Was it Excessive When Police Tasered a Student During a John Kerry Political Forum?
As the use of Taser electronic control shock devices has become standardized throughout the United States, reports of police brutality and excessive force while using these devices has become less and less…well, "shocking." The situation has arrived at the point at which Taser injuries and deaths don't even make national headlines any longer, nor do the personal injury cases quietly settled by city and state governments with Taser victims that occasionally appear.
However, when a video of a Taser incident surfaces on television or Internet news sites, the footage of a victim being shocked always causes quite a stir. The Taser video and news story of a University of Florida student named Andrew Meyer is no exception, which depicts the 20-year-old being restrained and then shocked by officers during a political forum with Senator John Kerry when they deemed that Meyer was becoming too aggressive.
The video has made a circuit of the Internet on YouTube, popular blogs and social networking sites in a remarkably rapid period. However, unlike many other such incidents, this event actually has several videos made from different points in the auditorium.
Part of the attraction to the story is the public divide over the issue of whether Meyer was the victim of excessive force by police, or if his erratic behavior while asking Senator Kerry questions and his history of pulling political pranks on camera meant that he brought the police force on himself.
The incident in question occurred at the end of a question-and-answer session with Senator Kerry at the University of Florida. After Kerry had delivered a speech and fielded student questions for some time, Meyer rushed to the open microphone began demanding that Kerry answer questions about contesting the 2004 election and impeaching President George W. Bush. At the microphone, Meyer's behavior seemed erratic, as he hounded Kerry in a very excitable manner that could be described as antagonistic.
At this point, many students turned on the video cameras in their cell phones to capture the political zealot in action, waiting to see what would happen next. As Meyer continued to demand that Kerry answer his questions, campus police officers began approaching Meyer from behind. Most of the videos that have surfaced begin at this point, with officers near Meyer.
Already agitated, the presence of the officers seemed to further excite Meyer, and he began raising his voice and becoming more demonstrative. The officers attempted to escort Meyer away, and he began turning his attention toward them, firing off questions about what he had done wrong, and why they were taking him away.
As the situation escalated, the officers tried to handcuff Meyer but couldn't. It was clear from his body language and statements that he thought the handcuffing to be unnecessary, but the police obviously thought otherwise.
With one hand in handcuffs, Meyer went to the floor-whether he was pushed to the floor or fell is a point of dispute in the reports by the officers, and from the video, it's not obvious.
What is not under dispute is what happened next. While Meyer was pinned to the floor by several officers, one officer shocked Meyer with a Taser on the shoulder. Leading up to the shock, Meyer had seen the Taser pulled out, and repeatedly asked, "Are you going to Tase me?," begging "Don't Taser me, bro!"
What is most disturbing about the video itself is how calm both the officers and Meyer are before the shock occurs, as if neither group believed that it would actually happen. Though officers were restraining Meyer and he was fighting them, the struggle could not be called violent or out-of-control.
As Meyer was shocked, students around the auditorium gasped as he yelled out in pain, still pleading not to shock him. He was then finally escorted out of the auditorium, yelling the whole time but with less energy.
Those who fault the police for an alarming display of unnecessary violence point to their inability to cooperate with Meyer throughout the incident. In some of the videos, students can be seen approaching the officers and pleading with them to stop, and then being told to back off or they would be arrested as well.
Others feel no sympathy for Meyer, claiming that he was playing up the situation for cameras and trying to grab attention through a political stunt for his self-aggrandizing website, www.theandrewmeyer.com. Officer statements that were later published reveal that Meyer calmed down significantly, even joking with the officers, during the ride to the police station, but Meyer started struggling and yelling when he saw cameras again outside the building.
Eyewitness reports from students at the political forum reveal what happened before most of the videos started rolling. Stuck in the back of a long line of students with questions for Senator Kerry, Meyer reportedly rushed to the front of the line while yelling. Many students indicated that the police initially reacted because everyone in the auditorium didn't know what to think: many initially feared that he had a gun or was attacking Senator Kerry.
Further, Meyer does have a history of filming politically-charged stunts. On his website, he features videos of himself making political or social statements in public, such as one in which he "spoils" the ending of the new Harry Potter book on the day of its release. In another, he acts like a drunk trying to pick up a woman in a bar. Many people believe this incident was another kind of political statement.
Of course, because the video has become so easy to access on news websites and YouTube, the public can judge for itself how to take the actions of Meyer and the police officers. Was Meyer unjustly shocked with a Taser while making a harmless political statement, or did he have it coming to him because of his aggressive behavior to a political figure?