Dangerous criminal in orange jumpsuit
A long-winded University of Florida student who was asking John Kerry a series of rambling questions had his microphone cut off, then was arrested by a group of uniformed University police.
Andrew Meyer, 21, asserted that Kerry had really won the 2004 election because of Republican suppression of minority votes and voting fraud. He asked why no efforts were underway to impeach Bush, and then proceeded to inquire whether Kerry had belonged to the same Senior Society as Bush at Yale. (The answer is: Yes, he did.)
An explicit reference to oral sex in relation to President Clinton’s impeachment evidently provoked the authorities to turn off the microphone. That level of monitoring seems unusual and excessive in a university context to me.
The same authorities evidently sic’ed their cops on him as well. Someone mildly disrupting an event in this way in many universities might very well be escorted from the room by local security. But, in this case, University of Florida cops responded to Meyer’s protests, questions, and pleas for assistance by throwing him to the ground, hand cuffing him, and administering incapacitating electrical shocks with a Taser as he pled for mercy.
John Kerry, meanwhile, made feeble and ineffective attempts to calm the situation, demonstrating just how decisive he would have been as president in a crisis. The police simply ignored Kerry, and went on brutalizing the screaming student. Throughout the incident, Kerry’s pompous throat-clearings proved inadequate either to stop the violence or to regain the center of audience attention.
The incident 3:33 video
Aftermath 4:02 video
Mr. Meyer was evidently charged with resisting arrest and disturbing the peace. Watch for Mr. Meyer’s lawsuits against the University for false arrest and application of excessive force. And be sure you don’t ask John Kerry any questions about Skull and Bones!
Seven Star Hand
Hello JDZ and all,
There have been some pivotal insights into the true nature of the Bush/Cheney crew, it’s cohorts, and their long-term deceptions in recent days. To taser a student for asking questions, no matter how inconvenient, is evil, pure and simple. This young man was punished for questioning the secret cabal that is turning the entire world into a plutocracy driven police state.
It’s no longer about politics and left and right. Truth and Justice are standing on their own two feet and all of the deceivers, on the left, right, and in between are getting very nervous. Next time you want to think of those on the left or right as enemies, contemplate Machiavelli. Keep digging for the truth, much is purposely buried and hidden behind apparently obvious “facts” and traditions.
Why use the number 36, in Thursday the 13th’s speech?
Want to know the true significance of the number 36 in Bush’s speech? There obviously are not 36 countries fighting in “Babble on.” So why did our Bonesman President use it in his speech Thursday the 13th?
Discerning the truth about the USA
Peace…
jabberwolf
I dont get it.
He was escorted out, NOT under arrest at that point.
When he refused and stayed screaming and yelling… he was pushed back by a large black security officer. He STILL wouldnt leave.
He was finally taken down to the ground and threatened that if he kept resisting he would be tased. HE WAS WARNED.
He flipped on his stomach in compliance and was being handcuffed when he finally realized at that point he was being arrested. He then flipped on his back and tried to resist realizing he ass was being thrown in jail and tried to talk the cops out of it.
At that point its too late. If cops say your arrested for being an ass and disturbing the peace, you are arrested. You might be able to debate while being arrested but when physically resisting, you are asking for it. You do not debate physically at the point or you get TASED!!!! And that is what happened.
My question, is why are some news Agencies NOT showing the other view where it shows him flipping around resisting in clear sight??
If there is any conspiracy, its from thise news agencies not wanting to show the public the entire picture and making the cops look worse then they are.
Bill
Kerry is quoted as saying that Meyer barged to the head of the line. On that basis alone, security was justified in removing him. Also, I don’t know what it is you expected Kerry to do beyond what he did. He was willing to answer Meyer’s question and it was certainly not his place to tell security how to do their jobs.
