In the words of Adrian!...

"Zzzzzzaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap!"

I would have been impressed if Kerry stood up for the kid. But wait, that takes back bone and Kerry lost his at some point while in the Seanate. (How in the HELL did he manage the nomination last time)

The Kerry of 1972 would have stood up for the kid without hesitation. The Kerry of 2007...not so much.

Ha Haw… Liberals scream like girls when you Taser them. LOL.

That's scary shit. That guy didn't do shit but make an ass of himself and they took him away? The tasing would be understandable because he was trying to get away, but that seems unimportant because they had no reason to touch him in the first place.

@2 Exactly. That's why he got beat. @3 Everybody screams when they get Tasered you moron.

Kerry should have told to the police to leave him alone and then asked the kid to quiet down or leave. He is not new to these situations and acted like he was. Lame.

Tasers were justified as a non-lethal weapon to be used in place of guns. Police departments should have a policy where the officer asks, if I didn't have a taser would I pull out my gun and shoot him? If the answer is no, like in this case, the taser should stay holstered too.

That kid needs to "lawyer up," pronto. That was total BS. I'm glad someone filmed that.

Meanwhile, somewhere in America, John Kerry continues to drone on and on about nothing.

I'm crying... we have really fallen as a country and I'm crying.

Poor John Kerry my ass. If there was one person in the room who could've diffused the entire situation with words, it was the Senator on stage with the fucking microphone.

I can picture John Kerry's thoughts now ... "If I say 'It's OK, let him go', then I may appear to be soft on crime. Hmm ... What would John Kennedy do? Hmmm ... I don't know."

This incident is John Kerry's own "My Pet Goat"

First, that kid should have taken a couple breaths and let Kerry answer his first question, before railing on about blowjobs Skull and Bones like a damn crackhead.

But the cops acted like morons, Kerry should have said something, and the whole scene escalated really ridiculously. The fact that he's actually in jail is completely ludicrous.

Look, the only reason cops become cops is to shoot people. They can't exactly do that whenever they want, so they have to use their nightstick or a taser. Nightsticks are so '92, and cops wouldn't want to be caught dead using old school PB. I think this was somewhat justified. They need some entertainment every now and then. What better place to get it than at a college on some loudmouth know-it-all dipshit?

Everybody got what they wanted out of the entire ordeal. Andrew is not what he always has been, a victim, of everything, and he has videos to prove it. He wouldn't have it any other way.

The cops scored some college moron ass-kickin' fun.

Kerry scored some headline.

All of the students got to see a dude get tasered.

Just sayin'.

*now.

10 and 11, i couldn't agree more. it's a little microcosm of the state of dissent, govenance and enforcement in our country. and yes, that kid needs to sue the shit out of the cops. disgraceful.

Question for all of you: Who is going to save us from the nightmare of totalitarianism we are running down? (this response to Kerry's heckler is a perfect example) Will Canada invade us? Europe? The Klingon Empire?

See this much better-quality video of the incident.

Four officers are holding this unarmed young man down with another officer right there ready to assist, and they hit him with a fucking cattle prod -- all in front of hundreds of onlookers, including a U.S. Senator. Next time someone tries to tell you we're moving to a police state and you're inclined to call him a crazy conspiracy theorist, STFU.

Mike @7: You are absolutely correct. The taser should be an alternative to a gun, not an alternative to elbow grease and handcuffs.

That kid was dumb. Anyone at this point should know that if you run from the cops, resist arrest, piss off the cops, et al you are not going to enjoy the consequences. That stupid kid had the general sense of white college kid entitlement.
"Why are you not letting me get away with this?"
"Why are the police arresting me?"
"Why am I so fucking stupid?"

Did any of the people railing against this supposed police mistreatment actually watch the stupid video? If you did, you'd notice that stupid white kid was just sitting at the mic not really asking questions, he's just standing there rambling on and on. When the powers that be try and remove him from the mic (presumably to allow someone else with an actual question to have some mic time) he freaks out and brings it upon himself.

