A student asks Kerry a question and gets tasered

[Joe_Cool]

Originally Posted by SoFlaJDM

you're right man... almost 3800 coalition deaths... so what?

An inane segue, coupled with inane analogy. Bravo!

9/10 for difficulty, but only 7/10 for execution.

[SoFlaJDM]

Originally Posted by Joe_Cool

An inane segue, coupled with inane analogy. Bravo!

9/10 for difficulty, but only 7/10 for execution.

you come to me with pointless statistics, expect me to play the same game back to you

[Joe_Cool]

Originally Posted by Roonie

It bothers me that no one here is questioning why they tased him after he was rolled over and cuffed and had 6 policemen kneeling on him.

Because he was still thrashing around and refusing to cooperate.

Why did they try and remove him in the first place.

Because Q&A was over, he pushed his way to the microphone, ranted for 2 minutes, and when Kerry asked "What's your question?" responded "I listened to you for 2 hours. Give me 2 minutes. I'm going to educate the people, then I'll ask my question. And in fact, I have 2 more questions after that." He wasn't there to ask questions. He was there to cause a disturbance and be an attention whore.

You have freedom of speech only in places where you have the right to be. At an organized event, you have the right to be there only as long as you follow the rules of the event. He did not, and he was ejected for not following the rules. He refused to leave, at which time it became a criminal offense (trespassing) and he was placed under arrest. He resisted, which of course is another crime. They escalated force properly - it was almost a textbook example - and did what they needed to do in order to force his cooperation.

If he didn't want to be shocked, then all he had to do was cooperate. it's not like if you fight the police they're going to say "Oh well, I guess he was right. Let him go." When they decide you're going with them, you're going. You can go voluntarily or by force, and you can go without getting shocked, or with getting shocked. To paraphrase Robocop, "shocked or unshocked, you're coming with me."

[Joe_Cool]

Originally Posted by SoFlaJDM

you come to me with pointless statistics, expect me to play the same game back to you

The point, professor, is that things that aren't supposed to kill you sometimes do. Tasers are used all the time, and they don't kill people. Hell, Trish Stratus, LaToya Jackson, and a freaking midget all got tasered for a tv show. Real deadly, right?

Things like tripping over your feet or swimming in a pool shouldn't kill you, and yet sometimes they do. Ditto tasers. Whining about how deadly they are is just stupid. Hits to the head with a stick is more deadly, no matter how you look at it. And without the taser, that's the next step.

[motivez]

Originally Posted by Joe_Cool

Because Q&A was over, he pushed his way to the microphone, ranted for 2 minutes

Not according to what people who were actually there have said. He waited his turn in line, and said he wanted to preface his question with some background on them.. hardly an unreasonable thing to do.

[SoFlaJDM]

Originally Posted by motivez

Not according to what people who were actually there have said. He waited his turn in line, and said he wanted to preface his question with some background on them.. hardly an unreasonable thing to do.

i'm really interested to see how first hand accounts are shot down

[Joe_Cool]

UF Student Tasered During John Kerry Speech - Videos - WTVJ
Video from once they got him outside.

"Ask what happened to me! They're giving me to the government! Oh, I'm so scared! They're going to kill me!"

Yeah, he's honestly questioning, not being an attention whore.

[Stylerod]

Originally Posted by motivez

Not according to what people who were actually there have said. He waited his turn in line, and said he wanted to preface his question with some background on them.. hardly an unreasonable thing to do.

"I listened to you for 2 hours. Give me 2 minutes. I'm going to educate the people, then I'll ask my question. And in fact, I have 2 more questions after that."

This part is in the video. Maybe you need to watch it again.

This ass was going to come in a dictate the format of the Q/A session? It doesn't work that way, no matter how much you want it to.

[Joe_Cool]

Originally Posted by Roonie

Exactly!! Not sure what law he was breaking?

810.08 Trespass in structure or conveyance.--

(1) Whoever, without being authorized, licensed, or invited, willfully enters or remains in any structure or conveyance, or, having been authorized, licensed, or invited, is warned by the owner or lessee of the premises, or by a person authorized by the owner or lessee, to depart and refuses to do so, commits the offense of trespass in a structure or conveyance.

[Joe_Cool]

Originally Posted by SoFlaJDM

i'm really interested to see how first hand accounts are shot down

By the video, most likely.

[motivez]

Giving background on your question is educating people on the subject you're going to ask a question about. Again, I don't think it's unreasonable.

Either way, he posed no threat to anyone and excessive force was obviously used.

Originally Posted by SoFlaJDM

i'm really interested to see how first hand accounts are shot down

It's easier to defend the police's actions if you convince yourself to believe this guy is worse than he actually is.

Oh no, some college kid with an active interest in politics got a bit carried away when asking John Kerry some questions. Quick, taser him!

Originally Posted by Joe_Cool

Yeah, he's honestly questioning, not being an attention whore.

Yeah, it couldn't be that he was just scared about what was happening after he was electrocuted needlessly.

