John Kerry is a decorated war veteran,he was not shown any respect by this right wing nut.

It doesn't matter how much of "a jerk" Meyer was/is. The last time I checked, freedom of speech doesn't end with "... as long as you're polite." This was plain and simple a violation of his rights and police brutality. These officers should be fired, and stripped of any pension plans they may have had. This act cannot go unpunished, and they must be made examples of so this sort of thing stops. We as americans should be allowed to say whatever we want in any public forum regardless of the level of politeness.

Wow this guy really had it coming...Shouting and flailing your arms around officers??? Of course they are going to tase you why would they risk there own safety on this nut bag? acting irrational MIGHT do.

Thank you UF for putting this spoiled college kid in his place

Yeah he is definitely a right wing nut... asking why Kerry conceded the election and didn't fight the results where black voters rights were alleged to have been infringed. Sounds like what Right-wingers are always screaming about... infringement of black voters. You might want to actually watch the video again... the kid was a left-winger asking why Kerry didn't stick to his liberal values and why he was such a coward for not even putting up a good fight 3 years ago.

And I believe that he got tazed for his 'Skull and Bones' question, honestly!

I love it when anarchists confront socialists!

I can't believe that some people would accept this treatmeant as being just! This student may have been out of line for cutting off another student, but tasering him because he was yelling. he was struck down for expressing his opinion with passion! This crosses the line. How would you feel if some one tasered you for expressing your opinion?

Mr. Kerry is a politician, not a cop. He dictates policy, not enforces it. Students like this Andrew Meyer are very passionate about their own view but it tends to drown out reason and they have to be delt with. I would rather have cops running around with taser than students running around without boundaries. Freedom of speech is very appropriate as long as it is not drowning out other people's voices. What if somebody had a completely different opinion than Andrew Meyer? Would anything be resolved if we had two people yelling at each other? Just ask yourself if you would allow him to say anything if he was saying racist, sexist, etc. No. He would be quieted for his own protection.

I was very surprised the way police acted brutally. Yelling/ shouting is freedom of speech. Even in India, third world country where laws are lax and police brutality on poor people is rampant, police WILL NOT do this kind of act to college Student at university level. Golly, so much for freedom, so much for people defendening police using electric shock. Sickening and supporting a police officers who tased him after he was subdued is more sickening to see.

The kid was off his meds.

There was a you tube clip of him being escorted out of the building and into a security car where he's telling the officers (who he called government operatives) that they cant cover up his impending murder because people knew he was at school today.

C-A-A-A-R-A-Z-Y

Andrew Meyer was an irreverent schlep, grandstanding and trying to create the exact altercation he finally ended up with. He was pre-meditated with his actions to include making sure he was being filmed and was disrespectful to both the people at the forum and to John Kerrey. The police over-reacted by tasing him, but ask yourself this, "What would we think if he had tried to kill Kerrey at some point?" Then we would have said that the police didn't act strongly enough and could have prevented it. If Meyer had complied with the officer's request to "stop resisting", then the matter would not have escalated. Do we condone people who disrespect the police doing their jobs? Only if they were out of line and Meyers was going to make sure that happened by resisting, and being a whiny little jerk. An investigation is warranted because there were mistakes all around. Maybe we need to learn that the freedoms we take for granted can be used against us as well.

I think the actions of the UF police were outrageous. I mean, he was exercising his free speech rights when those -- hey, wait a minute, you guys, what are you doing, hey, let me go, what is this! Hey, don't -- ow! That really hurt! I didn't do anything, I didn't do anything! Don't taze me, bro, don't -- aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!

Thank God Those "Brave" Men And Women Had The Courage To Put That "Hooligan" In His Place.

That'll Teach Him To Ask Questions.....

The video clips don't show all that occurred, and definitely don't show this student barging his way to the microphone and hijacking the forum. BUT, what the clips do show is that this guy was only "tased" after, by my count, trying to shrug off and break free of officers TWICE while they were trying to escort him out of the room. I'm pretty liberal and still think this guy went too far. And as for the idea that he got 'tased' for the skull and bones question...be real.... the jimmy-leg police officers are not of the variety to even know what S and B is, much less have the independent motivation to quell such a question. In short, not smart enough to be political conspirators. My vote: this 21 year old ADULT (not a kid) hammed it up and got exactly what he was after. Watch for the endless interviews and speaking engagements. Guess he won't have to get a real job for a while....

The fact that we are even discussing this matter is heinous. University Police should be placed with the same demeanor the way all other police departments are handled...when they over-assert their power, they should not only be suspended, but fired. This is a total abuse of power, and why we as a society, especially at the university level, need more checks and balances in observing what it is our officers are doing. Since when did "to protect and to serve" become rendered to meaning "with all aggression and absolute force possible." This kid should sue.

It is usuallly conservatives or moderate speakers who are interrupted by these left wing loons. Kerry didn't know what to do because it had never happened to him before. By the way, why are leftists always talking about "cencorship" but invariably when a campus speaking engagement is shut down by protesters, it is invariably some lib-nut trying to prevent the public utternace of an opposing view. See e.g., the speaker from the Minutemen Project at Yale.