Tell you what, you try shoving a cop in uniform while they're on duty and tell me if you get tased. Or shot. Or beat'en the hell up.

Cry about police brutality all you want, this is the society that you live in. The society that allows you to bitch and moan about it. Don't like it? Become a cop and change the system. Because you're obviously not doing a good job about it otherwise.

I mean, kuddos to John Kerry, what the hell can you do? Most college liberals are pissed off and lettinig their emotions rule them a little bit to much. When John Kerry says,"I read the book, what is your question." and the kid a)didn't want to hear his answer, and b)kept on going off into a rant. And I'm sorry to say this, he just lost it. He used John Kerry's speech as is own soap box. What a selfish prick. and like 12 said, Andrew got to be a victim. Beautiful huh?

@10, the last person in the room who could have diffused the situation was John Kerry, it couldn't matter what he said. Andrew was looking for massive civil dissobiendence. Kerry could have been santa clause and I doubt he would have snapped out of it. Kerry may have had the heart to say some intense things, but he was still going to do it in a calm and collective way.

Hell yeah I voted for him, hell yeah I was dissappointed when he "lost" but I'm not going to go on mindless rants over it ...

I hate fucking cops. So many of them are cruel, inhuman, inflexible fuckwads. The jackasses in this video should be sued, fired and then publicly tasered themselves. Disgusting.

I love the kid at the end that yells, "Police brutality! ...Rodney King!" Heh. Yeah, it's exactly like Rodney King.

@17 "The society that allows you to bitch and moan about it."

They did't allow him to bitch and moan about it. He was arrested. When were police given the right to decide if a question/rant is approiate or not?

"Freedom of speech is the concept of being able to speak freely without censorship."

Oh look at me, I am self important college student. Look how revolutionary I am. Think of all the consciousness I raised. Free speech means I get to talk and talk and talk at someone else's event and if they try and remove me I'm a victim.

There is nothing liberal, progressive, or valuable in being an asshat. An angry white college student who thinks being rude is civil disobedience is not revolutionary, it's just fucking annoying.

I would have tasered the idiot too. He was asked to leave, he refused and struggled with the police, he gets a tasering.

@17 - you're an idiot. This was totally uncalled for - yes, he made a scene, but the cops reaction was way overblown - and yeah, I would say brutality. Worst case they should have carted him outside and not let him in. Best case, they shouldn't haven't grabbed him at the microphone. They could have cut the mic or let him finish.

I'm guessing the forthcoming lawsuit will be huge. But, that doesn't excuse the cops or the idiots grinning while this kid is assaulted.

Some people will do anything to become a Youtube celebrity. You know what I'm sayin'?

College liberals are the worst. You have to admit that. When they aren't fucking up a pie toss, or saying thoughtful mind-changing things like 'Bush can suck my dick' on a sidewalk protest, they're pulling pathetic shit like this. What would college liberals do if they weren't out making fools of themselves? Something useful for our party? Fuck that.

They'd rather make a scene. Always, always make a scene.

"I hate fucking cops. So many of them are cruel, inhuman, inflexible fuckwads. The jackasses in this video should be sued, fired and then publicly tasered themselves. Disgusting."

Why? Should cops not have the ability to remove disruptive jackases from public events? Or should they be completely fangless with no ability to actually law or order?

And anyone who makes wonderful blanket statements about hating entire professions isn't really playing with all the cards in the deck.

"I hate fucking endocrinologists. So many of them are cruel, inhuman, inflexible fuckwads. The jackasses in this video should be sued, fired and then publicly biopsied themselves. Disgusting."

http://www.theledger.com/article/20070918/BREAKING/709180413

"After the incident, Capt. Jeff Holcomb of the UPD said Meyer had been charged with disrupting a public event and placed in the Alachua County Jail. Holcomb said there would be an investigation into whether the officers used force appropriately, adding that employing a Taser gun would only be justified in a case where there was a threat of physical harm to officers.

In a news release sent out after the event, UPD officials said Meyer had been "partially" handcuffed before the Tasing. Holcomb said "partial" handcuffing implies only one hand was cuffed, adding that it would be "atypical" to use a Taser on someone who was fully cuffed."

