Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Censorship Government Politics

University of Florida Student Tasered At Political Rally 1819

An anonymous reader writes "During a political rally at the University of Florida, an annoying student was tasered while attempting to ask Senator Kerry (D-MA) some questions regarding the 2004 election. Police are looking into whether excessive force was used to prevent the student from going over his alloted question period." There are also several YouTube videos available of the incident.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

University of Florida Student Tasered At Political Rally

Comments Filter:
  • His name (Score:4, Interesting)

    by suso ( 153703 ) * on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @08:28AM (#20650715) Journal
    His name is Andrew Meyer [wikipedia.org]. Some people are claiming that he is crazy and that police did things by the book. I don't know what to think. Its hard to find neutral information amongst all the people crying "foul".

    I'm sure that if it had been someone else speaking besides a presidential candidate, police would not have been there and Andrew would have been just politely asked to stop talking over and over. He probably deserved to be Tasered because he was resisting arrest, but he didn't deserve to be taken away from the mic.
    • Re:His name (Score:5, Interesting)

      by feed_me_cereal ( 452042 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @09:31AM (#20651935)

      I'm sure that if it had been someone else speaking besides a presidential candidate, police would not have been there and Andrew would have been just politely asked to stop talking over and over.


      You're sure? Why? Because he's a dick? Maybe you haven't noticed that this isn't the first occurrence of this sort of thing, and not all of them are on youtube. A couple years ago at OSU (columbus, OH), the city finally settled with a student who had been shot in the head with a wooden bullet. She had been unfortunate enough to walk near a party that was too large. As she was walking by, the police shot her in the head with a wooden bullet, giving her brain damage. She wasn't even on the same side of the street as the party.

      And this is no shocker. Friends of mine have been maced for the horrific crime of leaving a concert. That's right. There was no altercation, just a croud of people leaving a concert. Apperantly the croud was large enough and the music weird enough to warrant a riot force to be waiting outside the venue, mace at hand. This sort of thing happened on a weekly or monthly basis in columbus.

      Wake up. Just because this guy was an annoying prick doesn't mean that the cops don't taser these fucks for shits and giggles. Please don't tell me that the 4 of them didn't have his ass under control.
  • by nysus ( 162232 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @08:35AM (#20650809)
    One version the story is that this guy was pushy in getting to the mic and about asking his questions even though they were out of time.

    Even if that's the case, there are far better ways to handle a questioner who hogs the stage. Whoever was in charge of that event should have politely interrupted, loudly say "Sorry, we have no time for further questions," and cut the mic off. This was totally uncalled for. The University, a state institution, should get their asses sued off.
    • by kabocox ( 199019 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @10:36AM (#20653241)
      Even if that's the case, there are far better ways to handle a questioner who hogs the stage. Whoever was in charge of that event should have politely interrupted, loudly say "Sorry, we have no time for further questions," and cut the mic off. This was totally uncalled for. The University, a state institution, should get their asses sued off.

      I just had the perfect idea for future debates. Ask a question within 30 seconds. If it isn't a valid question, you get shot with a taser. If the person debating evades the question or doesn't actually answer the question, that person gets hit. It would bring life and ratings back to US political debates.
  • by GodfatherofSoul ( 174979 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @08:39AM (#20650853)
    This is a growing problem with tasers. Law enforcement starts to think that they're harmless tools, which increases the likelihood of use. But, tasers are still somewhat dangerous and even lethal [google.com] in some cases.
  • by WPIDalamar ( 122110 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @08:39AM (#20650861) Homepage
    I'm sure different police precints are different, but I know at least some of them consider a taser to be only slightly below a firearm and should only be used when the officer feels that either themselves or someone else is in danger. This kid was handcuffed on the floor with 3 (4?) cops on top of him, how could he be a danger to anyone?
    • by Scrameustache ( 459504 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @09:03AM (#20651347) Homepage Journal

      This kid was handcuffed on the floor with 3 (4?) cops on top of him, how could he be a danger to anyone?
      I count 6 on him (including one blad black one that looks like he's at least 260lbs) and another standing around. He was not a danger, he was simply refusing to RESPECT THEIR AUTHORITAY!
  • Pigs. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by spocksbrain ( 1097145 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @08:41AM (#20650899)
    So four cops couldn't take down one scrawny journalism student and cuff him without using a god-damn taser? I'll be the first to admit that the kid was trying to get attention by pulling a stunt, however, the actions of these cops are nothing short of barbaric and excessive. These stories of police brutality are getting FAR to common. There is a much larger percent of are police force made up of garbage like these pigs than most people would think.
    • Re: idiot (Score:3, Insightful)

      So four was too many? How about 3?