Reading the cowardly statements of people who would cede their right to speak because they might be impolite reminds me of Jay Leno's "Jay Walking" where he asks legal, social and historical ignorants about the U. S. constitution.

Ben Franklin was right - they don't deserver either security or freedom.

Those who defend these police actions naively promote dictatorship instead of democracy and go against the Bill of Rights. Communist police was very similar when the public eye was present. However, according to the Bill of Rights, we are supposed to be different. Obviously, there is a big difference between theory (Bill of Rights) and practice, as this video record indicates.

There are several comments for and against this student. I think one thing should be clear to all of us. We lose several mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and etc. everyday protecting the very right that this young man is entitled to. He has freedom of speech and instead of just going to work or school and letting the government never have to answer to anything, he actually got up and asked question on his mind. Most of us could learn from that. Maybe if we would follow in the same steps we would stop all the b.s. that goes on with the government. I think they have forgot they that are in place for the citizen. They are not in place as rulers and for their own benefit. Police have forgot that as well. Although this is nothing but my own personal opinion, it is exactly what this young man was expressing, his own beliefs. If you listen to it he wasn't being racist or cruel to Kerry. He was asking why he didn't stand up for himself, and if Kerry really wanted to stop the police from arresting and then using the taser on him, he could have. Thanks for reading

Who Cares Who I Am,
Nice straw man argument. Who wouldn't think the police were justified if this jerks intent was to murder Sen. Kerry? Ask yourself this: If he was being just as loud and animated but was praising John Kerry, would he have been tased, would the police have attempted to escort him out of the building?

Nice of the idiot to simply rush the mic and cut off and cut in front of another student who was attempting to speak. Then fillibustering/whining for the better part of a minute without giving Kerry a chance to respond.

The only person attempting to limit "free speech" in this scenario was the a-hole student who deservedly got his a$$ tasered after throwing a tantrum and resisting arrest.

The audience applause when he got his a$$ dragged away speaks volumes.

we live in a police state in the US. These waste of sperm and eggs should be fired today and not just put on leave.

This is a tough call for me. At first, I thought, that seemed a bit uncalled for. But as I began to think more, this is a crazy, different world than years ago. With any high profile speakers can anyone be sure? Take that chance? This isn't just about Kerry, it could happen at any event. Is it worth the risk in this day and age?

I've done my sint as a questioner at political functions in college. Whenever I had my mike turned-off & asked to leave the podium (always at conservative functions, go figure), that's what I did. I didn't wait for security to ask me to leave, escort me, argue with them, or get myself in a position where I could get myself in trouble.

This has nothing to do with Andrew Meyer's freedom of speech, Kerry, Bush, homeland security, 04 elections, left, right, or anything of the sort.

Andrew went up there to the podium with the intent of instigating trouble & he got it. He was dumb enough to get himself into trouble, but smart enough to know he would get the notariety he was looking for.

Why else would he make sure the camera was on?

While being escorted out, he tried to break free of the officers and lunged back towards the stage where a Senator was standing, all while shouting and trying to draw attention to himself. It was only then they started to arrest the student and because he was resisting so prefusely, they had to use a taser for a few seconds so that they could cuff him. The officers being on administrative leave is not an admission by their superiors that they did anything wrong, rather to protect them from people who are not informed about exactly what happened.

This guy Meyer has done a lot of things "on film" for reaction...he set this whole thing up to be on YouTube!
This wasn't the first time he has done something like this and it wont be the last! There were stories on him the other day and he has a history of stirring the pot for negative reaction!
He was acting insane and irrational and deserved what he got! If you don't want to be tased then don't act like a lunatic when you are surrounded by cops!

Andrew Meyer cut off another speaker, turned the "forum" into his own ranting, and refused the instructions of moderators, who were trying to foster orderly, intellectual conversation. By so doing, Meyer clearly engaged in "disorderly conduct", as defined by State Statute. By pulling away from law enforcement officers, he resisted arrest, also as defined by State Statute. As his vocal and physical resistance escalated, the force of law enforcement officers escalated to meet it. Besides disrupting the event, he put the safety of a lot of people at risk. It all seemed like a terrible thing to happen. It was... thanks to Meyer.

Anyone notice that John E. wasn't posting during the timing of all this?

MMMMMmmmmmmm

bill, roman, ian, bella, and all things have finally gotten to the point. This is not a case of police brutality. This is a case where somebody was asked to leave, then escorted out (notice the officer only physically had hold of one arm), then when he resisted an officer half-tackled him to push him back, then when he resisted they put him on the ground, then when he resisted, they tased him and cuffed him. Sounds to me like they followed exact police procedure for the escalation of force. Had he just left or allowed them to escort him outside, he'd probably walk free. Stop the knee-jerk 'police are bad' reactions and take the whole situation into focus.

