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September 18, 2007 at 10:59:41
by Hans Meyer Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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Monday evening I watched an interesting debate unfold in an on-line blog. The topic was the Tasering of a University of Florida student by the police at an open forum with Massachusetts US Senator John Kerry. The topic was so hot that the comments section easily swelled to over 500 posts in a matter of just a few hours. The facts seem to be these: Kerry was speaking to a gathering at the University of Florida, in Gainesville, covering the Middle East, Iraq and other topics. After his formal comments were completed the floor was opened up for general questions from the audience. One student, Andrew Meyer, took the microphone and began to ask several questions. According to some preliminary reports I’ve read, Meyer began to ramble on about Kerry conceding the 2004 election too soon, asking the Senator if he had read a certain book, and then starting to ask Kerry about skull and bones. From the video shown on Tuesday morning’s Today Show it appeared that a single police woman approached Meyer to tell him that his time was up. It rapidly began to escalate, and at one point Kerry tried to calm the situation saying that he would “stay here as long as it takes to get the questions answered.” Finally, the police began to escort Meyer away from the now turned off microphone, and he struggled while yelling “what! are you going to taser me? are you going to arrest me?!” Sometime after that Meyer was, apparently, Tasered by the police, and he was arrested. (Author’s note: I am not related to the Andrew Meyer in this story.)
Originally I was going to title this piece, “The (Un)usual suspects,” as the participants in the aforementioned debate took some interesting sides in this story.
On the right side of the aisle there were those who exclaimed “shock” at the supposed suppression of “free speech” by the police, especially with the use of a Taser. Most of these also accused Kerry of not rushing to the rescue of the speaker, asking (ordering?) that the police back off and let the questions be asked. This group was unusually quiet when I posted a dozen links to stories about hundreds of arrests at Bush rallies/speeches. The only “excuse” offered was “well, they weren’t Tasered!” Interesting how these wingers can be so upset at the treatment of this one student, yet so cavalier when it comes to evidence of hundreds of people arrested at Republican (read: Bush) events. Where’s their “shock” at the suppression of free speech by the police in all of those numerous cases? And if it were John McCain, and not John Kerry speaking, would they be applauding the actions of the Gainesville/University of Florida police instead of condemning them?
The next group of right-wingers are those who, while disdaining Kerry the politician, felt he did nothing wrong, and that, perhaps, Meyer got what was coming to him. This position is best summarized by this post: "...the dude (Kerry) was just giving a speech. Crowd control wasn't his job. Had he interfered and said something like, 'Let the brotha speak...', he'd be slammed for telling professional law enforcement how to do their jobs. What happened here isn't a reflection on Kerry." Indeed. And, in many respects, this is part of how I view this situation.
On the left side of the aisle are those who condemn the police for their over-reaction in both arresting Meyer and in Tasering him. To these people this is simply a “Dog Bites Man” story, something which has been seen since Chicago 1968, and even earlier. I tend to agree with this viewpoint.
Some of those on the left also expressed disgust with Kerry in that he didn’t do more (or even something) to help the student. Others, like the right-winger I quoted above, felt that this event is not a reflection on Senator Kerry.
Normally, that would be the end of this piece; an observation on how each side of the political aisle viewed the same story, and how the usual alignments were not so usual this time around. But the Today Show included some additional information which sheds some much-needed light on this story.
Seems that Andrew Meyer is known around campus as someone who will do outrageous things to garner attention. For example, when the last in the series of Harry Potter books, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released in July, Meyer made a poster with “Harry Potter Dies” written on it. He stood at the corner of a busy intersection in Gainesville with his sign and a copy of the book, taunting drivers by giving away the surprise ending. From the video shown few motorists found such a disclosure funny, and even the driver of a passing sheriff’s car yelled “shame” to this attention grabber.
So, when all is said-and-done, perhaps the police who arrested and Tasered Andrew Meyer on Monday were really just devoted, yet ticked off, Harry Potter fans.
