University of FL Student Tasered At Kerry Q&A Posted by Pile (8406 views) [E-Mail link]

During a political rally at the University of Florida, an excited student apparently abused his two minute allotment of freedom to ask John Kerry several questions about why he conceded the election early, why he doesn't impeach bush, and whether he is a member of skull and bones. The stunt got the student wrestled to the ground, tasered and arrested by no less than five cops. Yay Freedom(tm)!

















Statement released by the University of FL:

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 Stumpï¿½s priority is to ensure that the public remains confident in the departmentï¿½s 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



Comments from John Kerry:



"In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way," Kerry said in a statement. "I believe I could have handled the situation without interruption, but I do not know what warnings or other exchanges transpired between the young man and the police prior to his barging to the front of the line and their intervention. I asked the police to allow me to answer the question and was in the process of responding when he was taken into custody."



"I was not aware that a taser was used until after I left the building," he continued. "I hope that neither the student nor any of the police were injured. I regret enormously that a good healthy discussion was interrupted."



For politicians, hecklers come with the territory. But the arrest and detention of Meyer at Kerry speech on Monday stood out in at least two respects: Police acted aggressively in trying to silence Meyer, and the entire incident was captures on video -- making it an immediate Internet and TV sensation.



Videos show Meyer being pulled away from the microphone after as he sought to ask Kerry, D-Mass., a rambling series of questions that touch on allegations of voting improprieties in the 2004 election, possible impeachment of President Bush, Iran, and Kerry's membership in Yale's secret Skull and Bones society.



Kerry sought to answer at least some of Meyer's questions even as Meyer was dragged off by campus police -- and after police used a Taser to try to subdue him as he was being arrested.



"Help me! Help!" Meyer says. "What are you doing! Get off of me! Don't Taser me, bro! Oh my God! Oh my God!"



Here's yet another angle:













sequence of events...

Posted by Bronson on 2007-09-18 12:02:56 1. He's standing at the microphone waiting patiently for Kerry to finish his speech.

2. Kerry finishes and calls on him to speak. The guy thanks him for his time in addressing the students.

3. He holds up a book and recommends Kerry read it, because it states that he actually won the 2004 election.

(Kerry states he 'has' read the book)

3. Question #1: (after a statement leading into the question... he's a journalism student after all) How could you concede the election with so many unknowns in relation to disenfranchisement of voters and improper vote counts?

4. He gets a bit upset at a security officer trying to cut him off before he even gets to the question stated in point 3.

5. Question #2: Why not impeach Bush before he invades Iran, since Bill Clinton was impeached over a blowjob?

6. Question #3: Is Kerry a member of the Skull and Bones society, along with Bush?

7. The officer then shuts the microphone off halfway through his last question/statement. (by this time it's been 1 minute and 30 seconds of him at the mic).

8. Then he gets upset that they shut off the mic before he was completely finished, but not combative at all, then they grab him and attempt to eject him from the proceeding.

9. He pulls himself away from the guards once Kerry states that everything's OK and that he'll answer the question(s), but he still shows no signs of combativeness.

10. It pretty much devolves into a melee from here.



I really see nothing here that warrants his treatment, nor justification for the tazering. Posted by Anonymous on 2007-09-18 14:48:38 Except for the fact HE WASNT standing there waiting to be called on thats all these videos show but thats nothing of how it happened. He RAN IN already having a few cops following him. Posted by Pile on 2007-09-18 15:14:25 That's not true. Put down the crack pipe you moron. Dumb Kid That Got What He Asked For

Posted by Travis C on 2007-09-20 14:28:07 This kid got exactly what he deserved! If your gonna be an idiot this is what you get! Name: (change name for anonymous posting) Title: Comments: 1 Article displayed.