Those were not real cops-- they were campus spam and that is why he was resisting the arrest-- he wasn't read his rights, he was threatened and feared being tased, hell yeah I would have tried to get away too--- can you imagine though, the feeling of a whole room of robots clapping that you are getting detained for asking a politician a question? Why wasn't Kerry screaming for them to let the boy go, running over to assist him? He was not trying to get them to stop--- pushover for president, aren't they all??? DON'T LET THIS ONE GO!!!!

I have seen both the Democrat Party and the Republican Party cut off microphones. It is not just a tactic of the right. See what happens to you if you did the same thing with Mayor Daley!

Yes, you have the right of Freedom of Speech, but is it not limited in how you do it?

This so called adult acted out to provoke a response that he got. What was his political point in what he did? Nothing that I can determine. He crossed the line.

I like the people who are trying to make this a right-left political incident, who cannot see past labels like liberal and conservative even where they don't apply. Meyer's website indicates is an anti-war liberal. He was confronting Kerry because he doesn't believe Kerry is liberal enough. Know the facts BEFORE you comment.

the police did their job exactly the way they were supposed to.

as far as the free speech proponents here, this guy jumped out of turn, infringed on other's right to free speech. The exact moment that happens, no one should be defending this jerk.

i would have tasered him in the throat after 2 VERY polite warnings.

The poliece did there job the guy was being a nutcase!!

I cant believe the how pathetic you yanks have become, i guy gets up and asks kerry the single most important question you could ask him, why did you concede the 04 election? Highlights for those who dont know that 5 million balck votes never got counted in 04 election.Excercises his right to ask a politician why it is he failed to carry out his duty. What does he get??..silenced. Just like anybody else who dares speak out.And you other folk who cheered and laughed when he got tased should be ashamed to call yourselves Americans, this guy was standing up for all of your people. Well done America your truly on the way to a police state and best of all and you dont even know it!!!

as far as the free speech proponents here, this guy jumped out of turn, infringed on other's right to free speech. The exact moment that happens, no one should be defending this jerk.

Posted by: George | September 19, 2007 12:15 PM

Everyone has the right to be a jerk, including this guy. This is the dumbest comment so far today. The founders would be disgusted with anyone who would suggest such nonsense as you.

Sure, this kid acted like a jerk. Sure, his question was overlong and nutty. But you get questioners like that at any public forum. There are ways to handle it short of siccing cops on the guy. And once the cops were on the guy, a taser is supposed to be used only if the suspect is in real danger of causing injury or escaping. This kid was pinned to the floor and in no danger of doing either. At worst he was being a smartass and not cooperating in getting his handcuffs on. That's not what a taser is for.

Yes, the kid was wrong in his approach, and the tasing was also uncalled for. Unfortunately, tasing seems to be a rising trend among police departments nation wide and right or wrong they played right into Andrews hands. They could have just turned off the mic and ended the session as planned, but instead elected to exercise full control even as the speaker was attempting to respond. Police state: a term which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population.

Posted by: George | September 19, 2007 12:15 PM

George,
Congratulations!! When the Revolution comes, you will be the first against the wall.

Meyer got exactly what he wanted out of this affair. Read his website and his past statements. He fancies himself as half Michael Moore, half Ashton Kutcher. Yeah, he's crazy---crazy like a fox.

The university police made multiple mistakes, as cops/security often do in these cases. First, there is almost never an instance where a good cop needs a Taser. Any cop/security officer who is appropriately strong, fast and smart, and who has been properly trained in restraint tactics and basic martial arts, should be able to very, very quickly disable and remove from the premises someone like Meyer. You don't hold him on the ground in the same room, allowing him to holler at the top of his lungs. If he won't leave, you quickly sweep him off his feet, onto his belly, cuff him, get an officer under each of his arms, lift up and drag quickly out of the room. Won't hurt the detainee and removes him from the scene quickly---preventing escalation.

Right Wing? He was backing up that Kerry should have won and introducing the fact that Kerry may have been told to roll over by his Skull and Bones roots or other higher ups. That is what he was getting at. I'm guessing that the Skull and Bones comment was a pre-determined key word that the police were told to move on.

This isn't about right or left. This country is no longer controlled by us. This country is being puppeted by the illuminati and it's now obvious that we are at the point of no return.

The students need to respond next time. That is why I carry a weapon WITHOUT a concealed license. Those cops should have been held at gunpoint until other cops could arrive to control the situation properly...

If that was my friend, I can guarantee that I would have probably been tased too, but before that, I would have kicked the shit out of at least one of them. Next time, the students are going to be ready and the cops will be up shit creek.

This has nothing to do with the student and everything to do with the cops. Cops are using any excuse to do what they want. This is our country... not theirs and I will die fighting for it and if and in the end if the cops don't back off we will all consider them enemy's just like a terrorist or killer and they will be fair game.

A person is allowed to use deadly force if he or she feels that their life is in danger or the life of another citizen. Next time, someone still might get tased but hopefully some cops will go home in bags.....

If they leaqve me alone and I'm doing nothing wrong.. Hey, we are all good. You threaten me or try to hurt me and they might get more than a taser.

This is the beginning.... It has all begun. The cabinet have been resigning, Gov Ventura just moved out of the country along with a bunch of other well to do's and rich people. What do they know that we don't?

