We’ve all seen the video of this incident, but was it truly an example of police oppression or was there something else going on….
Campus rumors now circulate that Meyer, known as being a prankster, was simply trying to be obnoxious and get attention at the Kerry speech.
For Kindle and with free ePub version. Only $9.49 Great reading.
Here is what Gary Shapiro CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) said: Dvorak's writing sings with insight and clarity. Whether or not you agree with John's views, he will get you thinking and is never boring. These essays are worth the read!
Subscribe to Main Blog feed here:
Subscribe to Comments too (below):
Bad Behavior has blocked 9529 access attempts in the last 7 days.
I think he set himself up for this to happen, to become an Intertube Start.
“Don’t tase me, bro” TShirts, websites, dedications.
LOL Cats cartoon :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/apelad/1409801678/
As Styro points out on Flickr :
Oh dude, I can’t decide if this is awesome or in bad taze. 😉
Bill O’Reilly called they the guy “the biggest wimp in America” which you can see here: http://mediamatters.org/items/200709190009
While the guy seems to have been overacting for the press, why did the cops need to remove him when Kerry said he’d answer the question?
The guy had a prank website, including videos of him getting up in a theater and spoiling the ending to the last Harry Potter movie right in the middle of it.
He wanted to script a scene he could use on his site and youtube. He wasn’t expecting a taser. Regardless of whether you agree with the taser or not (I personally think you cooperate with police and do not resist, regardless of if they’re in the right or not, and let your lawyer figure it out) he staged an event, and it got out of hand.
Gee if that happened in China… huh? 😉
Cheers
I believe that the crime that student committed was in showing too much enthusiasm for his beliefs. People that are overly enthusiastic for an unpopular belief challenge the peace and quiet of all those who are satisfied to accept the herd mentality.
Unless you’re functioning within the context of deliberate civil disobedience to some political end, cooperating with the police is not only appropriate – it’s the safest thing to do. I was younger than this dimwit when I learned that.
You’re disturbing the peace when you refuse to cooperate. And when you refuse to cooperate, the coppers get to use whatever means necessary to subdue you.
So far, tasers are now considered legitimate means.
It worked, he got attention. Maybe he can grow up a little now.
30 years ago, he would have been beat with fists, 20 years ago he would have been beat with batons, 10 years ago he would have meen maced. He got off easy.
Why did the cops have to use a Taser on him when he was alreay subdued? This is just insane. I thought that was a weapon to subdue someone they couldn’t otherwise control. He is on the floor and in cuffs when they zap him. THAT is the disgusting part…it was punative. They even threaten to use it on him after he is on the floor with five people on top of him.
He may be a joker…but the behaviour of the cops is clear regardless.
When the cops are carrying him to the back of the house, I am reminded of this scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
Meyer: Come and see the violence inherent in the system. Help! Help! I’m being repressed.
Police: Bloody student!
Meyer: Oh, what a giveaway! Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That’s what I’m on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw him, didn’t you?
[Duplicate post. – ed.]
#6, moss,
I understand your comment, but disagree. In years past, the police got away with crap like this too often because their word always held more veracity than did civilians. Today, however, with video cameras always rolling the truth is coming out more and more.
We as a society must decide if we are free to speak or must follow the policeman’s dictates. The police were not running this event yet it was they that decided to remove the student, not the event organizers. Why must he heed them when they do not any right to force him from the microphone?
Sure, he could get a lawyer and fight it. But at what financial cost? For a decision a couple of years down the road.
I don’t think it went bad: I found the thing pretty funny.
This should be “Total BS” on the Dvorak meter. But I’ve noticed that the last 3 meter readings have been stuck on “Fishy”. I’m thinking the Dvorak meter itself is “Fishy”. What gives?
Here is an interesting take on America and a glimpse into the future of pain technology.
http://tinyurl.com/3bmlod
16,
My first thought was a Dune joke, but maybe a better comparison would be the torture device used on Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back.
I can easily see a bench with that microwave pain machine mounted on a boom above it with a person strapped below. You could “roast” a person for hours without physical damage. What a horrible thought.
He should be congratulated for pulling such a great prank, on himself. Hope he is enjoying the humor of the situation.
#17, Alix,
Or the torture chamber in The Princess Bride
Does it really matter what he was trying to do? Real or a joke. The point is six police officers don’t need a taser to bring this guy under control and out of the room. Sheesh… a single bar bouncer could have managed it.
Meyer is using all of us. He used the police, he used the media, and he’s using those who are sympathetic and crying “POLICE BRUTALITY!”
The best solution: Ignore him and deny him what he wants.
It’s simple. Guys like him are fingernails on the chalkboard of society.
3. “I personally think you cooperate with police and do not resist, regardless of if they’re in the right or not, and let your lawyer figure it out”
With idiots like you out there it’s no wonder Hitler took power so easily! What ever happened to “give me liberty or give me death?” I guess only those who fight for freedom actually deserve it.
>>I personally think you cooperate with police and do not
>>resist, regardless of if they’re in the right or not.
Hoo boy. This is what has become of the American Dream? Pitiful.
I like the idea that someone ASKS if there are any questions…
And someone ASKS a REAL question.
AND,
There was NO reason to detain/hold this person.
I ask 1 question..
DO you THINK you will get the truth??
#24, J-F,
With idiots like you out there it’s no wonder Hitler took power so easily!
Easy there. I disagree but have to credit to moss for a well put comment. He did not condone any police wrong doing, only advised a prudent course to take. In fact, without the video, do you think these cops would have been disciplined at all?
Moss has written consistently well thought out comments for quite some time now. In fact, I rate him as one of the more intelligent posters here at DU.
Too bad they didn’t tase him in his big fucking mouth.
CNN and Dvorak Uncensored is BS. John Kerry still hasn’t answer Andrew Meyer’s questions. The whole coverage focuses only on the police fuckup and on Andrew Meyer’s background as a stand-up comedian instead of focusing on the questions that he was asking and John Kerry still haven’t answered those.
>You’re disturbing the peace when you refuse to cooperate. And when >you refuse to cooperate, the coppers get to use whatever means >necessary to subdue you.
I call utter bullshit. Cite me some case law that actually proves this. I think you have been listening to way too much radio or maybe watching a few too many movies. This is not pseudo capitalist China runamuck.
Kerry would have calmed down this raving lunatic if he had a chance to answer, he says.
Good grief. Another example of American democrazy. Exactly that: a democracy gone crazy.
#29, Nappy,
Too bad they didn’t tase him in his big fucking mouth.
Why? Is that how you like it?