video = UF Police Taser Student During Kerry Forum
There are multiple videos on the web about the University of Florida Student getting tasered at the John Kerry Forum, but i think this one gives you the most complete picture. Watch the video and leave your thoughts as a comment.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, Kerry Forum Gone Wild. Really the student made some valid points that I wish Kerry would have addressed years ago.
From Fox News
University of Florida’s response to into the arrest of Andrew Meyer, who was tasered during John Kerry Forum: http://insideuf.ufl.edu/2007/09/18/prez-statement/
[President Machen addresses issues related to student arrest
To students, faculty, staff:
I have received a great deal of communication and input last night and this morning regarding the incident that occurred Monday at the conclusion of a town hall forum being held by Sen. John Kerry. The incident resulted in a student being tasered.
We are interested in learning what happened and are taking the following immediate steps to ensure the university utilizes best practice protocols.
University of Florida Police Chief Linda Stump has requested the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conduct a formal investigation into the arrest of UF student Andrew Meyer. An independent review such as this will make sure the results are objective and impartial. Chief Stump’s priority is to ensure that the public remains confident in the department’s ability to keep the campus safe.
Two officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
We plan to assemble a panel of faculty and students to review our police protocols, our management practices and the FDLE report to come up with a series of recommendations for the university.
Administrators and police officials plan to analyze the incident and conduct an internal review and will consider changing protocols in response to this incident, if necessary.
Finally, as is standard procedure, the State Attorney’s Office will review the charges brought against Mr. Meyer. We have communicated with the State Attorney and understand he plans to expedite his review.
I will talk about the incident and answer questions at a news conference scheduled for 2 p.m. in Emerson Alumni Hall.
Sincerely,
J. Bernard Machen ]
I see ACLU written all over this one…what do you guys think ¿
Dumb ass should have listen… cant get a job arguing anyways.. learned nothing from college
Nah, his skin is too pale for the ACLU to care.
I actually attended this event, and I would like to get out there what the several infamous YouTube videos fail to show. I had my eye on Meyer for a good amount of the time once questions were started, because I knew, from his reputation, that he was probably going to ask something quite interesting and out-there, and perhaps spark up some hot topics. Unfortunatly, he didn’t seem to want to ask his “QUESTION” too badly, because he was pretty far back in line (but not actually at the end, as many would deem a good idea in his case). So, since this was a forum that only allowed a certain time for questions, (and yes, Kerry mentioned in the beginning that he would try his best to answer as many questions AS POSSIBLE in the time granted), the last question ended up going to a student on the other microphone, while everyone else who was waiting to ask a question was asked to please take a seat (while I agree it sucks that everyone couldn’t ask a question, these were the rules of the event). Meyer, who was not even the next student in line, refused to take a seat when asked, but instead INTERRUPTED the other student asking a question and went on to shout towards Kerry “You’ve been talking in circles for two hours and I’m about to be arrested..” and goes on about how everyone should have a chance to have their questions answered. Yes, that would be ideal, but its just not how this forum was set up. And at this point officers were just trying to have him sit down, not arrest him. Anyway, Kerry then said “Okay, I’ll let you ask your question when I’m done with this other gentleman” and so Meyer relaxed and waited, but obviously, when someone is getting that riled up in front of a U.S. Senator and an auditorium of people, the cops are going to have an eye on him. It was in these moments that Meyer was seen giving the video camera to the woman speaking here, so no doubt about it he was fully aware something was going to go down. At this point, there was only two cops by him, one a woman shorter than he is. Anyway, this is pretty much where the videos on YouTube pick up. Many people believe Meyers mic was cut due to his question on Skull and Bones, but in actuality, right when he said “blowjob,” an official standing behind him gave the cue to cut the mic, and it just took a few second to actually have the mic turned off, so he was able to get that last question about Skull and Bones in. Anyway, at this point, the two officers tried to escort him out, and he began resisting and yelping. This was what called for more police to be brought in. They actually threatened him with mace, and that seems to be what caused him to start heading towards the exit with them. As he was being led up to the back of the auditorium to leave, he was yelling “HELP ME! IS ANYONE SEEING THIS?! WHAT DID I DO!”