Regardless of Meyer's questioning manners, the point is that you cannot ask certain questions in this country anymore and you CERTAINLY CANNOT ask about Skull & Bones! We are in dire straits here and everyone is not getting it: our rights are gone, our election system is gone, and if you ask the wrong question of the selected leaders , YOU are gone! America, home of the free... RIP.

This kid should NOT have been tasered. What they should have done, is pull down his britches, bend him over the knees, and take a belt and wear his a$$ out.

DUH… if you fight with the police, (right or wrong) you are going suffer the consequences. Everyone knows that the cops are not going to just let you go. It's not like they shot the guy – IT WAS A NON-LETHAL TASER.

I don’t think the cops were out of line though. I think the guy seemed a bit nutty and the officers were just trying to ensure public safety and order.

"Some guy" said freedom of speech doesn't end with ... as long as you're polite." Politeness is not required, but the pursuit of one's rights cannot usurp or infringe upon the rights of others. This guy was infringing it seems.

Even if the guy was legitimately interested in engaging in an enlightened conversation about the political process and issues of the day (which seems doubtful), he was out of line.

He wasnt exercising freedom of speech - just the rantings of a seft absorb moron - dont waste my time with this disruption - what about my rights to go to s student forum and not have disorderly disruption - Tase him again please - he probably wasnt taking his meds anyway - remember that other college??

Hi Roman B,

I just rewrote your post, replacing just a few key words:

"""
I've done my stint as a questioner at political functions in college. Whenever I had my mike turned off & asked to leave the podium (always at Nazi rallies, go figure), that's what I did. I didn't wait for the SS to ask me to leave, escort me, argue with them, or get myself in a position where I could get myself in trouble.

This has nothing to do with Andrew Meyer's freedom of speech, or any of the other political issues of Germany's Third Reich.

Andrew went up there to the podium with the intent of instigating trouble & he got it. He was dumb enough to get himself into trouble, but smart enough to know the notoriety he was looking for.

He may have died at the hands of the SS, or perhaps he's working in a concentration camp somewhere (we'll never know). But this is exactly what he wanted, to become a martyr -- why else would he have had all his journalist friends there, taking notes?
"""

---

This discussion reminds me of an old proverb:

"Stick a frog into a boiling pot of water and he'll jump out right away. But put the frog into the pot with the water at room temperature and gradually raise it to the boiling point and he will die in the pot. The change is too gradual for him to notice and it kills him."

As Huey Long once said, "Of course we will have fascism in America, but we will call it democracy!"

... and Ray Lewis is also a
murderer, but you Baltimore
losers don't want to admit the truth about that either

People should make a stand against all the publicity this 21 year old will get for this.

Are you sure he is not planning to try for "America Got Talent" next year. Frankly, he is pretty good at planning and exercising his plans.
This maybe his ticket to try for the local legislation this year.

maybe he had WMDs on him, and the effort made by the heroic officers was a preemptive strike! Seriously, if you think the cops were justified to use tasers, you might as well go outside and put a torch to Ol' Glory...

Meyer's had a right to speak whether or not he was a right winger or a lefty. He had some legitimate questions and the fact that he passed his camera to this young woman is proof of that. We live in a YouTube world and there are many people out there that WANT TO DO THE REPORTING THAT THE ROM (republican owned media) refuses to do. There are many progressives like myself that would like to hear John Kerry answer the question as to why he did not stand up for the voters of this country, especially against George Bush and his Band of Thugs who have completely disrespected it!

I'm glad to hear that John Kerry did at least try to get the cops to back off. From what this young woman is saying is he did want to hear his questions and to answer them. It's too bad the cops were eager to use their taser gun on this kid and instead decided to "protect" the people in the room from the young kid who wanted to use his 1st amendment rights for crying out loud!

Sick world we're living in today. I want my country back the way it was prior to the 2000 election.

Obviously this guy pushed his way into the vocal spot. He cut off another young american's free speach by grabbing the microphone. When asked to stop (there are rules at forums and public questions, etc.) he was upset and pulled and pushed the officers. At this point the officers have a choice to make, allow someone who is already disruptive and pushing and pulling to continue speaking, or get him out of there. Getting him out of there is the correct course of action. When asked to leave by the police you should do so (especially when you are being aggressive). By pulling away and moving toward the podium you are showing increasing aggressive behaviour and the officers are well within their right to tase you. Would you rather they beat you into leaving? No.

Freedom of speech does not permit disruptive behavior. Otherwise there could be no public forum. Consider if ten people had stood up with portable microphones, perhaps some of them wanting to shout comments about the Yankees chances in the playoffs... of course, that would be chaotic. Everyone has has a "reasonable expectation" of public tranquility and protection from intrusion into their individual personal rights. Freedom of speech does not grant the right to deny others their ability to speak publicly or to prohibit people from hearing those for whom they purposefully assembled.

