Does this horrify you?

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Does this horrify you?

Unread postby BadMotherVaulter » Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:52 pm

suck it up.

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Unread postby vaulter870 » Tue Sep 18, 2007 5:18 pm

i am sorry but these cops are more then a little out of line in the first place and it escalted way to quickly. if they didnt approve of what the kid was asking cut the microphone not throw him to the ground taser him and arrest him. this is appaling and these cops should be fired and charged with assult!
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Unread postby SlickVT » Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:36 pm

Well, I think the cops should be fired. Thats pretty obvious. If nothing else, it takes about 9 of them to get cuffs on the kid, and even then they have to taze him.

Another aspect you have to consider is that the people who made this obviously are anti-authority, because you don't see what happened beforehand. Apparently this kid was being a jerk to Kerry for quite a while, which is why the police were standing next to him in the first place. They asked him to step down when it was obvious he was just trying to disrupt the event, and when he didn't thats when they stepped in. If you notice, the room applauds when the police step in, so alot of people felt the same way as the police - he was disrupting on purpose.

And finally, he did resist pretty hard against the police.

The police should be ashamed of their teamwork, yet I think he deserved it.
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Unread postby rainbowgirl28 » Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:04 pm

This is an interesting blog that shows the story from all kinds of angles.

http://michellemalkin.com/2007/09/17/st ... rry-forum/

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Unread postby SKOT » Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:09 am

vaulter870 wrote:if they didnt approve of what the kid was asking cut the microphone not throw him to the ground taser him and arrest him.


They did cut his mic. He was under arrest (and in handcuffs) before he was tasered. Have you ever dealt with someone that was so belligerent (for whatever reason; alcohol, drugs, or simple political insanity) that they won't even respond to the police? Let me tell you, its not very exciting. This student continued to fight police AFTER he was in handcuffs.

Some might say that it was unsafe to try and move him from the isle surrounded by metal seats. Some might still say it would be MORE safe to taser him. There are times when force is necessary. And, I, personally, believe this was one of them.

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Unread postby BadMotherVaulter » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:36 am

rainbowgirl28 wrote:This is an interesting blog that shows the story from all kinds of angles.

http://michellemalkin.com/2007/09/17/st ... rry-forum/


Thank you becca... you always post extremely useful content, espescially on subject matters like this.

In my personal opinion, the mic was cut, and that is fine, and they tried to escort him out, which is also fine.

But i think the tasering is out of line. Way unnecessary. This kid was obviously disruptive but never was he a threat to anyone in my eyes. After they hancuffed him and had him on the ground, why would they have tasered him? To make him easier to deal with? Thats just cruel.
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Unread postby MightyMouse » Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:01 pm

This is one of many examples of excessive force used by Police in recent years. The student was not a physical threat to any other person, and would have just been an inconvenience to the event.

His speech would probably fall under the protection of the first amendment, and his only crime was taking up excessive amounts of time at a public forum, which to my understanding had no explicit contract or rules.

There is some type of power driven god complex that shows itself inside a police force when it comes to dealing with deviants.
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Unread postby achtungpv » Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:24 pm

MightyMouse wrote:his only crime was taking up excessive amounts of time at a public forum


Actually his crime was not following a police order to leave. Disobeying an officer is a crime.

Anyway, it appears he was looking to start an incident in front of TV cameras...

GAINESVILLE - Police have released the incident report detailing the Tasering of a University of Florida student during a campus forum with Sen. John Kerry Monday, and the officer who actually Tasered Andrew Meyer wrote in the report that Meyer later told police, "You didn't do anything wrong."

In the 12-page report, which gives accounts of the incident from the perspective of eight different officers who were present Monday afternoon, Officer Nicole Mallo writes that Meyer would only resist officers when cameras were present.

"As (Meyer) was escorted down stairs (at the University Auditorium) with no cameras in sight, he remained quiet, but once the cameras made their way down stairs he started screaming and yelling again," Mallo wrote.

Mallo was one of two officers who actually rode in the vehicle as Meyer was escorted to the Alachua County jail, and she said said he told them during the ride: "I am not mad at you guys, you didn't do anything wrong, you were just trying to do your job," according to Mallo's account.

Mallo also wrote in her report that he asked, at one point, if cameras would be present at the jail.

The report details the events leading up to Meyer's arrest, saying that Meyer was in line to ask a question of Sen. Kerry when it was decided that no more questions would be allowed.

Meyer continued down the aisle toward Sen. Kerry angrily, according to police, saying he wanted the senator to answer his question because he had been waiting for two hours.

Though Sen. Kerry directed that Meyer be allowed to ask his question, police reported that Meyer did not ask any specific question and instead "badgered" the senator, and at one point said something about President Clinton being impeached over a sexual act.

At that point, police reported that ACCENT Director Max Tyroler turned off Meyer's microphone and asked police to escort him out of the auditorium, saying, "He had said enough," according to Officer Mallo's report.

Officers then proceeded to attempt to remove Meyer from the room, but when he resisted, they placed him on the ground and tried to handcuff him. The six officers who actually took part in holding Meyer down while he was being handcuffed reported that they were only able to get a handcuff on his right hand because he was squirming so much.

The supervising officer, Sgt. Eddie King, attempted to Taser Meyer on his chest, but he reported that his Taser would not deploy. He then instructed Mallo to Taser Meyer, and she Tasered him on his shoulder, according to one of the officer's report.

The officers were then able to fully handcuff Meyer and escort him from the building. Each of the six officers reported that Meyer yelled things like, "They're going to kill me," and, "They are giving me to the government," while he was being taken from the room.
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Unread postby Cooleo111 » Wed Sep 19, 2007 7:19 pm

There are also other videos out there that show when he asked the questions and after he was taken out of the auditorium, and they definitely show that he was out of line in any case.

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Unread postby AVC Coach » Wed Sep 19, 2007 7:45 pm

I think that we all have rules and laws to follow and we should follow them or be prepared to deal with the consequences. Were the police justified in their actions? Hard to say. Law inforcement officers have a duty to uphold and sometimes people get hurt as a result. We can avoid that by simply not acting like idiots or breaking the law or both. :yes:

We have a lot of rights as American citizens, maybe too many. Don't look like a punk. Don't act like a punk. Don't be a punk and you're probably not going to have to worry about getting tasered.

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Unread postby MightyMouse » Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:41 pm

AVC Coach wrote: We have a lot of rights as American citizens, maybe too many. Don't look like a punk. Don't act like a punk. Don't be a punk and you're probably not going to have to worry about getting tasered.


simply obey the majority and everything will be OK........

I think the point is that we protect the non-punks and punks alike

Actually his crime was not following a police order to leave. Disobeying an officer is a crime.


If an officer was about to violate my freedom of speech I might think twice about complying
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Unread postby rainbowgirl28 » Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:51 pm

MightyMouse wrote:If an officer was about to violate my freedom of speech I might think twice about complying


What about protecting the freedom of other students to ask questions?

Freedom of speech has its limits, particularly when your free speech is hindering others' freedoms.


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