AP story on taser incident, student made sure he was filmed

[zalinda]

A lot more than meets the eye on this incident. You can read full story here
http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20070918/D8RO5SR81.html

zalinda

[Bluebear]

1. Sorry I can't get past the "ZAP" of a taser.

I don't care if he wanted to be filmed.

[KittyWampus]

3. he's an attention whore who's into getting filmed pulling stunts. He agitated the cops

and got what he wanted.

[Bluebear]

5. yeah another "attention whore" like Sheehan. Shame on you.

"He agitated the cops"

Ugh.

[KittyWampus]

Sheehan protests and then allows the police to arrest her. peacefully. her intent- to make

a political statement.

The asshole in question intended to agitat and did and got arrested.

[Bluebear]

10. He got SHOCKED. And you say he deserves it.

I hope you never "agitate a cop" someday.

[H2O Man]

16. Where?

Where does the person say he deserved it?

[Bluebear]

17. >

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1838974&mesg_id=1838993

[KittyWampus]

18. I never said he 'deserved it'. However, there are consequences in life. Purposely

disobeying a number of cops has consequences.

[Bluebear]

20. Asked for it, deserved it, whatever,

Cold.

[Marr]

40. What does "deserve" have to do with it?

Cops use tasers to subdue people who are resisting arrest. Everybody knows that.

I'm no fan of John Kerry or heavy-handed police tactics, but I don't see what's so shocking (no pun intended) about that encounter. I'm surprised he was allowed to hijack the meeting for as long as he did. He was ranting for a good while before they tried to escort him out.

At some point this sort of behavior just becomes disruption, and then you have to expect the police to step in. There are two proper responses at that point. You can either walk out with them peacefully, or you can lay down and let them carry you out. If you struggle and resist, you're going to be restrained. This is nothing new.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

33. Shame on you

The fact you'd compare Cindy Sheehan to this joker shows how lost you are on this issue.

[subsuelo]

21. attention whore or not makes no difference

the police violence was extremely excessive and unnecessary.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. So he premeditated the whole thing, eh?

Figures.

[ThomCat]

4. If I was about to speak to Kerry I'd want it filmed too.

That doesn't mean I'd be instigating a taser attack against myself. It only means I want a video of me asking Kerry some questions.

:wtf:

[KittyWampus]

11. the guy films himself pulling 'stunts'. It's his history. he's an attention whore.

[subsuelo]

22. so what?

[dailykoff]

43. So it looks his hobby became his profession.

Lucky guy.

[stevedeshazer]

6. So?

Good idea, IMO.

[Lucinda]

7. I saw the girl taking video and a man with (I think) a still camera

directly behind they guy - it's on the video I've been seeing on CNN

[AlCzervik]

8. this part here--

An officer, however, said in the police report that Meyer's "demeanor completely changed once the cameras were not in sight" and that he was "laughing" and "lighthearted" on the way to jail

laughing after 50,000 volts? ok.

[eleny]

9. I think he was being genuine when he was pleading not to be tasered

[AlCzervik]

13. i'm sure he wasn't expecting to be tasered, never in my life would i have

predicted that.

[eleny]

23. agreed

[cherokeeprogressive]

34. Scuffle with cops less than 50 feet from a sitting US Senator. REFUSE to obey their orders. Tazed.

N/T

[KittyWampus]

15. like Brer Rabbit asking to get thrown into the briar patch?

[Subdivisions]

12. Of course he did. Don't have to be a genious to see that from

the very start. But didn't he successfully demonstrate that dissention and questioning the machine, even in a peaceful manner, can result in the machine violating a person's constitutional right to free speech?

The bottom line is that all he did was speak into a microphone. I'm sure that if he were allowed to finish saying what he had to say, and had the cops not intervened, none of this would have appeared on the radar.

Now, having given him the benefit of the doubt, had he remained calm as the cops were trying to remove him, they would not have had to resort to normal operating proceedure when dealing with an out-of-control person.

[maximusveritas]

24. You're right, except he didn't just speak into a microphone

He ran up to the microphone, cutting in front of everyone who was already in line. The cops tried to throw him out then, but Kerry said he could ask his question. He then proceeded to go on an angry and disrespectful rant. When he was done, the police again tried to throw him out. That's when he threw a fit and violently resisted.
He was the agitator here, purposely trying to provoke Kerry, the cops, and everyone else in that room. I think the problem is that some people are only watching the out-of-context video that kicks in after he starts asking his question. Once you understand the whole picture, it's much easier to understand what the cops were doing.