      A thumb to the eye will quickly blind you. A flailing arm can easily break your nose. A bite from a human is very likely to cause a severe infection. Knuckles can crush bones in your face, or break a tooth.

      Would you risk these injuries?

      How would you subdue a person to prevent this harm from happening to you? Or them? The chance of injury for either the detainee or the police is greatly reduced when you have enough bodies. One per limb seems to make sense to me.
  • Hog at the mic (Score:5, Insightful)

    by IndustrialComplex ( 975015 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @08:43AM (#20650935)
    I caught a glimpse of this kid on the news before I left for work today. While I'm sure that the clip was edited for 'mainstream news', he got going on subjects that were important to him. He was determined to make his statement, and give his views to John Kerry. A statement with a question mark at the end isn't really a question.

    If you have ever participated in any town hall style meeting, you generally get one or two questions, then you sit your butt down and let another person have the podium. While I respect this kid's right to expressing his views, there is a whole room full of people who also would like the chance to ask their questions. He was offered the chance to step down several times, and got riled up after they cut the mic.

    Now as for the tasering, I didn't see the part between where the mic got cut and he got tased, but given his demeanor around the time his mic got cut, I don't think it was fair for him to force them to pull him off the stage. If you are going to complain about being tasered, make sure that you don't start out by giving them a good reason to be physically pulling you away from the podium in the first place.

    As a disclaimer, I generally find the use of tasers to be too rampant. Some crazy guy with a sword in a mall and no pants? Sure taser him (been there, done that. On the safe side of the taser thankfully) Some 12 yr old girl who took a swing at you? Take the hit and cuff her, no taser necessary. I was punched by some 14 yr old kid who flipped out over a breakup with his girlfriend. Even then I didn't need a taser.

    The kid in this video? I need to see more of the video.

    If you ever want to 'resist' then I highly suggest you just go limp, don't fight back. A limp body is still damned hard to move and makes it much easier for your lawyer to defend you in court than if you run, swing, bite, yell.
    • If you ever want to 'resist' then I highly suggest you just go limp, don't fight back. A limp body is still damned hard to move and makes it much easier for your lawyer to defend you in court than if you run, swing, bite, yell.

      A past slashdot article [slashdot.org] would disagree with that advise. Also see, for example, information about the UCLA taser policy [blakeross.com].

      UCLA Police Policy Section 301.24 (Pain Compliance Techniques) gives officers the right to use a Taser in drive-stun capacity to attain compliance from passively or

      • by IndustrialComplex ( 975015 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @09:30AM (#20651915)
        I don't mean to suggest that you won't get arrested, charged, or tasered. But if someone manages to record you getting tasered, and you were just sitting there, or completely passive, it will at least net you some points on the blogs when the video hits youtube.

        And it will allow your lawyer to say things like, "And here we see a completely passive person being needlessly tasered by over-aggressive police."

        Instead of this: "Well, you can see from the angle that my client wasn't actually trying to punch the cop in the face, but was just waving to some friends behind the cop."
    • Re:Hog at the mic (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @09:37AM (#20652043)
      If you ever want to 'resist' then I highly suggest you just go limp, don't fight back. A limp body is still damned hard to move and makes it much easier for your lawyer to defend you in court than if you run, swing, bite, yell.

      this is also considered resisting arrest and in situations officers will repeatedly tazer a limp person to torture them or pay them back for making them work. This happens a lot with protesters who make 2 or more cops carry them off, One who chained himself to a fence was tazered enough times that the cop had to get a second tazer as he emptied his. The man refused to unlock himself, the cop was too pig headed to get a set of bolt cutters and drag him off and was intent in teaching the protester a lesson.

      http://www.ourmedia.org/node/55217 [ourmedia.org]
      http://digg.com/world_news/Police_attack_PEACEFUL_Anti_War_Protestors_with_tasers_dogs_pepper_spray [digg.com]
      http://youtube.com/watch?v=U9hL9Hy00pI [youtube.com]
      the internet is FULL of corrupt cops doing this to peaceful people because they are lazy.

