Student Arrested, Tasered at Kerry Event

[Starglider]

Caught my eye;

A University of Florida student was Tasered and arrested after trying to ask U.S. Senator John Kerry about the 2004 election and other subjects during a campus forum.

Videos of the incident posted on several Web sites show officers pulling Andrew Meyer, 21, 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.

"He apparently asked several questions he went on for quite awhile then he was asked to stop," university spokesman Steve Orlando said. "He had used his allotted time. His microphone was cut off, then he became upset."

As two officers take Meyer by the arms, Kerry, D-Mass., is heard to say, "That's alright, let me answer his question." Audience members applaud, and Meyer struggles to escape for several seconds as up to four officers try to remove him from the room.

Meyer screams for help and asks "What did I do?" as he tries to break away from officers. He is forced to the ground and officers order him to stop resisting. Meyer says he will walk out if the officers let him go.

As Kerry tells the audience he will answer the student's "very important question," Meyer struggles on the ground and yells at the officers to release him, crying out, "Don't Tase me, bro," just before he is Tasered. He is then led from the room, screaming, "What did I do?"

Meyer was charged with resisting an officer and disturbing the peace, according to Alachua County jail records. No bond had been set. Meyer was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning, a jail official said.

It was not known if Meyer had an attorney. Orlando said university police would conduct an internal investigation.

"The police department does have a standard procedure for when they use force, including when they use a Taser," Orlando said. "That is what the internal investigation would address whether the proper procedures were followed, whether the officers acted appropriately."

Must confess I'm having a hard time summoning up much sympathy for this guy, as he appears to have been acting like a jerk, then refusing to admitt it, then panicing and struggling. Tasering him does seem excessive though, he was pretty clearly overpowered by four police officers and not a threat.

[Sidewinder]

I think the charge of police brutality applies here. Talk about overreacting-- it didn't seem like the guy was a threat.

[Edi]

If Kerry was telling them to hold off and that he would asnwer the man's question, there is no two ways about it that the police far overstepped their bounds.

[TithonusSyndrome]

I guess it has something to do with the time of year, because it was about the same time last year that a student was also similarly tasered without cause at ACLU, IIRC.

[Illuminatus Primus]

No one gives a shit here at UF. This guy was clearly a crackpot. Everyone simply discussed the substance of Kerry's speech.

[Adrian Laguna]

Cops are being too liberal with the taser. It's supposed to be something that let's you incapacitate someone without needing to resort to putting a bullet in their ass, not a "make people compliant" button.

[Stravo]

I'm uncertain as to the physiological effects of Tasering but isn't it far less potentially lethal than a night stick choke hold or other traditional method of person restraint and control?

[Adrian Laguna]

I understand tasering to be more lethal than just manhandling a person, that is why I'm condemning the free use of the device.

[Enigma]

I'm sorry but this made me laugh. It reminded me of that video of a cop trying to arrest the drunk but kept refusing resulting in the cop tasering the drunk. Funny thing was that the drunk kept resisting and was tasered again.

[General Zod]

I'm uncertain as to the physiological effects of Tasering but isn't it far less potentially lethal than a night stick choke hold or other traditional method of person restraint and control?

People have been known to be killed by tasers if they have heart problems or other less than obvious medical conditions. So they can be just as risky as regular physical force.

[Big Phil]

That asshole got what he deserved... they didn't need to use the tazer (they are definitely over-used), but I thought they showed commendable restraint (the cops never got excited, angry, or emotional, unlike Andrew Meyer) considering how big of a douchebag this guy was being.

[Lord Poe]

That asshole got what he deserved... they didn't need to use the tazer (they are definitely over-used), but I thought they showed commendable restraint (the cops never got excited, angry, or emotional, unlike Andrew Meyer) considering how big of a douchebag this guy was being.

