Originally Posted by GrowRebel

Bull .... this is what I saw on the video ... only a brownshirt type thinks this kid deserved to be arrested and tased.

Florida campus cops on leave after Taser incident

(CNN) -- Two University of Florida police officers have been placed on leave with pay after using an electronic stun gun to subdue a student who was questioning Sen. John Kerry at a campus forum, the school's president said Tuesday.

The Florida Division of Law Enforcement will investigate Monday's arrest of student Andrew Meyer, said J. Bernard Machen. Machen called the incident "regretful for us."

"The thing that I regret is that civil dialogue and civil discourse did not happen," Machen said. "That's fundamental to a university campus. Why it didn't happen is what we're trying to sort out."

During Monday's forum, Meyer came to the microphone to question why the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee from Massachusetts did not contest his loss to President Bush in the pivotal state of Ohio over allegations that African-American voters were disenfranchised, why he did not support Bush's impeachment and whether he belonged to the Yale University secret society Skull and Bones, as Bush did.

Meyer had about a minute and a half at the microphone before police stepped in to haul him away. As he tried to escape their grip, Kerry protested, "That's all right, let me answer his question." VideoWatch the incident unfold »

But as Meyer repeatedly questioned why he was being arrested, officers dragged him to the back of the auditorium and then used a Taser on him when he continued to struggle.

While Kerry pleaded for calm, officers warned the student he would be shocked if he did not stop resisting.

Meyer responded, "What did I do? Get off me ... get the f--- off me, man, I didn't do anything. Don't Tase me, bro, I didn't do anything."

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.

Machen said the clips posted online paint an incomplete picture of the scene. Watch the university's reactionVideo

University spokesman Steve Orlando said before police moved in, Meyer was asked to relinquish the microphone because he was "being disruptive."

But the arrest triggered a protest by a group of University of Florida students Tuesday. One of them, Benjamin Dictor, called the arrest "an assault on reason itself."

"For a question to be met with arrest, not to mention physical violence, is completely unacceptable in the United States," Dictor said.

Some students cheered Meyer's removal, and others looked on quietly. But several screamed in protest when officers prepared to shock him.

Meyer has a Web site that features videos of him taking part in several practical jokes. It also includes a "disorganized diatribe" that criticizes the war in Iraq and the media.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Kerry said he didn't know a Taser had been used on the student until after he left the event, and said he hoped no one was injured.

"In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way," he said.

"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."

Machen said authorities have not determined whether Tasers were used improperly.

In addition, he said a student-faculty review panel will examine "all of our protocols relative to student dialogue and faculty interaction" in the wake of the incident.

For some reason CNN changed the story ... but the above accout is what I saw in the video. The kid didn't resist ... he just wanted to know ... and rightly so ... why he was being arrested. He said he would leave, but they wouldn't let him.

Originally Posted by ViRedd

Bull shit, Med. Watch the video. The guy was being disruptive. He was asked to leave. He refused to leave. He became combative. He was warned several times. He refused to comply with each warning. He was tazed into compliance, handcuffed and escorted out. End of story.

Vi

Originally Posted by 7xstall

didn't they taze him in handcuffs? if so, wouldn't that be compelling evidence of an abuse of power?

Originally Posted by ViRedd

I don't recall him being in handcuffs when he was tazed. What I saw was the cops trying to get the handcuffs on, and the guy was resisting that. The female cop was the one shouting the warnings about tazing. Even though he had "five" cops on top of him, he was continuing to resist. He continued to resist inspite of the tazing warnings. I think any rational human being would stop resisting at that point. In fact, a rational human being would have just allowed himself to be escorted out of the building upon the first request. Personally, I think the idiot had an agenda. Did you guys notice how many students just "happened" to have video cameras on hand?

Vi

Originally Posted by medicineman

Originally Posted by ViRedd

What you (and others) see as violence and abuse, I see as compliance control. And, you know what? Maybe some police enjoy the whole scene, but most would rather not get their uniforms and bodies torn up.

Vi