      Cops should be required to write a 12 page report for every time they pull the trigger on a tazer. If an offier tazers a person more than 3 times without good cause needs to be fired and blackballed from ever being in law enforcement ever again and possibly serve jail time, preferrably in with open prison population and let the prisoners know he is a cop.

      as a cop you are public protectors, you are to PROTECT AND SERVE even the guy you are arresting based on your interpretation of the law. If any force is exerted you need to be punished HARD if it was inappropriate.

    • Re:Hog at the mic (Score:5, Insightful)

      by shilly ( 142940 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @09:43AM (#20652151)
      He didn't force them to pull him from the microphone. There was no need for the police to be involved at all. Time was, when people behaved in an unacceptable but not criminal manner, old-fashioned techniques like social opprobrium were brought to bear, rather than police officers and tasers. You know, like the crowd yelling at him to sit down and shut up, or Mr Kerry saying "you've had your say, let's let someone else have the same".
      • Re:Hog at the mic (Score:4, Insightful)

        by c6gunner ( 950153 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @02:51PM (#20658499) Homepage
        For "social opprobrium" to work, the guy has to:

        a) care what others think.
        and
        b) be semi-sane.

        In this case, it's quite clear that neither of those categories apply to this particular lunatic.

        Moreover, in "the good old days", one of the audience members would probably have slugged him. Our grandfathers had a lot less patience for rudeness and stupidity.
  • Use of tazer. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by UncHellMatt ( 790153 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @08:46AM (#20650993)
    While that kid was kind of annoying, according to the article, he did not warrant use of a taser (at least by the standards of the police station I work for). He was already on the ground, he was already under control. Once the person is down and double cuffed, that should be it, drag his sorry backside out.

    Of course, I can see many times where use of a taser is more than justified.

    "The argument over which is better, VI or Emacs, is perfectly val*ZZZZAP!!*GUAAAHHHHHGH!*"
    • I concur... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Junta ( 36770 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @09:00AM (#20651281)
      I think I've seen entirely too much footage absolutely convincing me that with the deployment of Tazers, that some of the police use it too readily. I remember seeing footage where a guy was asked to turn around, complied, asked to put his hands behind his back, he did. They cuffed one arm and couldn't quite reach the other wrist, and in trying to pull the other arm closer, they make some comment about 'stop resisting, just let us cuff', and then within five seconds of no obvious struggling, they taze. The worst he could have been doing was holding his arm stiff, but he wasn't actively doing anything and had appeared to be very compliant to that point.

      I couldn't watch the video with sound up, so I don't know when the Tazing occurred, but it is safe to say people have been Tazed by police with much less justification than this guy.
  • Taser-happy cops (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jollyreaper ( 513215 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @08:47AM (#20651023)
    Tasers can kill people. They should not be used in lieu of muscle and control holds, they should be used when the only other option is lethal force and the cop feels he can use a weapon of less than lethal force to subdue the individual without putting himself or the lives of others at risk.

    Cops will taser anyone these days.
  • by scubamage ( 727538 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @08:50AM (#20651077)
    "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Just curious, but how can some of you so callously be willing to deprive someone of the rights that so many people fought and died for? Because he was causing a scene? Big deal, its his right. Because he's press? Big deal, its his right. Numerous times people in the crowd cry out to do something, which any decent lawyer will state is proof that the police were using excessive force. On top of that the officer tells the camera holder to stop recording - at a public forum. You keep saying he got what he deserved - what happens the day when you ask a question and they don't like it? I just hope every soldier in Iraq can smile, knowing that videos like this demonstrate what freedoms they get to dodge bullets for. Thanks for protecting the police state.
  • by Ranger ( 1783 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @09:01AM (#20651315) Homepage
    and on the verge of becoming hysterical. It was no wonder the cops reacted the way they did. Maybe the cops used excessive force but needed to get him under control. When the guy asked the skull and crossbones question he'd gone off the deep end into tinfoil hat land.
  • Wants His 15 Minutes (Score:4, Interesting)

    by devildog820 ( 959606 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @09:03AM (#20651335)

    Being a UF student, I have heard plenty about Mr. Meyer before this. He causes problems and does things to get attention. Meyer knew he could cause a scene and once the police got involved he saw an opportunity. He took that opportunity and has now achieved the national attention he sought.