[motivez]

UF identifies two officers placed on leave
4:30 p.m.
The University of Florida identified two officers placed on administrative leave with pay after a student was shot with a Taser and arrested during a speech Monday by U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

Sgt. Eddie King and Officer Nicole Mallo have been placed on leave, said UF spokesman Steve Orlando Tuesday afternoon.

The two officers were identified as the supervising officer who had ordered that the Taser be used and the officer who used it.

Additional information about how long the two have been with the department was not immediately available.

Suspending the officers was one of several steps taken by the university after the arrest of UF student Andrew W. Meyer on Monday.

UF Police Chief Linda Stump has requested that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conduct the formal investigation into Meyer's arrest. The officers' suspension is pending the outcome of the investigation.

The university also is planning to assemble a panel of faculty and students to review police protocols, management practices and the FDLE report and come up with recommendations for the university.

-- Lise Fisher/The Gainesville Sun

Two officers suspended in Tasering
University of Florida Police are seeking an independent review of an incident Monday where a student was shot with a Taser and arrested during U.S. Sen. John Kerry's speech. Two officers involved also have been placed on paid administrative leave, a letter from UF President Bernie Machen states.

A letter has been sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement asking for an independent review, UF Police Chief Linda Stump confirmed.

“We plan to assemble a panel of faculty and students to review our police protocols, our management practices and the FDLE report to come up with a series of recommendations for the university,” Machen's letter states. “Administrators and police officials plan to analyze the incident and conduct an internal review and will consider changing protocols in response to this incident, if necessary.”

“Obviously I think that's the right thing to do. I think it has risen to the level where it needs outside scrutiny to be judged independently,” Stump said Tuesday morning.

A news conference on the incident has been scheduled for 2 p.m. in Emerson Alumni Hall.

UF student Andrew W. Meyer, 21, was being released from the Alachua County jail on his own recognizance Tuesday morning after university police arrested him Monday.

Meanwhile, some students had planned a march on the UF Police Department regarding the incident.

Meyer, a student in the College of Journalism and Communications, questioned Kerry about why he didn't contest the 2004 presidential election and why there had been no moves to impeach President Bush. Officers tried to physically remove him and eventually threatened to use the Taser on Meyer.

Meyer did not “comply,” according to police, and resisted being handcuffed. He was then shot with the Taser.

Meyer was charged with resisting an officer with violence, a third-degree felony, and disturbing the peace, a second-degree misdemeanor, according to court records. Alachua County court records do not show he has been charged in any other criminal cases in the county.

Meyers is being represented by a private attorney, according to court records. The attorney listed, Gainesville lawyer Robert Griscti, could not immediately reached Tuesday morning.

An announcement about the march had been posted online and said it was planned to start at noon in the Plaza of the Americas.

"The student didn't do anything to deserve getting pulled down by six officers and then Tasered as they held him to the floor of the auditorium," the post stated. "The charge is bogus. Watch the videos. He was censored."

The post also includes a list of demands. "Despite the call from other groups to ban Tasers on campus, here's what I'm asking for," it states. It calls for the officers involved to be suspended and investigated, policies involving disrupting speech and using weapons such as Tasers to be re-evaluated and all charges against the student to be dropped.

- Lise Fisher/The Gainesville Sun

Glad to see they were suspended. Hopefully they get docked some pay or something if not outright fired..

If nothing more, hopefully new procedures will be put in place that doesn't allow police to brutalize someone when there is obviously no physical danger to anyone involved in an incident.

[Joe_Cool]

Originally Posted by motivez

Yeah, it couldn't be that he was just scared about what was happening after he was electrocuted needlessly.

Are you fucking serious?

And he wasn't electrocuted. He was shocked.

[Joe_Cool]

Main Entry: elec·tro·cute
Pronunciation: i-'lek-tr&-"kyüt
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -cut·ed; -cut·ing
Etymology: electr- + -cute (as in execute)
1 : to execute (a criminal) by electricity
2 : to kill by electric shock

I'm fairly sure he lived. Unless that was his ghost yapping about how afraid it was.

[SoFlaJDM]

Originally Posted by Joe_Cool

Main Entry: elec·tro·cute
Pronunciation: i-'lek-tr&-"kyüt
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -cut·ed; -cut·ing
Etymology: electr- + -cute (as in execute)
1 : to execute (a criminal) by electricity
2 : to kill by electric shock

I'm fairly sure he lived. Unless that was his ghost yapping about how afraid it was.

when backed into a corner, break out the dictionary!!!

[motivez]

The more you know.

He still had what, 50,000 volts of electricity shot through his body for no good reason.

[Joe_Cool]

Originally Posted by SoFlaJDM

when backed into a corner, break out the dictionary!!!

I'm not in any corner, pally.

[Joe_Cool]

Originally Posted by motivez

The more you know.

He still had what, 50,000 volts of electricity shot through his body for no good reason.

Resisting arrest is a pretty good reason.

[Stylerod]

As I said before, the issue of free speech isn't even viable in this discussion. Excessive police force is. I'm glad to see Mot agrees.