This is going to be one big out-of-court settlement.

It's pathetic that these five cops couldn't manage to restrain the kid without resorting to extreme violence. I've worked as a bouncer and not one of the people I worked with couldn't have handled this kid on their own, using only their hands, and without causing any serious injury. Of course they're all probably in jail now for allowing non-existent guns into bars ...

The highlight: "Don't taser me, bro."

Yeah... I thought that was a little odd too. I really don't want to defend the prick ... but he was pretty imobilized when they used the tazer.

Still hella funny though, I guess that's the cost of entertainment to be paid for by Gainesville, PD

I'd agree that the use of the Taser appears to be unnecessary, but the kid is hardly innocent here. The crime of resisting arrest has not one single thing to do with whether you think you're being arrested or detained justly or unjustly. That's why we have courts. At a certain point, the police have a responsibility to subdue someone before he hurts somebody (not just a cop, but a bystander). This kid was CLEARLY resisting arrest, and doing so rather violently. He refused again and again to comply with the cops' orders, despite many warnings, so they made a judgement to subdue him by other means. Whether that judgement was sound should be investigated, but the kid was still a jackass.

http://www.johnkerry.com/blog
JK responds

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.

@32

I can't believe John Kerry has to respond to THAT!!!!

I mean come on people!

33. It is on every major media front in the world. Why the fuck would he not?

@34

It's just unfortunate that's all

"I regret enormously that a good healthy discussion was interrupted"

I mean that is the kicker ... he has to say shit like that in order to remain in good standing. I earnestly hope our good healthy discussion isn't closed with some mild police brutality. ....

I'm John Kerry. I wouldn't recognize a kid getting tasered five feet in front of my nose. I'm John Kerry. I'm John Kerry. Thank you.

I'm with Overblown @ 31. Overreaction by police, idiot kid was resisting arrest. I do hope that this leads to better enforcement of Taser use guidelines though - some police are clearly too seduced by "nonlethal" and use it unnecessarily.

He thought the screaming was simply part of the "good healthy discussion" that they were having.

I had no idea so many of the SLOG posters are right wing dick heads.

Having been brain washed by the conservative babble they think free speech is saying fuck to your mom and sister and being able to go to the mall to spend.

Sad. The pigs over reacted - the kid should have had his say, this campus should riot for a couple of days.

It won't .... the sheeple will do as they are told by any authority figure. And defend the cops with indignation, since they have never been rousted.

White boys from the middle class, you are fucking stupid and have no grasp of progressive politics. Hope they taser you one of these days and we get to hear the screams.

Kerry should have given a terse statement about police brutality and walked off the stage.

Gutless wonder.

'Sheeple' is such a sheeple word.

@39 "white boys from the middle class" you mean like the idiot who got tasered?

Free speech is not a license to cause a disturbance. imagine the opposite. An nice marriage equality rally is happening when all of a sudden an angry Christian gets up and starts yelling and screaming and won't, when asked, shut the fuck up. Should not he be removed, or should everyone else have their event ruined because of some rude motherfucker.

Hell why can't I come in to your house and call you out for being the dumb fuck that you appear to be.

@39

Angel, THIS right here right now, what we are doing speaking our mind is freedom of speech at it's finest. We are all voicing our opinions we may agree or disagree, we may be on the edge of some of things we refer to, but nonetheless the moderators at the slog have given us free rein to say whatever the fuck we want to in defiance of whoever may disagree with us.

We are free say this crap without fear of imprisonment, and only that we may be judged. Do people in China or even Great Britain have such a luxury, not really.

That said, the guy was being a real douche. He had his momment on the floor, and he wouldn't give it up! If you go see a concert, you don't go to a concert to see you neighbors garage band plugged in trying to out play the main show. It's Kerry's seminar, and Kerry has the floor and was doing his best at having a "gentlemen's discussion". Dumb ass kid uses his momment in the sun to try to ge on his soup box and show the world as he sees it.

