Don't Tase me bro!

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p><a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hfZBulx_H-prruRU2Clj0dIgUOww%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hfZBulx_H-prruRU2Clj0dIgUOww&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A university student with a history of taping his own practical jokes was Tasered by campus police and arrested after loudly and repeatedly trying to ask U.S. Sen. John Kerry questions during a campus forum.</p>

<p>Andrew Meyer, 21, spent a night in jail before his release from jail Tuesday morning on his own recognizance. He had no comment when he left. His attorney, Robert Griscti, did not return messages seeking comment.</p>

<p>Videos of the Monday night incident, posted on several Web sites and played repeatedly on television news, show University of Florida police officers pulling Meyer away from the microphone after he asks Kerry about impeaching President Bush and whether he and Bush were both members of the secret society Skull and Bones at Yale University.

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</p>

<p>You can find UTube videos of the incident.</p>

<p>What do you think?</p>

2

<p>He got what was coming. That being said, I don't see any validity to arresting him in the first place. His First Amendment rights should hold (he wasn't inciting a riot or defaming Kerry), but then again I'm an engineer so what do I know.</p>

3

<p>From what I saw in the video I don't understand why he was initially pulled from the podium, but the video I saw didn't have all the questions he asked of Kerry. It seemed like Kerry had no problem trying to answer the question, so I don't know why he was removed. I can understand why he got tased; he didn't understand the rule of thumb that you never, under any circumstances, physically fight with a police officer.</p>

4

<p>seriously wth? why was he arrested? he did nothing wrong...</p>

<p>stupid police..</p>

5

<p>Yeah, he was a bit rowdy, but definitely no reason to taser him.</p>

6

<p>The video doesn't capture the whole incident. The guy came into the building with four or five cops chasing him. </p>

<p>If any of you have ever listened to a major political figure speak at your campus, you have to pre-register weeks in advance. You can't just barge in at the last second. </p>

<p>Then, when the officers politely asked him to leave, he started causing a scene, and then, started FIGHTING AGAINST the cops. </p>

<p>Yeah....that usually doesn't work out too well, even if you're white.</p>

7

<p>If four or five cops were chasing him when he came in, how was he able to start speaking at the podium in the first place?</p>

<p>Based on what I saw, there was no need for the arrest.</p>

8

<p>Im guessing the fat lady cop is a bush lover and just hates the kid.
That being said, i think the kid is stupid for making such a huge fool of himself. Pulled that off like a total dumbass (not the questions so much, but the scene he wanted to make).</p>

<p>But beside the point, i think that the police should loose there job. He was in no way a disruption of the peace, and he violate nobodies rights with the first ammendment. So he had no reason to be tased because legally, hid did nothing wrong. If/when takes it to court, it looks like he might actually come out with lots of money, and a few men fired.</p>

9

<p>There's a first-person account of an audience member posted on a Facebook group (which was pro-police, anti-Meyer, by the way). So maybe the account should be taken with a grain of salt.</p>

<p>The person said that Meyer barged into the auditorium with a couple of security guards at his tail. He pushed his way past people waiting in line in order to get the mic first and started aggresively questioning Kerry. Kerry asked him to wait his turn. So Meyer went back into queue while the two cops stayed close by, just in case. That's when the video I linked to picks up.</p>

<p>He really had no business being there. You can't burst into a decorous meeting with a famous politician, simply on the basis of security reasons, nevermind common courtesy reasons. Meyer also went over the maximum one-minute mark in asking his question, as well as using the word "blowjob" in his question, which is why they cut off his mic. Meyer then screamed at them and resisted the constraints of the multiple policemen around him. Bad idea. </p>

<p>But... they shouldn't have tasered him. They should have removed him from the auditorium completely before subduing him with handcuffs-- not a taser. He was unarmed, he's a skinnier guy, not much of a physical threat. You can't shock someone for saying stupid stuff. With six cops on him, you can't taser him to further weaken him, you've already got enough man power. Tasering him in full view of dozens of people was also a poor choice.</p>

<p>Fault lays on both sides.</p>

10

<p>Yeah, i just saw a better video with good quality (the first was a crappy camera phone) and i must say 2 things.
Those cops definitely need some type of major punishment.
And
It should be illegal to be a cop and fat. They are obviouslt insecure because of it, and pick on students. jk. But yeah, it is kinda dumb that fat people are supposed to be protecting america from crime.</p>

11

<p>I don't care how he got there. He didn't have a neutron bomb on him, did he? He wasn't about to uzi the entire crowd, was he?</p>

<p>There were FIVE COPS and he was ON THE GROUND WITH THREE ON HIM and they just tasered him out of the blue for no reason. All he was asking was what he was doing wrong.</p>