I thought the situation was crazy when I first heard it, but after hearing what really went down, I can't see ppl defending this guy too much. Yes, free speech and all, but that comes with a certain degree of responsibility. Understand this: the guy did not get into any trouble at all for WHAT he said, but rather for how he conducted himself in a forum where there are clear rules to follow. Nobody here seems to be worried at all about the "free speech" of the student who was waiting his/her turn and got cut off by this person. We can debate whether use of a taser was called for...looked to me like they already had him on the ground at that point, personally...but why you people are defending this guy for screaming and yelling out of turn, cutting off other students who probably had some good questions of their own, is beyond me. Free speech does not give you an automatic license to throw temper tantrums at the expense of other people whenever you feel like it. Go into any public speaking forum and start screaming your head off out of turn, and cutting off other attendees, and I guarantee you'll be escorted off the premises every time regardless of what you’re actually saying. This isn't a free speech issue, as much as some of us want it to be. If this person would have stayed within the established rules set for the forum, and conducted himself like a human being, then he would have been able to freely ask any question he wanted.

Mr. Meyer received exactly what he deserved and exaclty what he sought. He was not tasered for free speech, he was tasered for refusing police instructions. He wanted the attention so he capitalize on the publicity. If he really cared about making his point to Sen. Kerrey he would have addressed him with the respect deserving of a US Senator. Instead he acted like a punk and was treated accordingly. When the organizers realized that Meyer was at the podium to harrass the Senator they decided to cut Meyer off and end his tirade directed at Sen. Kerrey. Meyer's 'questions' had nothing to do with free speech and everything to do with Meyer's intent to get onto Youtube, mission accomplished. For all those weeping for Meyer because he was tasered remember this: he would not have been treated that way by the police if had followed their instructions and left peacefully. Instead he chose the path of greatest resistance. Which begs the question, why? Why not address the Senator repectfully? Sen. Kerrey would certainly listen more intently to a person making his or her point intellignetly than to a person who is berating him. Another question is why the concern for the cameras? This whole episode was a set up by this young man to get famous, albeit for 15 minutes.

He got exactly the attention he so craved. Oh good for him. He was RUDE looking for a fight and got one. Good for the officers of UF Police (fire them strip them of pensions??!?! Gimme a break 'some guy'. Bunch of bleeding hearts. Boo hoo. And Kerry had no reason to intervene on his behalf. Frankly grow up, be polite (didn't your parents teach you anyhing Mr. Meyers??) Too bad for the rest of the UF population you represented so badly by your ridiculous behavior.

READ the book he was supporting the Armed Madhouse. It's amazing and will change your life! And watch the right video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CheY0jYXJjY

I do not believe as some have said that this guy is a nut bag. It seems more likely that what he did was carefully planned street theater performed at the expense of the campus police officers who were there to keep order and protect everyone. He repeatedly disobeyed a lawful order and the police had every right to use force. Did they have to use a taser? I don't know, I wasn't there. It is definitely better than using a club. This has nothing to do with free speech. The only one who showed no respect for free speechwas the loudmouth jerk who was arrested. This was nothing more than political stunt. I feel badly for the police officers who are now being villified by people who see this jerk as some kind of hero.

I saw the video that has footage before he started to ask his questions. There was no student that he cut off and the student was arrested as soon as he asked about Kerry being in the same secret society with Bush. He was tased because he was outraged that he was being arrested. The blog that this is in response to is completely false.

Actually, the guy was a left winger as I understand it, and was questioning Kerry's membership in Skull and Bones along with Bush. Confirms Florida's image as a quasi-Confederate nuthouse.

How is everyone missing the LEGAL issues so badly? To you people who say that he violated the other speaker’s first amendment rights: Read the Constitution!!!!! The 1st amendment APPLIES to government actions that suppress speech not the actions of private individuals. The problem here is the cops appeared to move in without a school authority telling the speaker to leave or shutup for a valid reason. The school can establish procedures or codes of conduct for discourse but they didn't seem to have any procedure for this discussion which is ultimately their mistake. They probably could have lawfully had him leave the premises if they would have been more careful in planning this event. But they let the kid take the Mic and John Kerry wanted to answer the questions. Suddenly without warning the cops restrained him. COME ON! This is obviously not the right way to handle it. Yes the kid is a idiot but that’s not grounds for arrest. The arrest was unlawful and he has a right under FL law to resist.

Yeah, this American should've been completely polite and impassionate...Also, the colonies should never have stepped out of line, they should never have wasted all of that tea in Boston, what the hell were they thinking?

Oh, wait a minute, what the hell are you all thinking? Andrew Meyer has been, as a person, a means of demonstrating how far from the tree of freedom we have fallen. Those of you who support the police actions are simply lambs to the slaughter. All of you speaking of Andrew Meyer being off his meds have been sedated yourselves as you willfully swallow the illusion of democracy. The students that clapped have missed out on their own education about what this country represents.

Our freedom is a sham, a facade, an article in the pages of history.

I doubt this comment will make it to "print".

I find it completely laughable (in the worst way) that my comment was "held for approval". Are you flipping kidding me right now?

This was a setup from the beginning. Just ask his attorney. You all are a bunch of lemmings being led to the cliff. Have fun on the way down.