Agreed. This attention-whoring motherfucker was resisting arrest. He was asked to stop, didn't, was being escorted out after he failed to comply, resisted like crazy, was TOLD that if he didn't stop resisting, he'd be tasered. His response? "I'll walk out of here!" And he STILL resisted. Then his ass got tasered. In fact, its my opinion that he he put up such resistance so he WOULD be tasered.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bVa6jn4rpE

I'm fucking sick of assholes like this.

[Kamakazie Sith]

Cops are being too liberal with the taser. It's supposed to be something that let's you incapacitate someone without needing to resort to putting a bullet in their ass, not a "make people compliant" button.

Wrong. It's something that is suppose to limit the damage done by physical attacks. If a cop is justified in putting a bullet in someone then you put a bullet in that someone, you never resort to a lower level of force when deadly force is being used against you.

If he was resisting arrest then it was justified. Unless, you prefer they apply pain compliance through another method?

[Kamakazie Sith]

I think the charge of police brutality applies here. Talk about overreacting-- it didn't seem like the guy was a threat.

He doesn't have to be a threat for force to be used. He simply must resist arrest.

[Kamakazie Sith]

I understand tasering to be more lethal than just manhandling a person, that is why I'm condemning the free use of the device.

Then you understand wrong. Tasering has resulted in deaths, but so has simple handcuffing.

[Gaidin]

but so has simple handcuffing.

Wait what? How and when did this happen? o_O

[Lancer]

but so has simple handcuffing.

Wait what? How and when did this happen? o_O

...
V. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
A. Positional asphyxia
Officers shall not hog-tie suspects by placing them in a prone position with the hands
and ankles bound from behind with handcuffs, belts, or other devices. As soon as
any suspect who is lying on his or her stomach has been handcuffed, officers shall
roll the suspect onto his or her side, or place the suspect in a sitting position.
1. Positional asphyxia occurs when the position of the body interferes with
respiration. A prone, hog-tied suspect may suffocate. Intoxication, presence
of a head injury, obesity, and physical disability are all circumstances that
can increase the possibility of suffocation.
2. Ascertain if the suspect has used alcohol or drugs recently or suffers from
any cardiac or respiratory problem. Monitor the suspect and obtain medical
treatment if necessary.

[Superman]

This guy was a fucking maniac. He was clearly making a scene and acting like an asshole.

[Revan's Fire]

Scene Summary:

College Dude: Hey, Mr. Senator, were you in this super secret club in college?
Security: Okay mister, you're not saying anything relevant
College Dude: Hey! Get off of me! Why are you doing this to me?
Security: Stop being a fucking douchebag and leave, jackass
College Dude: We'll walk out! Don't taser me man, WHAT DID I DOOOOOO?

.......disgusting

[Lancer]

Youtube vid link of a longer version, for those of you who seem to think he wasn't being a jackass

[Lord Poe]

Youtube vid link of a longer version, for those of you who seem to think he wasn't being a jackass

Fuck him, and that shrill bitch screeching, "Why are you doing that?"

[Death from the Sea]

I'm uncertain as to the physiological effects of Tasering but isn't it far less potentially lethal than a night stick choke hold or other traditional method of person restraint and control?

People have been known to be killed by tasers if they have heart problems or other less than obvious medical conditions. So they can be just as risky as regular physical force.

I have not heard of any such thing, in fact I know of several officers with heart conditions that have been tasered to be certified to carry it and they are alive and well today.

The only deaths I have ever heard of from the taser involved the suspect overdosing on some kind of drug that either would have killed (or did kill) them anyway or in their overdosed state combined with the taser killed them.

But if you can provide evidence otherwise, please do.

As for the Meyer guy, he was putting on a show and he even had a friend tape it. When it went wrong for him, he thought making a big enough scene might save him and he was wrong.

[Tanasinn]

I dunno, it seems the police were perfectly fair with him. He made repeated attempts to resist non-violent removal, then resisted handcuffing. Seems like he was asking for it.

[Agent Fisher]

Of course he wasn't asking for it. Didn't you hear him? "Don't tase me man!"

[Death from the Sea]

Of course he wasn't asking for it. Didn't you hear him? "Don't tase me man!"

but actions speak louder than words