Tasered Student

[Good Old Neon]

If tasers had been invented earlier, we wouldn't have had Jesus, Gandhi, penicillin, or those plastic bubble things they use to wrap packages.

 

Exactly.

[Good Old Neon]

so he only started acting irrational after he was held down? ok. right.

 

so not only is this guy on the same level w/ civil rights leaders, but the anti-war movement as well. check out his website and come back to me on that.

 

"The blurry-ish video version of the incident seen at right shows the entire statement and questions asked by University of Florida student Andrew Meyer. He was waving the recently released paperback version of investigative journalist Greg Palast's Armed Madhouse and recommended the book to Kerry before asking him about his early concession to the 2004 Presidential Election.

 

"He says you won the 2004 Election, isn't that amazing?" proclaimed Meyer, referring to Palast's claims in the book. The 21-year-old student continued on to speak about "multiple reports of disenfranchisement of black voters in Florida and Ohio on the day of the election" and "electronic voting machines in Volusia County, Florida, that counted backwards."

 

"So amidst all of these reports of phony, bogus stuff going on, how could you concede the election on the day?" he asked as security guards surrounded him. "How could you concede the 2004 election on the day? In this book, it says there were five million votes that were suppressed. Didn't you want to be President?!"" - source http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5083

 

I don't know, it sounds like a pretty rational question.

 

As always, Colbert will have the final

[Analogman]

Step out of line, the man come and tazer you away.

[myboyblue]

I don't know where this guy is right now at this moment in time. However, I'd like to taser him regardless.

[tongue-tied]

 

"Don't taser me, bro!...You see him tasering me, right? come and see the violence inherent in the system!"

[tugmoose]

 

"Don't taser me, bro!...You see him tasering me, right? come and see the violence inherent in the system!"

Brilliant!

 

I'll be taking a taser to the Wilco show in Columbus next month. All you "talkers" consider yourselves warned.

[EL the Famous]

I don't know, it sounds like a pretty rational question.

 

You really just refuse to acknowledge the fact he didn't just get up there and ask one question. Did you actually see the footage of this entire incident from the time he got up to the mic? I posted a link to the video earlier.

[EL the Famous]

[markosis]

Sometimes people act irrationally when they have five people holding them down against their will

 

I guess you think he was acting rationally up to that point? Not quite.

[Good Old Neon]

You really just refuse to acknowledge the fact he didn't just get up there and ask one question. Did you actually see the footage of this entire incident from the time he got up to the mic? I posted a link to the video earlier.

 

Yeah, I have, I've watched it several times from two different angles

[Spawn's dad]

ok

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

I'm with the hippy EMT.

[tugmoose]

Taser boy, Miss Teen South Carolina, OJ, moveon.org, Michael Vick. The face of America, 2007.

 

Oh, don't forget the astronaut in a diaper.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I think they tasered him because he was resisting arrest. He tried to get away from them, and even after he was subdued on the ground he was still trying to somehow control the situation, yelling and screaming, trying to negotiate, and actually telling them what, or what not, to do.

 

I'm about as far left as anybody I know, and I totally would have tasered him.

[Atticus]

Perhaps they should have tried tickling him first

[Good Old Neon]

I think they tasered him because he was resisting arrest. He tried to get away from them, and even after he was subdued on the ground he was still trying to somehow control the situation, yelling and screaming, trying to negotiate, and actually telling them what, or what not, to do.

 

I'm about as far left as anybody I know, and I totally would have tasered him.

 

He did put up resistance, but, and this is a big but, he was tasered after he was on the ground, surrounded, neutralized, etc

[tongue-tied]

yes, rambling questions shall be met with electrocution.

 

for how long this has been drawn out, i doubt any reasoning i provide will close the case. the problem with his question wasn't so much its length, but rather the argumentive style he was asking it in. he was being rude. however, that wasn't why he was tasered. in a perfect world, security would've let Kerry handle him a little longer, and maybe he would've settled down (though not likely). the reason he was tasered was because he was resisting being escorted out (after refusing to give up the mic) and subsequently resisting arrest, all the while physically pushing security away and shouting for fellow students to help him (riot, anyone?). despite Treehug...'s opinion, it is no one's call who wasn't physically there whether or not he was 'under control' when they had him on the ground. Though security outnumbered him, security was vastly outnumbered by students, who he was calling to come to his aid. They understandably wanted him out of there fast.

[EL the Famous]

jesus...he didn't get tasered for asking a rambling question! he was tasered for RESISTING ARREST! a lot of 'buts' and 'ifs' towards the police, but what about turning that the other way...what if he did get violent and either the officers and/or attendees were put in harms way?

 

people keep abridging this to a guy asks a question and immediately gets tasered. how many opportunities did this guy have NOT to even be detained?!

 

finally, i'm basing my stance on this solely on the full footage of the entire events that transpired...the fact the d-bag has a smarmy website/track record for attention grabbing is just another tazer to the chest.