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| 16 comments |
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As we all know the name: Andrew Meyer
I hereby repeat the statement I have made commenting on Frank Ranelli diaary entry on the issue: 1. We here on opednews should openly proclaim our support for that young man, our disgust with Sen. Kerry and police and also our compassion towards all oeople tasered because it is inflictiing the bodily harm. The police more and more uses those devices out of cowardice because obviously it is much easier to use them than to be proficient in the professional occupation. 3. I personally ( and this is only me) am through with Kerry and others in Demparty and will never ever support them, vote for them, promote them and/or listen to anything they say. I most likely will not vote in the upcoming election unless we have a candidate from the unified Popular Front. I also will encourage all the people I know to do the same thing. 4. We here on the opednews should address all the students in all universities proposing to boycott ALL politicos and their speeches. Just do not attend those. It is useless. Instead we should propose that students in all uiniversities should address the constituents of the US Congressmembers asking them to recall them ALL. 5. Last but not least. As we know the name of that young man we here on Opednews should put a statement of compassion to him and his family, ask him to formulate his questions he wanted to ask and POST THOSE QUESTIONS HERE, BIGTIME! ***************************************** by Mark Sashine (72 articles, 19 quicklinks, 269 diaries, 4101 comments [130 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007 at 12:51:36 PM  (0+)
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Reply: Yes, the police were out of line. That's not the point.
No one is agruing that the police didn't go overboard with tasering Meyer (okay, I suppose some people are, but I'm not and I don't think Hans is, either), but what needs to be realized is that Andrew Meyer seems to have a bit of a predeliction for seeking attention. Does that justify being zapped? Heck, no! But it does show that Andrew Meyer was presumably bound and determined to be removed from the forum involutarily. Now, unless he was starting to get violent, the police were WAY out of line, but, from what I've read (I'll have to check the video later), they did need to remove him. by Rev. Damien Darko (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 1 comments) on Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007 at 1:19:39 PM (0+)
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Taser
The difference between this situation and the standard Bush situation is that the public expects people to be roughed up, tasered and arrested wherever Bush appears but they do NOT expect that at a Democratic meeting. It is unfortunate that the U.S. has become so sociopathic that police officers think they can get way with anything. That little episode would have ruined whatever value anyone might have gained from being there that night. Whatever happended to just letting things slide unless a real problem arises? This didn't look like a problem to me especially if the key speaker was not upset by the questions. Those police officers should be fired and go back to something they know how to do like naked mud wrestling. by Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1750 comments [110 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007 at 1:02:03 PM (0+)
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Reply: they don't expect this at a Democrat event?
I find that one a bit off the mark... first of all, Kerry is a politician... Democrat or republican, people caught asking questions that may be embarassing to a Democrat or a Republican will be roughed up, hauled off, and tossed in jail. there were candidates for the office of President who were ARRESTED while attempting to go into a debate between the republican and Democrat Candidate, AS A MEMBER OF THE AUDIENCE, EVEN WITH A TICKET IN HAND! I EXPECT anyone who is not a political "elite" to be treated this way, in this day and age... It will be this way until we change it. Ciao, CZ by steve scheetz (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 829 comments [52 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007 at 1:21:42 PM (0+)
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Its been a while since Kerry sported a pair...
<a href="http://thiscanadian.typepad.com/this_canadian/2007/09/scared-politici.html">Scared Politicians & Nervous Cops = browbeaten CITIZENS...</a> by BlueBerry Pick'n (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 11 comments) on Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007 at 3:13:07 PM (0+)
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The Reality and the Governance We Deserve
by Rafe Pilgrim (63 articles, 0 quicklinks, 19 diaries, 84 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007 at 4:44:43 PM (0+)
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Silence is Betrayal
Please call to express your concerns about this horrific incident: by sherry clark (47 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 116 comments [4 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007 at 5:04:21 PM (0+)
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I'm fed up.....
With people standing by watching this kind of thing happen. Just because someone is wearing the uniform of a police officer doesn't mean they are invincible. A well placed fist to the jaw will knock them out, just like any other person. Standing by watching some have their rights violated, and seeing them tortured is really worse than actually doing it yourself. by Jeffrey Henderson (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments) on Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007 at 7:30:13 PM (0+)
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To this we've come!