    First, this was an event open to the public, but not a public forum. Rules were in place for questioners. He was being led out because he would not relinquish the microphone after being politely asked. He started going peacefully, then began struggling with the campus police which caused them to treat him as hostile. He tried to run back to the microphone and that's when they pinned him down. He started screaming and writhing because the police were holding him down, but he started the tussle. They used the TASER to subdue him without twisting arms other more forceful methods.

    The police probably overreacted, but Meyer was at fault. Kerry did ask the police to let him ask the question and he answered it even as they took Meyer away.

  • Amazing (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mattr ( 78516 ) <mattr AT telebody DOT com> on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @09:11AM (#20651535) Homepage Journal
    I'm frightened by all the people (90%?) saying the kid got what he deserved being tazed.

    What utter bullshit! You guys seem to forget, this was a political rally in a university! What the heck do you think academic freedom is supposed to be about anyway? I remember pretty well when they had that killer Meir Kahane get invited to Cornell U. when I was there, I wish there had been more people like this kid. Maybe he's immature, and a hundred other things but he has balls and he is a presumably a student paying for an education, paying to have Kerry come and to have the privilege to talk back to the Senator. If there is one place that kids MUST NOT BE TAZED it is at political rallies in universities. The idea that a kid has to be educated by corporal and potentially lethal punishment as to where the neocon-sensitized line is in public discourse, is utterly repellent. You expect undergrads to be immature. They are growing their minds. Kids are shown video of how political disobedience and political rallies are often done by people who are getting frog walked away by cops. It is assumed rubber and metal bullets are the province of Myanmar or past South American regimes. Tazers do not feature in the media they are pseudo-educated with, as far as I know they are only on-campus. I think there can be worse things than an unruly but passionate and basically harmless kid talking long. I doubt that is illegal either. And I senators expect this sort of thing. Unless you see someone rushing at the Senator with a knife there is no reason to taze. I'm sorry, I am almost entirely nonpolitical and never was on campus either but there has to be a line drawn. I cannot agree at all with the jerks who say the kid got what he asked for. Imagine what the scene would have been like 10 years ago when tazers were not the fad. This is BAD. It is educating people to be mice. Or if you still don't get it, it is educating people to buy Microsoft, they can't go wrong and what's good for them is good for you. Need I go on? The idea that there needs even to be an investigation is utterly bizarre. This country has gone quite insane, I'm sure.
    • Re:Amazing (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ElephanTS ( 624421 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @10:00AM (#20652485)
      Just a note of support - I totally agree. He was not dangerous, just passionate and young. He may have made a scene and gone too far but that isn't a justification for 50,000V. The taser seemed to be given as punishment which is not the police's role. These kinds of stories always remind me of some of the SciFi I used to read. What makes it dystopian is that people then queue up to say it was justified, unaware that these and other incidents like it set frightening precedents. Extrapolating from where we are now I can easily imagine a future where the guy is carted off to a reprogramming camp to 'learn' why he shouldn't behave that way and is never seen again, or comes back a chemically controlled zombie. And still people would say "he deserved it - look what he did!". In other countries these things have happened in the past but no-one sees the similarites?

      And your last point: yes, there is an insanity that is spreading through the population. I don't know where it will end but it won't be good. Sooner or later people will be saying 2+2=5 and 'loving it'.

    • Re:Amazing (Score:5, Interesting)

      by sckeener ( 137243 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @10:29AM (#20653093)
      This country has gone quite insane, I'm sure.

      It has been that way for awhile. Back during the Republican convention for Bush Sr in Houston, the police marched a peaceful AIDS protest into a dead end alley and blocked it off. Then after keeping the protesters trapped (My ex-wife remembers a 60 year old mother of an AIDS victim being prevented from leaving)the police charged in on horseback...right over a die-in (a form of protest where you lay on the ground.) Needless to say people got stepped on...

      Ultimately nothing came of it...my ex-wife was the most credible witness because she wrote everything down immediately afterwards and sought medical treatment for where the police baton hit her. She had bone bruises which took months to heal. Oh and btw, she had taken some training on what to say if such an event happened...namely getting hit by police...she was told that she had to verbally say that she was being hurt to the person doing the hitting...guess what...he hit her again...knocked her glasses off making her blind as a bat...

