Man tasered at John Kerry forum for asking a question

[James_Potter]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/stu....ap/index.html

Also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NWukZhsiBw

Freedom of Speech does not exist anymore!

[Brian O.]

I've seen a lot of videos similar to that lately, its terrible. Heres an interesting and relevant link to an article: http://onemansblog.com/2007/09/17/th...ou-all-submit/

[GILD]

Originally Posted by James_Potter

Freedom of Speech does not exist anymore!

Please tell me this is not a new realisation on your part?

[john_childs]

That was really handled poorly on the part of the police and those organizing the forum. Rambling questions are nothing new at such forums. City councils deal with it all the time. Anyone running a forum like that nowadays should know how to handle the situation.

The whole reaction by the police is very troubling.

The videos I have seen so far don't bother to show the entire rambling question so it is not clear how the situation was handled prior to the police stepping in. Seems things were generally in control though even if he was speaking over some vague time limit. Then the police step in...

Doesn't give you much respect for the police when they abuse authority like that and come off looking like complete assholes.

[Det-riot]

i wish somebody could have punched the cops ion the face. that was my reaction as i saw the video. Im angry now, stupid grrrrr idk what to say besides that is so dumb.

[James_Potter]

Originally Posted by Det-riot

i wish somebody could have punched the cops ion the face. that was my reaction as i saw the video. Im angry now, stupid grrrrr idk what to say besides that is so dumb.

The problem is, the same thing is going to happen to anyone who does take a stand. There were six cops there all armed with tasers and guns and probably lots of other painful toys, so had anyone stood up for Andrew, or "punched the cops in the face" the same thing would have happened to them.
Unless EVERYONE in the room all felt the same way and tried taking on the pigs, nothing can be done, and the police will not be prosecuted for their actions.

Originally Posted by john_childs

The videos I have seen so far don't bother to show the entire rambling question so it is not clear how the situation was handled prior to the police stepping in. Seems things were generally in control though even if he was speaking over some vague time limit. Then the police step in...

In the second video the cops say that they arrested him for "inciting a riot", but it doesn't appear that he did anything to incite a riot, actually the police officers themselves were the ones who started all the action. I think they (the cops) disliked the question and didn't want it asked, or answered. But that just might be the biased government-fearing side of me coming out.
I want to know if Kerry ever answered the question, and what the answer was.45

Originally Posted by GILD

Please tell me this is not a new realisation on your part?

No, I've just been trying to deny that truth subconsciously, it's getting harder to do unfortunately.

[john_childs]

The problem is that police are not the right people to be acting as ushers at a forum like that. Getting police involved is like jumping straight to nuclear weapons, the situation instantly escalates.

Why does the police department allow their officers to be in that kind of situation where they are acting as ushers? That is not the role for a police officer -- obviously, since we have seen the results. The chief of police shouldn't allow the officers to even be put in that situation.

We already know what's going to happen when police are asked to act as ushers or an intermediary. We've seen it before.

The chief of police should insist that there be properly trained ushers at forums like that. The ushers act as an intermediary. The chief should insist that police are not used where an usher would be more appropriate.

[thejdw]

Originally Posted by Det-riot

i wish somebody could have punched the cops ion the face. that was my reaction as i saw the video. Im angry now, stupid grrrrr idk what to say besides that is so dumb.

I totaly agreee

[JJuggle]

I would agree with John.

Florida student Tasered at Kerry forum after election question
18 September 2007
Associated Press Newswires
(c) 2007. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - A University of Florida student was Tasered and arrested after he angrily and repeatedly tried to ask U.S. Sen. John Kerry about the 2004 election and other subjects during a campus forum. He was released from jail Tuesday.

Videos of Monday's 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."

Just after asking about Skull and Bones, Meyer said "thank you" again and was taken by police. As two officers grab his arms, Kerry is heard to say, "That's all right, 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 released on his own recognizance after a court hearing Tuesday. He was represented by Robert Griscti, a private attorney who did not return an e-mail and phone message seeking comment.

Police recommended charges of resisting arrest with violence, a third-degree felony, and disturbing the peace and interfering with school administrative functions, a second-degree misdemeanor. The State Attorney's Office will make the formal charging decision.

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."

Meyer has his own Web site and it contains several "comedy" videos that he appears in. In one, he stands in a street with a sign that says "Harry Dies" after the latest Harry Potter book was released. In another, he acts like a drunk while trying to pick up a woman in a bar.

[James_Potter]

Originally Posted by JJuggle

Meyer has his own Web site and it contains several "comedy" videos that he appears in. In one, he stands in a street with a sign that says "Harry Dies" after the latest Harry Potter book was released. In another, he acts like a drunk while trying to pick up a woman in a bar.

Does anyone know what his website is?
I just looked for it but couldn't find it.

[Gilby]

Originally Posted by john_childs

The videos I have seen so far don't bother to show the entire rambling question so it is not clear how the situation was handled prior to the police stepping in. Seems things were generally in control though even if he was speaking over some vague time limit. Then the police step in...

Here is most, if not all, of the question: http://video.nbc6.net/player/?id=157250