Watch the video where you see the television camera in the back as the cops wrestle this dude to the ground. Where is this video? My guess is that it was a school camera, and the school is withholding the footage...
I have managed security at rock concerts for a number of years, and this WAS NOT THE RIGHT WAY TO HANDLE THE SITUATION! Yeah, the guy was obviously outraged, and was delivering his speach in a disrespectful manner... but I've seen reporters almost do the same in the room with the president and his cabinet. Security here obviously jumped the gun, and are trigger happy due to all the incidents at colleges and schools for loose cannon students. But come on!!! When does it stop? If they would have let the kid ask his Question, Kerry would have answered it, and it would have been over. Tasering him was uncalled for. I have had to remove 15 very angry skinheads from a concert before, with the help of about 5 other gaurds, and noone had to be tasered, and noone had to be wrestled down to the ground. It creates more problems, and these "campus cops" are overzealous, ego-trip maniacs.
It's bullshit. People are allowed to speak, and given the opportunity, should be allowed to speak directly to the people that are trying to run our country.

If he was disturbing the peace then why did they wait for him to finish asking his question before they started manhandling him?

John Kerry should do something to help that student. He stood there as numerous police tackled him and then used a taser on him. Instead of trying to intervene by simply saying to let the young man go, Kerry rambled on like a robot to try to answer the student's question. This should not have ever been allowed to happen unopposed at forum set up by Sen. Kerry. I was Kerry suppoter in 2004 and I am disapointed in him as an elected official and a leader.

This is the same Alex as the 3:12 and 3:15pm posts.

First of all, thank you to the blogger for posting all of my comments. I understand that you want to screen for profanity, etc. Of course, you could be screening for content, but you've demonstrated your integrity and I appreciate that.

I'd like to make an important observation about the video.

The young American did not cut anyone off. To those of you that "heard what happened" you were not given an accurate account. Even after Mr. Meyer began raising his voice in passionate speech Senator Kerry was responding to him. Listen as the Senator says "Right..." after Mr. Meyer brings up the issue of the black votes. That shows that the Senator was responsive and willing to hear the questions he was being asked. In the background you can hear that the Senator even attempts to answer the question as Mr. Meyer is about to be tased.

Those "peace officers" were not giving lawful orders because Meyer never did anything wrong. And no he didn't cut anyone off. Did you hear anyone protesting? Did you hear the alleged student shout, for example, "Hey! It's my turn, man?" Wouldn't any of you have protested to being cut off in a similar fahsion. In fact you can see that Senator Kerry recognizes Mr. Meyer and listens intently to his questioning.

In, regards to the police brutality, you can hear Andrew Meyer begging not to be tased. The fact that he was aware of the danger was threat enough for the police to pursue him. These "cops" should be fired immediately and consider themselves lucky that they are not themselves charged with federal offenses.

It's disturbing what some of you will believe without looking further into the facts for yourself.

Excellent Civis gets its. Finally someone who is not a robot. Being louder than someone else does not mean you have taken away someones right. Tasering someone who speaks critically has a chilling effect on the next person who is considering speaking out.

We have freedom of speech in this country, but we also can place reasonable restrictions on that speech. You can't stand up in a crowded movie theater or an elementary school play and start lecturing on whatever topic you feel the need to speak about. A one minute restriction on questions and making students stand in line is reasonable. Why is nobody upset about the free speech rights of the student whose question he interrupted or the other students who were prevented from speaking by his outburst?

On the taser issue, the police are allowed to use any force necessary (short of deadly force) to bring someone under control. Using a taser looks brutal but tasers and pepper spray put the subject and the officer in much less risk than other types of force. They're often the best way to get someone to comply with minimal risk of bodily harm. If a fight had broken out or other people had been injured, the same people screaming police brutality would be asking why the police did nothing to prevent it.

I've been to Auschwitz, I've seen forests riddled with Nazi machine gun bullits twenty feet above my head on mature tree trunks where mass unmarked trenches of the dead rest. My grandparents knew people who disappeared, never to be heard from again. & all this & more before Communism took-over.

To compare what happed to Andrew Meyer to Nazi's & fascism has to be one of the most ridiculus things I've seen written on this post.

John Kerry is a US Senator & security was tight becasue of it. With Andrew going up there starting to rant & rave & not leave the podium & not listen to campus police & totaly resist arrest with a couple of officers, what would you expect to happen?

Do you want to see US Senators be put in a position where security personnel did absolutely nothing & allow an agitaded guy not listen to security & ignore instructions?

Andrew's freedom of speech was not violated. If he wanted to ask questions about the elections, skulls & bones, Iraq, whatever, fine. But if his intent is to cause a disturbance in the presence of a US Senator, what do you expect to happen?

Hey Jessica Smith-
Try learning how to spell and the difference between there and their. After that you might be taken serious.
tom.

After watching the video of the incident, I am shocked that a taser was used.

I have seen many students get upset or just be inconsiderate towards a speaker, but usually they are booed out or just ignored. Most students in the audience are mature enough not to pay attention those who speak out of turn or are just jerks during situations like that.

