We've been hearing the name Andrew Meyer all day today, betwixt meaningless OJ coverage, of course. He's the moron that got himself tasered by University of Florida Police Officers at a John Kerry event yesterday.
Anybody who watches the video with an open mind can clearly see that he violently resisted arrest and the cops there had every right to use the taser on him. I would have handled the entire event differently, especially in front of any mostly anti-police crowd on a university campus, but they covered all the bases: they asked him verbally, then warned him, then went hands on, but, because of poor tactics, were unable to control or handcuff him. When he continued to resist, despite numerous verbal commands, he got zapped. Boofreakinghoo.
He'll probably be kicked off of a Southwest Airlines plane tomorrow for wearing a short skirt.
If you ask me, the entire event was staged. He's either the biggest wussy on the planet or the world's worst actor (or both!). Screaming help me! at the top of his lungs, his false exclamations that he didn't know why he was being arrested and the way he screamed like a little girl while using force against the officers leads me to believe he staged the whole thing. If you visit the guys website (although I don't know why you'd want to), you'll see that he's quite the little prankster.
Sadly, it doesn't look like the university is going to back the cops on this one.
And I do have to give some props to John Kerry for trying to calm the situation down and trying to talk to the guy who cut in line and refused to calm down (although I'm sure he had no intention of answering the "skull and bones" question the nut posed). Sadly, his later comments about the very cops who were there to protect him were more in-line with his typical attitude.
“In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way,” Kerry said in a statement. “I believe I could have handled the situation without interruption, but 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 responding when he was taken into custody.”
“I was not aware that a taser was used until after I left the building,” he continued. “I hope that neither the student nor any of the police were injured. I regret enormously that a good healthy discussion was interrupted.”
Michelle Malkin covers it, as does Hot Air. And from another cops perspective, check out Flopping Aces.
UPDATED: Awe, thanks Michelle!
UPDATE II: It figures.
Police noted that his demeanor "completely changed once the cameras were not in sight" and described him as laughing and being lighthearted as he was being driven to the Alachua County Detention Center.
"I am not mad at you guys, you didn't do anything wrong. You were just trying to do your job," Meyer said, according to the police report.
At one point, he asked whether there were going to be cameras at the jail, according to the report.
Meyer was charged with resisting arrest with violence -- a felony -- and a misdemeanor count of disturbing the peace. He was released without having to post bond Tuesday.
[snip]
Meyer was carrying a business card advertising "TheAndrewMeyer.com 'Speak My Mind,' " the police report said.
The Web site features videos of Meyer taking part in several practical jokes. It also includes a "disorganized diatribe" that criticizes the war in Iraq and the media.
The Web site said his friends had posted coverage of his arrest. Source.
As I said, they should have let the idiot ramble and not given him his 5 seconds of fame, but, once they went hands on, the were required to take him into custody with the minimum amount of force necessary. They could have beaten him senseless with batons but chose the lesser force option, the taser, which was completely effective. Now let's see if the university backs them up.
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