Jeff
To Jabberwolf – two things:
One, the most “resisting” he did was to try and squirm out of handcuffs. He didn’t kick, punch, or headbutt anyone. Yet he was charged with “resisting arrest with violence”, probably because the cops wanted to find a way to get a felony charge on him. Explain how he was violent.
Two, regardless of warnings, there was NO reason to use a taser on him. Watch the video when he was on the ground. He’s on his stomach with one arm cuffed behind him. SIX officers are holding him down. If they can’t get the other hand safely cuffed without using a taser they don’t deserve to be wearing that uniform. Their response level was completely inappropriate.
Matthew
Wow, this video disturbed me in every way possible. His constitutional rights were completely stomped on, Kerry did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, to stop them, and the cops were completely merciless, not even stopping after the kid was screaming for mercy.
It makes me sick that something like this would happen in the United States, and it sets an awful precedent for what we have to look forward to when it comes to the freedom of expression.
JP
This country sucks now. It has very much become a police state and I am sure the sponsors of this event are getting a chuckle out of this kid. Should we shock presidential candidates who take to long at timed debates? Purhaps we should. Most of the cops out there might have some education but for the most part they as rutheless as the thugs that sell drugs on our streets. The only difference is they carry a badge and that gives them all of the protection that they need to be as nasty as they want, with the city fathers blessing. Things will only get worse and I fear for my kids future in this country because of the ingorant scared people that run it.
JDZ
Seven Star Hand,
Be sure to keep that aluminum foil helmet firmly centered on the head.
Cheers,
JDZ
realist
he was asked to stop by authorities and was being disruptive in public. he resisted and continued his ridiculous rants…he got what he deserved. get real folks..you are just looking for to create a story that we already know.
Apathy
I agree that cops are more often than not thugs with badges, but this guy was an idiot. There are plenty of things to get upset about when dealing with cops and what they get away with, but not this. This guy woke up this morning and decided to make a scene and that’s exactly what he got.
Bill
Whether security behaved appropriately will be investigated as it should be. The man was resisting arrest and anyone who thinks it is easy to subdue an unruly suspect without risking injury on either side clearly doesn’t know what they are talking about.
Beyond that though, this man barged to the head of the line. Security should have removed him right away on that basis alone. He then ranted on and on past the allowed time and was correctly removed. He was obviously trying to provoke a reaction from security to make himself look like a martyr. The audience saw through his act and cheered when he was removed.
who cares
If this were a black student there would be riots. Plain and simple…this priviledged white kid was out of line and he was cautioned several times by police and he didn’t comply. They warned him they would taser him, him continued, and proper action was taken. If the police had done nothing, we would all be saying a rich white kid got away with this behavior. I support the police in this. I have 2 kids in college and made sure they read this. I a sick that they have been suspended, but at least it is with pay.
JDZ
Bill,
I think it was not unreasonable to cut off his microphone or for security to escort him out of the hall. But I think arresting, handcuffing, and tasering him were excessive and unnecessary responses.
A real leader, someone with “the look of eagles,” someone along the lines of Ronald Reagan, would have immediately taken charge when the struggle broke out. He would have ordered those campus police to stop what they were doing, and they would have obeyed him.
John Kerry dithered.
JDZ
Dale
It is only a matter of time before the patriots of this country take up arms to defend themselves from the police state onslaught and Bush fascists.
O’ happy future.
217-893-3134
Are we in America or not? I am shocked and outraged at what I saw in the video!
We are not in Russia or Germany in the 1930’s! The police are WAY OUT OF LINE!!!
They had no right to interupt that kid!
It’s called FREEDOM OF SPEECH!
I hope that kid will file a lawsuit and those
nazis get fired!
Geoff
Utterly disturbing video. Police officers should be prosecuted for assuault and department and university should be held responsible. Pathetic abuse of force and power. Go get um lawyers!
ben
it’s too bad with what dale said…id like to think it was possible but it’s not. we can’t compete with the goverments arms and our little toys. we need a political revolution and make the constitution real again. the police state we have become and are becoming sickens me.