The tazering ... it's a sidenote and an issue with the Gainseville police department and not John Kerry. Besides it doesn't hurt that Badly (unless you have a pace maker etc. etc.) You get up and walk away a HELL of a lot quicker than a shot to the nuts.

@39
Shouldn't you be out in front of Cheesecake Factory with your dog acting all anti-authority and begging people for leftovers?

#42

Should he be tasered though. Witht hat reasoning, all those queers in New York should of forgon Stonwall, and got back in the fuckin closet and shut up.

#44

Such noble disdain - I own several businesses and can buy and sell your lame ass.

Police fascism is the future of Amerika ... look around you at your diminishing rights and the rise of the authoritarian state.

It has arrived. This incident is at that bastion of open thought, free discussion, exchange of ideas - a major University.

At your front door they will use guns, not tasers.

Check out this dipshit response from John Kerry:

http://www.johnkerry.com/2007/9/18/jk-a-good-healthy-discussion-was-interrupted/comments/8801#comment-8801

I am wondering what law was broken at this public event? Kerry called on the student who was waiting at a microphone during Q & A session of this event.

I wonder what answers the phony intellects have for his questions?

Security frauds of voting machines?
The disenfranchised voters of 2004
(see http://www.americanblackout.com)

The "idiot kid" seems to have a better idea of where the country is headed and is addressing grievances.

@ 48

Well then maybe the idiot kid should vote and voice is opinions on the fucking blogs like the rest of us with mannors?

Kerry Read the book, stated accordingly accordingly, he asked for a question and not a book report?

Figured out who Greg Palast is yet, Eli?

#49

Yeah blogs are getting us real far. Welcome to the electronic circle jerk.

@46 "I own several businesses and can buy and sell your lame ass."

lol, no you don't.

@45, your comparing people protesting for their rights with a moron spouting conspiracy nonsense at a rally. There is nothing unjust about not being able to take over someone's event.

@Angel #46

"I own several businesses and can buy and sell your lame ass."

Congratulations, you win. Decrying police fascism in Amerika(sic) while at the same time promoting slavery, only in Amerika(sic) can such lazy logic be thought of as a good argument.

this is stupid; a case of poor judgement.

andrew should have left when escorted out.

he should not have been arrested -- though perhaps he legally could be.

he should not have resisted arrest in the way he did. perhaps just lying there once you have one cuff on would be appropriate.

they officers did not appear to have to taser him -- even if they are authorized to do so when someone is resisting arrest.

This story is so much less interesting then you are all making it out to be. Kid was a dick, cops shouldn't have tazered, douche will get a big check that he will spend on emo pop, cheap beer, and organic veggie pizza. Next.

Actually I disagree, they DO work. They don't work enough to your liking, because you haven't "won" yet. The media does pay lip service to our gripes, more than it has in the past, and it does help promote some community which is what liberals were kind of lacking and evangelicals have PLENTY off.

It also has been a very effective way of making money. Moveon and America coming Togethor, Howard Dean have raised tons of money from people pissed off ranting into their computer who want to throw money where their mouth is.

It is pretty cool, and it's only going to get better (or worse) because the bible thumpers will most likley catch on, they already have internet sermons.

I don't know. Furthermore, take it from well ... a really bad bleeding heart liberal that life isn't fair. People of our generation, the whole "generation Y" who have grown up rewarded for working hard. Remember how we are all above average? It's unfortunate that the real world doesn't work this way. Sometimes the best things you can do is accept your defeats in dignity so you can fight again.

Until then, let the online mudslinging reign!

@Giffy, 17, 26, 31, 43
You comment on this post, and assumes that this kid got what was coming to him. Someone makes a disturbance in a public forum, and you believe that he should be forcibly removed. Let me first say this: You are correct to say that if this were a concert, or a play, and there was some idiot shouting at the performers, he should be removed. This kid is a well-informed idiot, that is true. His arguments were not rational, and were meant to inflame public emotion, true.

HOWEVER, this was not a concert, or a play, it was a political forum. In this situation, this kid had every right to aggressively challenge Senator Kerry.