      The reason nothing came of it... it was at night and the badge number on the riot gear is in reflective tape....You need a good light source and not really be stressed to see it...

      Other people that were more seriously hurt didn't want to testify because they were from out of state....

      I was impressed with Sheila Jackson-Lee, who at the time was on Houston City Council. She was one of a few that wanted an inquiry and more details.

      Another interesting bit, a couple of Republican friends of my ex-wife were at the convention as attendees and over heard some police officers talking about beating up some queers that night. They didn't think any of their friends would be there, so they didn't tell anyone until afterwards.

      To quote Reverend Martin Niemoeller:

      "In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me."
  • by hansamurai ( 907719 ) <hansamurai@gmail.com> on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @09:13AM (#20651577) Homepage Journal
    I honestly expected the guy to yell out "Help! I'm being repressed" as he was carried out of the room.

    "Did you see him repressing me? You saw him, didn't you?"
  • by realsilly ( 186931 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @09:14AM (#20651581)
    Ladies and Gentlemen, while I'm sure there is more that meets the eye to this video that shows a very disgusting display of police domination, we still have a Constitutional guarantee of our freedom of speech. He was neither hurting anyone or making threats while on the mic.

    He wasn't even totally acting outrageous when the mic was turned off. He was somewhat forcefully escorted out of the room and then being arrested. We need to know, what was his crime for the Arrest to take place. Why, when there were approximately 3 to 5 officers holding this young man on the ground did they then feel there was a need to Taser him.

    Where was his aggressive crime that threatened the life of another that would warrant the need for a Taser? According to the limited video, there was none visible.

    This appears to be a gross abuse of police force. Many more people should be outraged.

    Why is this country so great? It is because men and women before us stepped up to the podiums throughout history to cry out against government, and political individuals. This is why this country is great. But now it appears that to speak out is a crime by the very act of opening your mouth. This is just wrong.
  • by brunes69 ( 86786 ) <slashdot@[ ]rstead.org ['kei' in gap]> on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @10:32AM (#20653163)
    People are focusing and commenting on the wrong thing both here and in other forums discussing the topic.

    The question is not weather or not it is justified to taser someone who is resisting arrest. It is not even is it justified to taser this guy who was obviously already subdued.

    The question is **why the hell is this guy being considered resisting arrest inthe first place**. What justification was the original arrest under? The police are not supposed to be able to arrest you for speaking out of place in a public forum!

    I don't care how annoying the guy was being, or what he was doing that was out of line (storming the mic, etc). Campus security could get involved and escort the guy off the premises, but he shouldn't be arrested for speaking his mind! The police who were there (likely for Kerry security) should not have even been involved in the entire incident.

  • by Catbeller ( 118204 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @10:48AM (#20653467) Homepage
    A society of cowards and a leadership that promulgates fear to stay in power. That's it in a nutshell.

    No matter how many speakers you taze, no matter how many KB&R detention facilities you build, no matter how many radio trackers and bugs you put on your kids and employees, no matter how many strip searches and drug tests you all inflict on each other, the basic problem, the one creating these new police states, is that you are all conditioning yourselves to be cowards, and cowards are never safe enough. The level of security you are demanding not only for your persons, but to keep your tender ears from hearing things be said you do not wish to hear, is infinite. The number of people you need to kill overseas to feel safe is impossible to limit. And the more you squeeze those you fear, the more they will hate you and rise up against you, thus making you more afraid and more demanding of more police and more locks and more cameras. I understand Miami cops are now carrying military weaponry. Yet no one feels any safer.

    Cowards die a thousand deaths. True cowards kill a thousand people to not die those thousand deaths, and yet still die those thousand times. Stupid people are always afraid, and you can't cure stupid.
  • by graffix_jones ( 444726 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @11:39AM (#20654583)
    I keep seeing comments that he deserved what he got, and I find that frightening.

