While Syracuse was busy lighting it up the field in their win over USF, one fan was getting lit up in the stands.
Cooper Stroman, a Syracuse fan and student at Flagler College in Jacksonville, says cops at Raymond James Stadium tased him and then ejected him from the stadium.
It’s become a classic he-said, he-said battle and Stroman has a lawyer involved. But why did the police need to tase a Syracuse fan who was watching the game?
“Instead of listening to the officers commands, he chose to get into a physical fight with the officers. They told him to get down to the ground, they told him to put his hands behind his back, but he continued to physically struggle with the officers,” said Laura McElroy, a spokesperson for the Tampa Police.
According to the story, Stroman says he was sitting among USF fans, but that everyone was getting along and it was the police who were out of line. “(The cops) did not like us in that section. We were being too loud. I think they just assumed that everyone around us had a problem with us being there.”
Stroman’s lawyer, John Lauro, is a former federal prosecutor and is trying to take this case to the top. He wrote a letter to the governor:
“In thirty years I’ve never heard of anything like this at all and I’d like to find the answers. The reason for special counsel is to determine why they picked on Cooper and why they picked on these gentlemen.”
According to this article about Lauro, it seems hard to believe he has never seen anything like this in thirty years. He’s represented a money launderer, someone detained because of a possible relationship to 9/11, and oh yeah, disgraced former NBA ref Tim Donaghy.
Not to mention, the whole “Don’t tase me bro” incident happened in Florida.
Stroman also says he was not drinking during the game. That may be testing the boundaries of my BS meter right there. College student + college football game + friends + your team pulling off major road upset + getting tased and there wasn’t any alcohol involved? I don’t know how many people are buying that one. Look, we’ve all had a bad encounter with a cop at some point in our lives, but they’re not going to just tase you for no reason.
Looks like Stroman accomplished grabbing his fifteen minutes of local TV news fame. But at this point can he keep pushing his case? And with a straight face?
Posted: Mike Couzens