So why were the police angry with this one student? Am I missing a part of the story where he did something that would have harmed Senator Kerry or any of the students around them? It seems that he was just being a jerk and if that calls for tasering, then we have come to a sad, sad world.

I think he got more than what he bargained for. Not only did he get to speak, but now everyone and his dog got to hear it. Not bad for a student...

okay, kerry is aa veteran blah blah. but what threat did this guy who was just asking a question, however moronic sounding it was, pose to him? erm, im gonna go with... none.

im gay m'self but i dont believe anyone, left or right wing deserves to be treated like that... its insane.
im just glad i live in england, if our police acted like that, id emigrate.

WOW! I didn't expect so many bloggers who have no understanding of decorum, civility, and respect for authority. When 4 cops tell you to stop fighting or you'll be tasered and you keep fighting, you will get what you deserve. My guess is the four guards could hold him down, but they felt they couldn't control him if they tried to escort him out, which is what they needed to do. If any of you believe they WANTED to shock him (which by the way stings but doesn't really "harm"), you are idiots who don't know much about security. He can express himself at other times, places and ways. He got his 15 minutes of fame, which is what he wanted, and it didn't cost him much. He's lucky the secret service wasn't in charge.

What, if anything, is the U.S. Attorney's Office in Florida doing about the civil rights violation? It was a clear Deprivation of Rights under the Color of Law.

Kerry, what an ineffectual (and boring) Jerk! A student is dragged out before his eyes for the "crime" of asking a question, and then he is tassered, and all Kerry does is blab on, ....and on,.......and on.

Kerry: What a spineless jerk!

They should have tasered him more...

Here is the rule, right or wrong a cop tells you to do something you say yes sir and obey. period. If you disagree with it you can question the actions at a later time, maybe even bring up a law suit, but you obey, until the time is right to be questioned.

The cops should not listen to Kerry, i don't care if Kerry was trying to protect myers. The cops were there to protect Kerry and that meant removing Myers from the scene, regardless of Kerry's comments. What would have happened had they let him back after Kerry said he would answer the question and Myers were to have shot Kerry? The officers would have lost their jobs and Kerry his life.

"An eyewitness to the entire episode, Clarissa Jessup, indicates Kerry did try to deescalate the matter, and did just about tell the police to stand down. "

Key point: did just about...John's life story.

So, I hear some people saying that this kid was a jerk who interrupted and wanted to have his outburst caught on tape, so he deserved to be tazed. Hummm Sounds like Bill O'Riley. I wonder if this conversation would be turned around if O'Riley was tazed?

Wow! Whitness defends Kerry's response (his non response). A student who tries to ask him a question gets arrested and tassered and Kerry's only response is that he "ALMOST loses his composure".
Wow, I'm really impressed! Kerry almost lost his composure.

Some of you people are nuts... seriously. Thank you Alex for being the voice of reason.

And to Tom, for being so petty as to get onto someone for spelling... what about your capitalization skills eh? Practice what you preach dude!

The kid resisted arrest, which apparently in this country if you think you are being wrongfully arrested you can't fight back... talk about losing our freedom, that's the most important of all... Habeas corpus anybody?
Also, they never read him his rights, in all the video footage I've seen, they never read him his rights... another mistake.
But the biggest mistake of all was the tasering. BC said it best, there were 5 guys on top of him, and they couldn't control him, with 5 of them on top of him? And also, why was there a need to taser him for 5-6 seconds? Maybe 2 seconds I could understand, but 5-6? Ridiculous, and complete overkill.

You people seriously need to realize our freedoms are no more. It's not 'we're losing them' it's 'they're already lost'!

It was the profanity. duh.

Here is what I propose:

Whenever the Board of Regents for the UFL meets, if anyone ever exceeds his floor time or speaks out of turn, he gets wrestled to the ground, hit with a taser, and thrown into a jail cell overnight.

After all, if it's appropriate in one situation, it should be equally applied to all. Starting with the Board of Regents of UFL, and being a policy for every meeting that ever takes place on that campus.

Kerry was the moderator and did not indicate that the man was out of line. In fact, he said, "That's okay. Let me answer his question."

Why was he arrested if he was not, in the judgment of the moderator, out of line?

As far as our constitution goes, any American has the right to question authority. Has the right to fight off any government that is going against the constitution, as long as he does not infringe upon the rights of others. Passive resistance is better than violence any day of the week. However, in this day and age of loud-mouths and shock-values, your voice will not be heard unless you rise to the top of your game. The ball is in Kerrys court now. Will he publicly answer the very relevent questions? It does not matter how you do your job, as long as the end result is your job done right. Those three "key" questions are what many people are wanting to know.

That student was asking for it, however five officers do not need to taze someone in order to control him. They could have just cuffed him.

That student was asking for it, however five officers do not need to taze someone in order to control him. They could have just cuffed him.