    I must've watched a different video, because the video I watched had this chain of events:

    1. He's standing at the microphone waiting patiently for Kerry to finish his speech.
    2. Kerry finishes and calls on him to speak. The guy thanks him for his time in addressing the students.
    3. He holds up a book and recommends Kerry read it, because it states that he actually won the 2004 election.
    (Kerry states he 'has' read the book)
    3. Question #1: (after a statement leading into the question... he's a journalism student after all) How could you concede the election with so many unknowns in relation to disenfranchisement of voters and improper vote counts?
    4. He gets a bit upset at a security officer trying to cut him off before he even gets to the question stated in point 3.
    5. Question #2: Why not impeach Bush before he invades Iran, since Bill Clinton was impeached over a blowjob?
    6. Question #3: Is Kerry a member of the Skull and Bones society, along with Bush?
    7. The officer then shuts the microphone off halfway through his last question/statement. (by this time it's been 1 minute and 30 seconds of him at the mic).
    8. Then he gets upset that they shut off the mic before he was completely finished, but not combative at all, then they grab him and attempt to eject him from the proceeding.
    9. He pulls himself away from the guards once Kerry states that everything's OK and that he'll answer the question(s), but he still shows no signs of combativeness.
    10. It pretty much devolves into a melee from here.

    I really see nothing here that warrants his treatment, nor justification for the tazering. The fact that some people feel it was justified makes me glad that they're not police officers. Even the cops replying to this thread are saying that the guards were out of line... that should say something.
  • by fluxrad ( 125130 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @11:51AM (#20654851)
    this [nbc6.net] video clearly shows the whole incident, from beginning to end. The guy was getting out of control and wouldn't relinquish control of the microphone (plus, his questions were a little loopy). From the video, it's pretty obvious the police were going to escort him out (the first cop just places her hand on his back and tries to show him the door), but he resisted. After another 30 seconds or so of waiting on this guy the cop decides it's time to be a little more direct, and she starts to move him out.

    More importantly, once they wrestle this guy to the ground (after about a minute of his resisting arrest) they tell him numerous times that if he doesn't place his hands behind his back and comply with the officers' requests that he's going to be tased. So only after the guy refuses to leave the microphone, after he resists arrest, and after he refuses to comply with directives given to him while he's on the ground do the officers taser him. From the officers' standpoint it very much looks like, absent tasing, this guy just isn't going to comply at all - even in handcuffs. I'm sorry, but what's the story here?

    As a side note, it's pretty clear this guy was not in full posession of his faculties. At the end of the video, he starts ranting about how the other students need to be sure to "ask about the guy who was arrested at the Kerry rally" because he fears that he's going to be killed. He also refuses to give his name to the police (and as we all learned in Hibel v. Nevada, you may not have to show ID, but you do have to identify yourself to police officers).

    Anyway, this is a non-story. Watch the video. Crazy guy resists arrest; Crazy guy gets tased.
  • by TRRosen ( 720617 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @11:57AM (#20655011)
    a Taser is a weapon and a weapon should only be used in response to a threat.

    Resisting and being loud and annoying are not threats. Police had the guy outnumbered 5-1, he had no weapons and dude....that one big cop could have picked him up and tossed him out the door by himself.

    Police today are using the Taser as a work saver. Has the world really gotten to the point where its ok as long as they don't kill him.

    By the way have you noticed in all these incidents its allways the little cop with the Napoleon complex thats using the taser

  • Try this... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sig226 ( 171084 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @12:19PM (#20655473)
    For those who think it's easy to control a ranting idiot:
    Get 5 of your friends, choose a reasonably healthy male of about the
    same size as the guy in the video and try to politely put cuffs on him
    with him resisting:
    The rules,
      you cannot bruise him or hurt him in any way.
      and he can do whatever he wants short of throwing a punch.

    I think if you do this you'll find a new found respect for the
    police officers.
  • by kozmonaut ( 577220 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2007 @12:46PM (#20656037)

    From Kerry's Blog: http://www.johnkerry.com/blog [johnkerry.com]
    JK: "A good healthy discussion was interrupted"
    by Rick Albertson on September 18th, 2007

    Senator Kerry made the following statement in response to the arrest of a student at the University of Florida:

            In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way.

            I believe I could have handled the situation without interruption, but again I do not know what warnings or other exchanges transpired between the young man and the police prior to his barging to the front of the line and their intervention.

            I asked the police to allow me to answer the question and was in the process of answering him when he was taken into custody.

            I was not aware that a taser was used until after I left the building. I hope that neither the student nor any of the police were injured.

            I regret enormously that a good healthy discussion was interrupted.

There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.

Working...