Robin
To all of you who are on the cops side:
How many of you run a red light or a stop sign because you just dont give a crap??
Would you still be on the cops side if you got pulled over???
I have been a driver for a long time and I see many times a day people who do run a stop sign or a red light and I think well where are the cops? They could be making a lot of money writing tickets on these so called law abiding citizens.
By the way, I do stop at a red light and stop signs and I even know how to use my turn signal.
If I am trying to ask someone a question and I was interupted by the police for no reason you can damn well bet I am going to question why are they infringing on my
civil right!
Adrian Roy
I have heard several critics of this incident say that he was “asked to leave” first, and arrested when he wouldn’t. Like that somehow makes it okay. Why was he “asked to leave” in the first place? By the police no less? Perhaps his questions were a little terse, but is that a crime? Is that a reason to be ejected from an assembly he had every right to attend?
Websites like CNN loosely criticize Mr. Meyers conduct, but the versions of the video clips that they show are cut and edited. I have watched what appears to be an uncut version of the event unfolding, and it is clear from the very beginning that the police standing behind Mr. Meyer were just itching to remove him. Mr. Meyer stated that he had two more questions after stating his first question. Immediately after he had finished his final question the were police on him, pulling him out of the room. It could be argued that if he had just left peacefully, without protesting, the situation never would have escalated. However, by what right did police ask him to leave in the first place? By the time they started to man handle him, he had only been speaking for 93 seconds. Was he perhaps a little confrontational? Maybe, but that’s no reason to deny him the right to speak at that type of assembly.
Also, while I didn’t expect Kerry to jump off the stage and kung-fu the hot headed officers to death, I did expect more of a firm objection from him.
What have we become…
Craig
Are all of you people insane? This child (as he was behaving – he deserves to be called a child) was disruptive, and not complying to the rules of the forum by barging to the front of the line and being deliberately inflammatory in his speech- he was given more than his allotted time and asked to leave – he did not comply. An attempt was made to escort him out and he resisted REPEATEDLY. These are not Gestapo officers invading homes and making eople disappear – these are decent people – trying to keep the peace and protect themselves and the people around them as they are charged to do. If this fool was agitated enough to resist 6 police officers – what might he do if he gets loose? He could easily have injured himself or one of his fellow students in his struggle to escape. By his behavior – it may have been reasonable to assume he was drunk or on drugs…..reasonable people do not behave the way he did. If you think these officers were thinking “golly – lets taser this kid for kicks and violate his civil rights because we can – and it’s fun” That is an insult to every man and woman wearing the badge. Shame on all of you for demanding that officers charged with preserving the peace should stand back meekly and let an attention-seeking, self-centered jerk disrupt that peace. Being wrongly arrested does not justify violently resisting officers – ever.
PT
Andrew Meyer is a lump of excrement. I was a University Police Officer for 6 years. I left because I was tired of dealing with others just like him. Those of you who are crying that the police used too much force know NOTHING about the use of force continuum, or University policies regarding public speaking events. Meyer knew he was being video taped. He provoked the University Police and then cried like a little girl when they reacted. I swear to god… if I could have three minutes alone with him I’d pound his head into a pink puddle of goo.
Bill
JDZ- He was appropriately being removed, became unruly and abusive and resisted. It wasn’t unreasonable to arrest him at that point. Whether the taser use was appropriate will be looked at by people competent to judge police behavior. No speaker in that situation has the right to direct security. Kerry did what he could by offering to answer the question.
Robin-He wasn’t interupted for no reason. He barged ahead of other people who were waiting their turn to question Kerry, asked a series of questions instead of the one allowed, and went over his time. And if I ran a stop sign or a red light endangering the lives of others, I would expect to get a ticket.
existing
It looked like he was asking a series of questions that could not have been asked separately.
BTW, didn’t Kerry promise that he would look into the 9/11 “Official investigation”? What became of that?
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