Police lying about that taser guy
Confusing. Here’s the police report:
CAD INCIDENT DISPOSITION CODE: [ 13] [ Y] [] []
On the above date and time the defendant Andrew Meyer was being lawfully detained for inciting a riot and disrupting a school function, (Accent productions presented Senator John Kerry) at the University Auditorium. Upon contact with Meyer, he began acting in a violent manner pushing the officers involved, including lifting me off the ground and screaming obscenities. Meyer was told on several occasions to comply with the officers and stop resisting, in which Meyer did not. Meyer was arrested and transported to AC/DC. [source]
And here is a piece from his college paper – the Independent Florida Alligator:
Andrew Meyer, a telecommunication senior, yelled out to Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and insisted his questions be answered while police tried to restrain him. Meyer shouted that the senator should answer everyone’s questions. Kerry was brought to UF by Accent, Student Government’s speakers bureau. erry said it would “be fair” to answer Meyer’s question, and police allowed Meyer to approach one of the microphones set up in the University Auditorium.
Kerry finished answering a previous question, which was intended to be the last question for the forum at about 1:30 p.m. uring Meyer’s question, his microphone was cut off, and police tried to move him away from the microphone. Steven Blank, Accent’s chairman, said Meyer was cut off because he used profanity and his question was too long.
And here is the full video. Do you see him “inciting a riot”? Do you see him shouting profanity at John Kerry? Yes, this taser guy is kind of obnoxious and kind of a loser, but that’s no crime. The only thing close to a crime I can see is excessive force and lying on a police report. But you can judge for yourself:
If you ask me, they went easy on him – most likely because so many people were watching. He was also making a scene probably because people were watching. This kid deserves to spend a few nights in jail to knock it into his thick skull that his behavior was uncalled for.
If you are not willing to comply with authorities and go so far as to resist them, you deserve to be thrown to the ground, handcuffed and dragged off. Whether the use of a taser was within the police departments guidelines should be determined and corrective action taken if needed.
The claim of “inciting a riot” is a poor and incorrect judgment in my opinion as it usually refers to organizing / encouraging a group of people to cause harm or damage. In this case, I would think there are far better ways to word it. Disturbing a public function, yes. Unruly conduct, resisting and/or assaulting an officer, etc.
He kept asking why he was being arrested – originally he wasn’t. If he had complied with the officers and not started jumping around and taking swings at them, he would have been fine. At one point they were about to let him go, asking him to leave the building – but he was panicking about being arrested and not getting his keys back, and being turned over to the government… this guy is obviously a nut-job.
He had a point to make which he thought was very important and he tried his best to get it out, but in a poorly executed manner. Rather than realizing his defeat and retreating, he ran towards additional conflict and caused more trouble for himself.
Again, I say he got less than he deserved and should have been immediately handcuffed and hauled off after his first outburst and “tantrum”
KJ
September 19, 2007 at 4:18 pm