<p>This is sad.</p>

12

<p>What happened to the Miranda rights?</p>

13

<p>I saw the same clip on the news this morning. The news did note that he had gone overtime on his questioning, but didn't mention anything about him barging into the room & cutting in line.</p>

<p>Based on the video alone, the cops were out of line. Sure his minute was up, but they just grabbed him rather than warning him & telling him to get out of the way. You can hear Kerry say "It's ok, let me answer his question"</p>

<p>And, your first instinct when someone grabs you is to jerk away. I know it's the cops, but if you didn't do anything obviously wrong, the cops didn't say anything to you, and they just grabbed you.. you'd be like " let me go" while pulling away - just like that guy. But after the initial reaction, he did make more of a scene, that wasn't necessary, and he still tried to get away. That was dumb. It's the cops, they'll use unnecessary force and then claim they needed to in order to tame the victim. </p>

<p>I think they should have first let him go after removing him from the mic, to see if he'd peacefully leave or sit down on his on reconnaissance, and if not, then go at him & remove him from the auditorium. They had plenty of cops to physically overpower him so tasering was uncalled for.</p>

14

<p>This is what's currently happening regarding the situation in a letter to all UF students. </p>

<p>To University of Florida Students, </p>

<p>As you are by now aware, yesterday afternoon, as a town hall forum with Senator
John Kerry was ending, there was an incident in which a student was tasered.
Many of you, and many of your parents, have expressed your concerns regarding
this incident to me and my staff. I would like to assure you that the
University is interested in learning what happened and in ensuring that we
utilize best practice protocols in maintaining a safe campus environment while
protecting the freedom to speak. </p>

<p>I would like to reiterate the immediate steps, laid out by President Machen in
his letter to the university community, which are being taken in response to
the incident. </p>

<p>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. </p>

<p>Two officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative
leave pending the outcome of the investigation. </p>

<p>The institution plans 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. </p>

<p>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. </p>

<p>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 that a review of the case will be expedited. </p>

<p>We plan to keep students updated on any progress through our website,
<a href="http://www.ufsa.ufl.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ufsa.ufl.edu&lt;/a>. </p>

<p>Sincerely, </p>

<p>Patricia Telles-Irvin
Vice President for Student Affairs</p>

15

<p>I think obnoxious college students should be tasered more often. What they did was excessive, sure, but within their rights as police officers.</p>

16

<p>Ditto................................Punk looks for trouble and cries when he gets it. A shot with a billy club would have caused more lasting damage and been totally legal. He's lucky.</p>

17

<p>I know the guy, he had it coming...</p>

18

<p>This guy deserved to be tazered. I would give me full support to the police department who did this, against this disruptor of the peace who's who point was to make a scene and get on the news. Even the Republicans (Bill O'Reily, saw this just a few min ago) said that guy was an idiot who deserved it.</p>

<p>If you look at it politically too, they mentioned that the man was running towards Senator Kerry wildly and frantically, and kept on resisting arrest while on the ground. What if this man, who already seemed mentally deranged, was infact trying to assasinate Kerry or such a thing? You don't go charging at a Senator, no matter who you are, no matter what rights, because it's just something you don't do. It could be treason if it was with violent intentions. The police department knows the inconvienance of 1 man is worth nothing compared to the possible endangerment life of a Senator of the United States. </p>

<p>In Short, screw freedoms, this guy is some stupid annoyance and should be punished. The officers did their job correctly and made the best possible decisions in the situation. If I had the authority, I would give more punishment to the student and give complete amnesty and honors to the police department. (Course I'm not in authority, so bleh)</p>

19

<p>This is too funny all of a sudden people want to talk of police brutality? That was nothing, the guy was disrupting an event it seems and yea it was not necessary for him to be tasered but this has been happening for years and a lot worse to certain groups of people. Rodney King, the groom being shoot and killed before his wedding night, Mexican immigrants being hassled by the Minutemen, the Black five-year old girl being arrested, The guy who was shot like 9 times or more by police because they thought he was reaching for a gun when it was just his wallet, and a lot more. </p>

<p>Not saying that anyone here claimed that this is new, but there's like a Facebook group for this against "police brutality"</p>

20

<p>Yeah, everyone gets all horrified about tasers, which leave effectively no lasting damage unless a cardiac arrest occurs. On the other hand, the alternatives (physically subduing the suspect, with nightsticks or whatever) have resulted in far more police brutality claims, so the police really don't have any choice.</p>

<p>He had what was coming to him. The guy went into a private meeting he wasn't supposed to be in, caused a disturbance doing so, asked way too long a question while also ranting, then resisted officers trying (VERY PATIENTLY) to escort him out, making it impossible to cuff him and finally forcing them to taser him. I don't see much gray area here.</p>

<p>Yeah, tasers hurt. They're also potentially dangerous. Boo hoo.</p>