Claims KERRY made that Andrew Meyers "barged" in front of others, and that he couldn't see Meyer being tasered and that he "hoped" the student and officers were unhurt, each one is refuted by the video: If Meyer had barged in, WHY did Kerry address him as "sir" to solicite his question and not tell him to stand aside for the person(s) who'd allegedly been displaced? There was no one near Meyer while he asked his questions other than police, so the phantom people he "barged" ahead of must have been so meek as to sit down quietly or they were invisible. The layout of the auditorium makes Kerry's statement that he didn't know Meyer was tasered implausible - as he was in the back of the room screaming with officers kneeling on him, and a woman screamed they've got a taser on his chest. That he hoped the victim was unhurt is bizarre, because all present could hear he was hurt. That he hoped the officers were unhurt is equally bizarre, as it was apparent they were unhurt, unless they were tripping over one another to attack Meyers, but since they all walked out under their own steam, no limping, no sound of anquish on the part of any of the officers, Kerry could conclude they were unhurt. Sounds like his statement was framed to avoid irritating law enforcement with the truth.

Has everybody in favor of the tasering forgotten the First Amendment? It doesn't matter if in your opinion he was rude, or if in your opinion he was being disrespectful. Last time I looked, he was still in the United States, where we have a little concept called Free Speech. This is yet another example of how YOUR rights are being eroded in this country. Some day it might be YOU who is considered rude and disrespectful for voicing your OPINION and asking a few QUESTIONS of a PUBLIC figure - and I STILL won't condone it or accept YOUR beat down as "OK". Wake up people - demand respect for EVERYBODY'S rights or LOSE THEM!!

Trying to blame John Kerry for the actions of the police is ridiculous. The only people responsible for this are the one's who did it. Period.

1. It is great that we have enough freedom in this country to have this blog. Seriously.
2. It is sad that we live in a nation of laws and so few know them.
3. "Basic Law" should be a requirement for all grade school students, let alone university students.
4. Upon knowing the laws, we as Americans should demand of our legislators that the laws we want are the laws that we have.
5. We pay law enforcement officers, through our taxes, to enforce our laws. Change the laws before blaming law enforcement.
6. "They didn't read him his rights" is right out of Jack Webb movies of decades ago. Reading of Rights has has never been required by law unless the suspect is questioned about the offense after being taken into custody.
7. America, the country, is a result of rebellion against authority. Keep it up, but know the law and work to change it if you want. Don't blame those we pay to enforce it.

Here is the thing; John Kerry is a politician who works for the people and is elected by the people. He, just as any other public official, is held accountable by the very people he is serving.

Freedom of speech does not mean "sometimes" or "if it furthers my own personal political agenda to get me voted in" or "Four miles away in a Free Speech Zone".

This is why you have to be a registered republican to attend RNC and also do the swear the oath to Bush in order to even remotely get near his conventions. This is why we have Free Speech Zones for the press and protestors located miles away from the events and surrounded by chain fence and barbed wire.

In that this individual was cut off, taken away forcefully, and even tazered as a result of him simply asking questions (albeit loud and rude), such is not an excuse to treat him in that manner. The campus cops should be immediately fired and stripped of pension for such actions.

As the man on stage, and of political importance, all Kerry had to say were the following simple words:

"I will be glad to address your questions in an orderly fashion. Please let the person prior to you finish his turn and we will field what you have to say. If we do not get to you in line, I will be glad to speak with you in private."

Or when he was mobbed by the campus cops:

"He is visibly angry, but he has a reason to be. Take your hands off of him!"

Kerry did neither. The guy cutting in line, visibly boisterous and angry, asking questions - yelling them in anger and disappointment... He did not deserve that treatment.

And as a potential leader, Kerry outright failed to diffuse a simple miscommunication and misdirected anger from a college kid, allow his multiple rights to be overtly trampled before his eyes.

This is shameful on multiple accounts. I do not side with Kerry nor the Campus Police in this matter. Being loud, willing to stand up for what you believe, and not back down just because what you are saying is not convenient to hear... those are the traits of a true patriot.

In our past, our forefathers were the same and were willing to take a bullet for it. And you call that kid crazy?

No, I call the rest of us sheep. Too tame and weak to stand up and make our voices heard, even if it's not what they want to hear. Even if there is a punishment to keep us quiet.

Before Sept 11th we would have sided with the college kid on this... it would have been blatantly obvious. Now we're conditioned to think twice.

Just like Fahrenheit 411, the people are sheep... and proud of it.

You still don't know what laws Meyer broke or why he was arrested and tased? Read my blog above at 11:35 A.M. Change the laws if you don't agree.

Obviously, a lot of people are commenting about this without watching all of the videos. Go back to Meyer taking over the microphone and taking over the event. This is not about free speach. This is about disorderly conduct, as defined by law, and resisting arrest. Know the laws. If you don't like the laws, work to change them.

Kerry should have used his position to intervene. This got WAY out of control. He could have stopped it.

He did not.

Makes you wonder about him as a President.

"But as I began to think more, this is a crazy, different world than years ago. ... Is it worth the risk in this day and age?"

It's comments like those that sadden me the most. Americans, wake the hell up, please. This is NOT a different world since 911. It's the very same world it's always been. You are allowing yourselves to be manipulated into giving up the exact freedoms that once made your country great.