretty pathetic

 

Deceptive editing, which occasionally happens, is abosutely wrong. But, they make themselves look bad, all of the time. Simply filming an officer isn't trying to make them look bad, it's providing video record of them in the course of their duties, a constitutionally protected activity.

 

LOL it was the BAND

 

The longer people hang around the greater the chance of trouble breaking out. It is a football game not some kind of concert. You watch the game, you go home. If there were some kind of pregame statement that would be different but just hanging around a half hour after the game is over is asking for trouble.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree. The band director was in the wrong should have obeyed the cops and none of this would have happened. He is the sole blame for all of this.
It's really hard for me to understand how you still don't understand this.

 

I have an easy question for our right minded posters."

Which is more likely to lead to a disturbance, potential violence or "trouble breaking out?" (Check one.)
____. Allowing the high school band to finish a song and delay emptying the stadium 2.5 minutes.
____. Tasing and forcibly handcuffing the band's director in front of the band members, their parents and others.

 

No, I did not. But I am very well aware of high school sports in Florida and it is a fact that violence at prep sporting events is a major concern throughout the country. Many schools are eliminating night games altogether and security and safety is a high priority. College sports are different in that they can afford more security for events but high schools can’t and the sooner you clear the stands and get people off campus on a Friday night, the better for everyone’s safety. The days of fans sticking around for a fifth quarter or anything else are long gone.

I’m not saying the police and/or the band director handled the situation properly and it is likely both were at fault. I am just stating facts as to what is happening nationwide at Friday night high school football games and why it is a necessity that the stands be cleared as soon as possible.

 

Apparently the students at these HBHSs are better behaved than at the schools you are familiar with.

No, the 5th quarter is not gone. Not sure why you think you're in a position to make that announcement, especially as to schools in Alabama.

 

You have no idea how hard it is for me to not go off-topic with this and bring up other events where law enforcement wasn't obeyed to point out hypocrisy.

 

I see you got more gummies

 

Yeah, but when I wake up tomorrow, I'll be sober & you will still worship at the alter of BIG GOV

 

And this will still resemble you…

 

The cop was wrong from the get-go but the band director escalated things. They should both be fired.

 

How many of them were started by band kids, band parents, or band directors?

 

The band kids work their butts off. They don't get to hear their name called over the loudspeaker line football players who make a good play. And half the crowd is in the bathroom or the concession line during their big halftime performance. Let the kids play their fifth quarter, and let them finish a damn song before demanding they leave.