What you are saying is tantamount to "If you aggressively challenge a political figure, you DESERVE to be taken down." Fuck that. It is THAT attitude that is the reason there will be no riots on the University of Florida campus. It is THAT attitude that is the reason President Bush and our Congress have been allowed to get away with all that they have.

@57

What you are saying is tantamount to "If you aggressively challenge a political figure, you DESERVE to be taken down." Fuck that. It is THAT attitude that is the reason there will be no riots on the University of Florida campus. It is THAT attitude that is the reason President Bush and our Congress have been allowed to get away with all that they have.

Thos are your words, but shit like this HAS to happen otherwise we as a society don't know what we are fighting to maintain. We get complacent and then we loose. Think of what we hope to gain. A greater appreciation for our rights?

@57, He had a right to ask a question, but not to monopolize the forum. What about the rights of the people who wanted to hear Kerry speak, what about Kerry having an opportunity to respond.

This kid was free to have his own event or forum and if people wanted to hear him they could. He can hold a press conference, a protest march, or a fucking bake sale and challenge Kerry all he wants. What he can't do is make it impossible for Kerry to speak, respond or hold an event. One might call that censorship.

Public discourse has rules and one of those rules is that you limit your remarks to a set amount of time and you give the person an opportunity to respond. I know its cliche, but if everyone did what this moron did, we might as well just have screaming matches.

Trust me, we are not going to stop Bush or the Republicans by being asshats at political events.

@57, I personally think it will be much more fun to settle our political discourse like soccer hooligans!

Giffy - the term ass hat is so insightful - now, I want to trust you.

w
What do we do? Is there a book on political discourse I missed? Oh, they are reading it at Gitmo, all sold out cause the illegal detainees have been buying it up.

You are either very young and do not have any grasp on the real world, or a neocon who just can't stand progressives fighting back.

The guy was abused by the cops, there was no danget to the public - a few extra minutes at a mic, Kerry was the real target and embarrasing him was most likely what was happening - and you say, oh gosh there are all these rules which even preclude some free form debate at the U ... honey, tell us what to do. All ears.

Dan, this sure ain't the Act-Up crowd

Scared of their shadows

Can't handle one person who is a bit of a loud mouth for a few minutes on a college campus

Asking hard questions only, perhaps lacking manners: interesting how your mainstream posters turn on him like the Gestapo on a resistant Jew

I wonder what it would have been like had someone who instead of waving ... I forget who's book it was ... was waving an Ann Coulter or a bible, went on some tirade was dragged away and then tasered. How would the rational be. THIS right here is the proper forum for the intense ideals, not some public discourse meeting. I got the feeling that there was no satisfying answer for Andrew he is just as pissed off as anyone defending him.

How about @62 and @63 if I get in your face and tell you straight out that we may have gotten out voted, and even if it isn't the case there obviously wasn't a clear majority.

And simply because you don't like that answer, obviously you have been opressed. People in other parts of the world feel like you ... and they resort to guns and violence. I think that is what is beautiful about this country. When the minority gets pissed off, they don't go to the protestant neighborhood and bomb their church. We try to have rules and keep a proper sense of decorum it's called the moral high groung ... ie Ghandi

Above - Matt

Work on some history

the very peaceful protesters at Kent State were gunned down by the National Guard

Your modern wimp out theory that gut level politics is about decorum is small town rube bull shit

This loud mouth was in a very public place, had the cops cornered him in an alley late at night they would have beat the shit out of him - his protection was the public venue and video camera and rich white boy ...

This Florida U is some kind of neo Nazi stronghold apparently - by the way the crown looks VERY white, oh what a surprise, and I bet very R, as in most of modern Florida

Oh, decorum solves all, you say.

And the question was about the stolen election ... dare not say that in Florida

Andrew Meyer is an idiot.

This is a scary video! Did the guy deserve to be arrested? Probably. Did the guy who was unarmed, and not a threat to himself or others deserve to be tazed surrounded by four police officers? Absolutely not! This is an example of excessive police force, pure and simple. Officers need to be held more responsible for their use of tazer guns. These officers need to be disciplined for this use of excessive force.