[bobbob1313]

He did put up resistance, but, and this is a big but, he was tasered after he was on the ground, surrounded, neutralized, etc

[EL the Famous]

If you try to run from the cops, expect them to taser you. You aren't going to be tased for asking a question if you leave when the cops tell you to. It wasn't against the law that he was asking the questions. It was against the rules of the forum. Once he broke the rules of the forum, they asked him to leave. Once he refused to leave, they tried to escort him out. When he refused the cops attempts to remove him, they were forced to take physical action. When he still tried to fight them as they carried him away, they tried to cuff him. When he refused to allow them to cuff him, and he kept struggling despite having one arm cuffed, and he continued trying to kick the cops off of him, he was asking to be tased. Regardless of whether they should have done it, they were following their step by step protocol. If the cops had done something wrong, they would have been fired. They wouldn't have done an "investigation". The investigation is only because of the public outcry.

 

If you run from the cops, and then once they catch you say "alright, I'm sorry" they're still going to arrest you. So what he said he'd walk out once they were cuffing him. He missed his chance to cooperate.

 

but that doesn't answer why john kerry tasered him for just asking him about black people?

[Lammycat]

jesus...he didn't get tasered for asking a rambling question!

That would have been a good bit if he had been, though.

[EL the Famous]

That would have been a good bit if he had been, though.

 

oh definitely. i would have tasered him for wearing his shorts too baggy so his boxers stick up above the wasteline and then again when he called me 'bro' in the context of not getting tasered.

[cryptique]

I love the dude in the background yelling "police brutality! Rodney King!" He wins the Word Association award.

 

Dude was probably four years old when the Rodney King beating happened.

[Beltmann]

I love the dude in the background yelling "police brutality! Rodney King!" He wins the Word Association award.

 

Dude was probably four years old when the Rodney King beating happened.

My favorite part of that is how, near the end, he calmly repeats it: "Police brutality. Rodney King." It even got old for him, and quick.

[EL the Famous]

Senator Kerry: "To continue to pile name upon name upon some wall in the future for a strategy that has failed. That's the distinction."

"Sir..."

Andrew Meyer to Senator Kerry: "I first and foremost want to thank you for your time. You spent a lot of time talking to us here today. Thank you for coming and being open and honest. You'd recommended a book to us earlier. I had wanted to recommend a book to you. It's called 'Armed Madhouse' by Greg Palast.

Senator Kerry: "I have it."

Andrew Meyer: He's a top investigative journalist in America."

Sen. Kerry: "I've already read it."

Andrew Meyer: "AND, [in this book, holding up a copy of a yellow book, "Armed Madhouse" by Greg Palast], he says YOU WON the 2004 election!

Sen. Kerry: "Right."

Andrew Meyer: "ISN'T THAT AMAZING! ISN'T THAT AMAZING, YOU WON IN 2004! In fact, there were multiple reports on the day of the election of disenfranchising of black voters in Florida and Ohio."

Sen. Kerry: "Right."

[Police officer interrupts Meyer] Andrew Meyer: [Turning to police officer] "I'll ask my question. Thank you very much. I'll ask my question. I'm going to preface it. He's been talking for two hours, I think I've got two minutes. Thank you, Thank you very much."

Andrew Meyer: [Turns to side] "I'm going to ask him my question. I'm going to inform people then, I'm going to ask my question, so there were multiple reports of of disenfranchising of black voters on the day of the election in 2004."

Sen Kerry: "Right."

Andrew Meyer: "There was also voting machines, electronic voting machines in Volusia County, Florida that tallied backwards. So, amidst all these reports of phony, bogus stuff going on, how could you concede the election on the day? [small applause] How could you concede the 2004 election on the day? In this book, it says there were five million votes that were suppressed and you won the election. Didn't you want to be President? I am not even done yet, I have two more questions."

Andrew Meyer: "If you were so against [the war in] Iran, how come you are not saying let's IMPEACH BUSH NOW? IMPEACH BUSH NOW before he can invade Iran? Why won't you IMPEACH HIM? IMPEACH BUSH. Clinton was impeached, for what, a blow job? Why don't we IMPEACH BUSH? Alright?"

Andrew Meyer: "Also, are you a member, were you a member of Skull and Bones in college with Bush? Were you in the same secret society, as Bush? Were you in Skull and Bones?" [turns to side]

Andrew Meyer: "Thank you for cutting my mike. Thank you. Are you going to arrest me? Excuse me, excuse me, what are you arresting me for?"

versus

Andrew Meyer: "There was also voting machines, electronic voting machines in Volusia County, Florida that tallied backwards. So, amidst all these reports of phony, bogus stuff going on, how could you concede the election on the day?

Sen Kerry: ""

Andrew Meyer: "As a follow up question, if you were so against [the war in] Iran, how come you are not saying let's IMPEACH BUSH NOW?"

Sen Kerry: [as Meyer walks back to his seat and doesn't get tasered for resisting arrest]""

 

There you go. If you are going to make this about freedom of speech or asking hard hitting questions you actually want answeres to...there is the distinction.