I would also like to try to clear up all this talk about how the audience and Kerry should have done something to help. Kerry actually told the police to let him go several times. Kerry wanted to answer Meyer’s question, but when he was being escorted away, it was probably a better idea to just be calm and anwer the question to the remaining audience members. Seriosuly though, I can’t imagine anyone was fortelling what would happen next. It wasnt until Meyer was brought to the top of the auditorium that he began to really pull away and resist and was then brought to the floor in an attempt to handcuff him for restraint. He was resisting the police for quite some time while they were trying to handcuff him. There wasn’t really a reason for anyone to stop them. It was then in the next few moments that you hear “Don’t tase me, bro!” and a few people run up to the pile and yell to stop, after he had been tasered. I personally stood up and yelled “What the fuck, don’t do that!” So, while I was totally appauled by him being tasered, there wasn’t much we as audience members could do to stop it. Right after being tasered, he was taken out, so there really was not enough time for anyone to act. I personally couldn’t have done much alone besides just be pushed aside by the cops or possibly injured myself (and I know that seems like a small sacrifice for human rights, and it is, but it would have just been pointless by now), as I am a teenage girl with a small frame, and, as stated, there wasn’t enough time for most audience members to say “Hey, lets get together and throw these heavily-armed cops off this kid!” No one saw it coming and up until then, to be perfectly honest, it seemed appropriate for Meyer to be escorted out. He first broke a rule by jumping onto a microphone out of turn and then asked a chain of questions that turned into more of a rant and speech of his own. So it wasn’t the fact that he was rude or passionate about what he was saying, or even really the content of what he was saying, it was that he was turning the Q&A into a dialogue, and that’s not what it was. Then, however elementry it may seem, “blowjob” was inappropriate to say in the given situation. This was an organized event in which you needed a ticket to attend, so it was not just open for anybody to walk in randomly. These are the events that have guidlines that need to be followed to ensure the safety of the people (not that he himself was a threat at all) and the smoothness of the discussion.
This clearly demonstrates what police state mentality exists in this country we now live in. This student while vocal, did nothing wrong. The security people who tazed him committed assault. This student did not threaten anyone. His only “crime” was his enthusiasm for fairness in elections and in confirming the truth. Someday we will find out how much this country has been duped, and we will shake our heads at how stupid we all have been to accept this imposition of almost martial law upon the freedom of speech in this country. The Dean of this college is responsible for this incident, and that person owes this country an apology for the brutal life threatening attack upon a student simply exercising his inalienable rights as an American citizen. Or does that not count anymore? That Tazer was aimed at all of us if we question authority. In the 1960’s passionate questioning of the establishment was often met with brute force. Oh how history repeats itself.
The video looked pretty plain and simple…if the dumb cop who tackled the student would have stayed back, the boy would have been lead out…He was moving toward the exit…”six” lame cops hold the guy down and they can’t contain him without tasering him? sounds like they need self defense training all over again…especially when the resistence was extremely “mild” to say the least.
A public viewing of a tazering at a political speach on a college campus…sounds like another WACO, or Ruby Ridge or the Gonzalas kid going back to Cuba: it is the government stretching the limits and testing the waters to see how much socialism and government control can be exercised, contrary to the Constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, before another oppressive legislative bill is passed that will suppress all American citizens who pose a threat to some anti-democratic government…
Those cops should be fired, arrested and charged and the kid should collect two million from the college and Kerry; but, Kerry will play dumb (excuse me…he doesn’t have to play that role)but he will not stand up for the individual citizen…not his nature.
Such a limp-wristed society we live in.
“Free speech has limits” – amen. Kid was held accountable for his “free speech”. No one wants to take responsibility for their actions. We live in a throwaway society and our youth severely lack discipline.
Toughen up, America. Act like a dumbass, you get regulated. Such is life. Try this shit overseas and watch what happens.
This was a set up by Meyer. The cops were
escorting him out and he escalated the incident..
I would have shot him!
That’s nuts!
This kid is crazy… shot him, that’s too extreme. Everyone on the news seems to think that this kid was wrong and although he did disrupt everyone, he did have a serious question to be answered. I think the problem is that this kid knew what he was talking about and that scared John Kerry and the police for some reason. Although john kerry supposedly said to stop he could have done more to help him so he wouldn’t have gotten treated this brutally. Instead, he just sat and stared because he probably didn’t really have the answer to the question. He could have easily stopped this from getting out of hand but he just let it go as nothing was going on. How can this man could have run the coountry if he can’t even deal with a question from one college student, let alone an entire nation.