The phrase is a quote from the opera "The Consul." It is a cry for some kind of human response to everything, anything. This is not America. This must be some dictatorship where this could happen. Well, this should be a wake up call for all of us. I have been angry with this government for a long time not just since Shrub and his gang of hoodlums took over. And Kerry was certainly NOT my candidate of choice. Only in a country led by fascists could this kind of thing take place. Yes, the police were wrong and they should be fired. Yes, Kerry was weak and ball-less. So what if the "boy" was asking questions that might have embarassed Kerry. He should be embarassed by many things including his lack of action against the police. And why did he cave in so quickly after the election in 2000 was stolen? Why did Gore cave in so easily after the next stolen election? I want answers, too. I've asked the questions and gotten no answers. What is to be done about this situation? Is the boy still in jail or was he released and what are his options as to what he can do to punish the police? For they must be punished and never work as "peace officers" again. HA! Who will take responsibilty for this? I will be calling the numbers in the comment by Sherry and forcefully complaining about the police actions. I have to because I couldn't live with myself if I didn't . Join me and do that. You will feel better for having done something about it. As to what do about the thugs in the White House, pester your legislators about impeachment every day, twice a day if possible. Threaten them with defeat in the next election. That's what I've been doing. We, the people, have to take back our country. The only candidate that I believe can help do that is Dennis Kucinich. And if you think that is impossible, think again. We can elect him if we all vote for him. He would never allow this kind of thing to happen on his watch. He is not one of the whores who are beholden to the corporations or the lobbyists that control Washington and the country now. And yes, i'm referring to all of the other candidates. It's disgusting to see the millions of dollars that have been raised by them for their election. If we want our country back they must not be elected. It's all related. Nothing will change if any one of them is elected. It will be satus quo with the lobbyists, the insurance companies that have sucked the health care system dry and us in the process. Why do you think that Hillary talks about " an affordable health care plan"? It involves the insurance companies. They are very powerful and she is doing their bidding as all of the other candidates are. I'm sorry that this comment has become a campaign speech for Dennis Kucinich but I truly believe that he will be the answer for all of these problems. He is the real thing. He cares for the people. He is a man for all of us. by Caronome (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 327 comments [15 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007 at 2:04:29 AM (0+)
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That video is HORRIFIC
and there is no other word to describe it. Are people really so dissociated and desensitized that they can't see that? The video is horrific because what happened is HORRIFIC. This is the Kent State of our time, it really is. Last week Reverend Yarwood had his leg broken in Washington DC for wearing an I LOVE Iraqis button! Some crime! We are watching the criminalization of all dissent. We saw it in Sydney and Montebello Quebec. We see it in Washington DC and Florida. People are held guilty BEFORE commiting a "crime", punished and then judged as terrorist, anarchists or whatever demonizing tag will do for that day. For heaven's sake, to blame Andrew Meyer for being young and passionate and thinking he deserved ON ANY LEVEL for ANY REASON to be tasared is so beyond the pale. I refer you ALL once again to Naomi Klein's very very important video and to plead with everyone to PLEASE pass it along to your friends, your ebuddies, to whoever you can think of who can learn from it. It's NOT about economics; it's about methods of CONtrol used by manipulators who stand to gain by shutting up all dissent and free thinking, to shut down discussion and INFANTILIZE us so that they can force feed us with .. well, you can name it yourself. PASS IT ALONG PLEASE A Film by Alfonso Cuarón and Naomi Klein, directed by Jonás Cuarón. "When I finished The Shock Doctrine, I sent it to Alfonso Cuarón because I adore his films and felt that the future he created for Children of Men was very close to the present I was seeing in disaster zones. I was hoping he would send me a quote for the book jacket and instead he pulled together this amazing team of artists -- including Jonás Cuarón who directed and edited -- to make The Shock Doctrine short film. It was one of those blessed projects where everything felt fated." - Naomi KleinAlfonso Cuarón, director of "Children of Men", and Naomi Klein, author of "No Logo", present a short film from Klein's book "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism." See shockdoctrine dot com (the links here are not working again.) 
by ladybroadoak (39 articles, 20 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 394 comments) on Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007 at 3:03:06 AM (0+)
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Do Not Make Light of Police Brutality
This is the essence of fascism. One person goes down, and few come to his aid. Rob, you ought to know better. Give off your ass! ### by Michael Leon (111 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 29 comments) on Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007 at 8:45:50 AM (0+)
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What's Next? The sequel of the remake!
