University of Florida student Tasered at John Kerry Forum

Here's the story:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A University of Florida student was Tasered and arrested Monday when he attempted to speak at a forum with U.S. Sen. John Kerry during a question and answer session, university officials said.

Andrew Meyer, 21, asked Kerry why he did not contest the 2004 presidential election, which he lost to President Bush, and why there had been no moves to impeach Bush.

"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."

While as many as four police officers tried to remove Meyer from the forum, he yelled for help and asked "What did I do?" Minutes after Meyer started speaking, he was Tasered.

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.

Orlando said university police would conduct an internal investigation on the incident.

"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."


The event was sponsored by the UF student government speaker's bureau, according to a news release. A telephone message left at the speaker's bureau office was not immediately returned Monday evening.

It was not known if Meyer had an attorney.


But the bottom line is that -- if you look at the video -- Andrew wasn't even making a big fuss. He may have been asking uncomfortable questions, but that was it. That's supposed to be America. For the UF police to do what they did was totally nuts. Plus, their own internal review's not going to turn up anything.

Between this action and the way Capital Police treated the minster at last week's Petraus hearing , one has to ask what's going on with the kind of people law enforcement's bring in. They seem to lack proper judgement on when and why to use force, and thus bring shame on the very police departments they're suppose to bring respect to.

We must demand a higher standard. Now.

I also totally disagree with Michelle Makin's take on this, as it seems she's knee-jerk into defending anyone in a uniform just because they're in a uniform. Michelle' s not using her intellect by adopting this lazy thinking, rubber-stamp approach to the analysis of any controversial action in American culture. Her take also shows the limits of dogma, where people are so blinded they can't see injustice before them.

Makin's obviously not aware that college police are developing a pattern of over-the-top behavior, but fortunately Salon.com's got a collection of videos showing this travesty of the American legal system.

Senator John Kerry comes off looking bad. He tells the newspapers he didn't see what happened, and yet on the video we can hear him talking as this is going on and referring to the question. This kind of behavior is why John Kerry lost the election -- he's afraid to take a stand and defend basic American rights because he wants to look good for the cameras. Can't have that hair messed up when you're taking a stand, right Senator Kerry?

And to think I supported him for President in 2004.