Hmmm, Haven't we seen this movie before? What was the name of it? Oh yeah, Gimme Shelter. Oh, and the sequel? Exactly the same script except YOU are the victim. Good night by Kyle Johnson (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments) on Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007 at 3:37:31 PM (0+)
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Harry Potter and the overblown hyperbole!
The video is horrific because what happened is HORRIFIC. This is the Kent State of our time, it really is. Last week Reverend Yarwood had his leg broken in Washington DC for wearing an I LOVE Iraqis button! Some crime! by Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007 at 4:26:06 PM (0+)
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Reply: And blessed be that I made the comment, too
There are what are known as "tipping points" Kent State was a tipping point. Previous to that happening, two, yes, two students were killed at Jackson State the week before. Does ANYONE remember? I for one certainly do. Now the point is that few paid attention to the criminalization of Reverend Yarwood, who was flattened for his badge/button/pin and one read precious little about it .. very little outrage was shown. Why? Because he's BLACK and the head of the hiphop caucus? Because we EXPECT such things to happen but we don't expect nice white guys to be tasared??? In 1994, many many things happened to me that NONE Of you would like to experience under the so-called War on Drugs, which was implemented using the War Measures Act to justify deportations and rounding up people and denying them hearings. Several THOUSAND US citizens were affected by this. They families were SHATTERED. Civil rights groups did NOT rush to their aid, I assure you. AT FIRST, I got some sympathy until I filed a lawsuit against the US after being taken hostage, my kids threatened with torture if I didn't do what they told me and many other ghastly things. I live IN EXILE, you guys. Nothing the US does surprises ME. But despite everything I refuses to lose my feelings and I refuses to stop speaking about injustice under every ugly leaf it uses to hide itself. Tasars suck; the people who use them have little training and certainly do NOT know what they feel like; Andrew Meyer certainly knew much more about them then the officer who used it. Doesn't this make anyone JUMPY?? I stand by my original comments. I think what we see here is a tipping point, another Kent State. And more than most (who's been a radical since 1967), I know what I am talking about. Go and see what happens when YOU get tasared .. or hit with a lead filled nightstick, or hit with rubber bullets, or had gases used on you that you aren't even sure what they are .. and I don't think MARTYRDOM is a great idea. Very nice armchair commentary to say "let the blood flow" but really NOT a very good epitath. Is it better to be DEAD than to be alive suddenly? I don't think so despite very very intense complex post traumatic stress disorder. I think politicalization is going to happen RAPIDLY and that people are more fed up and dissociated from each other in America than anyone has suggested thus far. Time to send information around .. Naomi Klein's video, the youtube video on Andrew Meyer and anything else that will help wake people up, becuz the movment must be STRONG. by ladybroadoak (39 articles, 20 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 394 comments) on Thursday, Sep 20, 2007 at 5:32:28 AM (0+)
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It is no exaggeration-- the Forth Reich is being installed
BE WARNED: Americans will now sit there, SIT THERE, and allow police to TORTURE you in PLAIN VIEW if they don't like you or what you are doing. Whether you liked this guy's approach or not, the fact is police electroshocked a man who was already in custody, and as he SCREAMED FOR HELP, they sat there. The Brown Shirts are already here. by Mars Caulton (1 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 88 comments) on Thursday, Sep 20, 2007 at 8:55:22 AM (0+)
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Tipping point?
There is no such thing here, especially when one considers how easy it will be to paint the kid who got tasered as a troublemaker. It's already started. This is no tipping point! I'm sorry, but until people die, nothing compares to Kent State. The recent "wave" of protests is nice, but it's only a start. The fact that some more people have finally awakened to the reality of the world in which we live is a good thing, too. However, until the blood of innocent Americans is spilled like it was on May 4, 1970, there is no comparison. Here, look at this picture of grief from that event, and then compare it with the antics of Andrew Meyer. There is a difference. And it's not like I don't agree that it was an egregious deed done by a bunch of thugs. I said as much already! I think calling the actions of the cops, "...pure Gestapo bullshit," should pretty much let you know I am not happy that Mr. Meyer was treated so egregiously! I just can't see how one kid being roughed up can be compared to four people really getting killed for really standing up to the powers that be. I guess we will have to agree to disagree. Blessed be! by Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Sep 21, 2007 at 2:46:54 AM (0+)
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