[Marr]

42. I agree.

The videos I've seen start as he's beginning to ask a question, but the reports say he was ranting for some time before that.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

25. No one violated his rights to free speech

He did not have a right to steal the mike and hog it. NO ONE has a right to be heard. No one. He has a right to print and distribute material, make his opinins known on the web, and stand on a street corner and attempt to make his views known. He has many rights to speak, but he does not have a right to make a captive audience listen. One has a right to free speech - not a right to be heard. There is a distinct difference.

Furthermore, no one has a right to disrupt an event. That's why when protestors protest, it's called civil disobedience. It's a crime for which you can expect consequences, and people who feel strongly are willing to suffer the consequences.

This guy's expectation seemed to be to generate publicity for himself, not necessarily his cause, and in that, he succeeded. He seems to think that he could rant and rave, make a scene, force the cops to attempt to stop him, and when he refused to stop, he became a subject of arrest. He has NO RIGHT to resist arrest. None. And he resisted for a long time, even after he was tasered. "That" is nuts, imo.

[cherokeeprogressive]

35. Best Post of the Day IMHO. n/t

[midlife_mo_Jo]

45. Thank you very much. I appreciate that!

nt

[Subdivisions]

39. Well, someone has to expose what is happening to this

country. If I have to disrupt a town-hall meeting in order to dispense some truth, then you'll see me being tasered next.

We sure as hell can't depend on the MSM to find and tell the truth. To me, this guy is a hero, despite his controversial method.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

44. You know, I don't think you are wrong for thinking that

I'm just very troubled when people talk about free speech rights that aren't there.

I also agree that the "news" is controlled, and controversial methods may be taken - one just has to expect the consequences. His consequences - not including the tasering - were appropriate, imo.

[Individualist]

14. brought to you by the neocon propaganda outlet MSM

You know they always present facts.
:sarcasm:
:sarcasm:
:sarcasm:

[DancingBear]

31. Ain't this something?

Tomorrow, when AP runs a story folks don't like, it will be "fuck the AP - they're all right wing media whores."

Sometimes you just have to laugh.

I guess.

[11 Bravo]

36. Or cry.

Or just say "Fuck it."

[Vilis Veritas]

48. Totally off point.

I f'ing love your sig line.

As to your take on this...yup. Laughter is all we got...

Peace.

[girl gone mad]

50. My favorite is the thread...

Where this vilified, attention whoring 'taser kid' is suddenly to be taken at his word when he tells the cops he doesn't blame them.

[subsuelo]

19. whether or not he meant to be filmed makes no difference

the point is the police violence was extremely excessive and unnecessary.

[OzarkDem]

26. So?

Demonizing someone who was trying to raise important issues is unwarranted and unflattering.

[rodeodance]

27. Another site had pictures of Meyer licking a woman's face and making a suggestive pose

…….
Meyer, a senior telecommunications major from the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Weston, has a Web site featuring several homemade videos. In one, he stands in a street with a sign that says "Harry Dies" after the latest Harry Potter book was released. In another, he acts like a drunk in a bar while trying to pick up a man dressed in drag.

The site also has what is called a "disorganized diatribe" attributed to Meyer that criticizes the Iraq war, the news media for not covering the conflict enough and the American public for paying too much attention to celebrity news.

Another site had pictures of Meyer licking a woman's face and making a suggestive pose as he stood behind a fake cow. The site listed his activities as "getting wasted" and "being ridiculous."

Machen would not say whether the university had any previous conflicts with Meyer but indicated some such issues would come up in the investigation. He declined to elaborate and would not say whether he thought the latest episode was a prank.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

30. So will he get a spot on "Hardball" or "Jackass"?

I swear to god, the movie "Idiocracy" becomes a documentary more and more every day.

[goodgd_yall]

38. Classic

Character assassination as the finishing blow so we're distracted from the real issue of freedom of speech.

He has criticized the war and Bush, it appears, since at least 2004 (I found a link to a newspaper editorial written by him in that year). Why is the other content of his web site so significant? He's a college boy, after all.

[Cetacea]

47. But....but...he was a Heckler!!!!

He was rude! OMG!!!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

28. Instead of jumping up and down yelling "HELP!!!"

He should have just yelled "LOVE ME MOMMY, LOVE ME DADDY!!!!"

The kid is a fucking attention whore who got what he wanted. I'm also amazed at how many here really believe he's some modern day Thomas Payne. He's just another child of the me, me, me internet culture. Get my close-up on You Tube.

How will Chris Crocker top this?

[subsuelo]

29. so what? attention whore or not doesn't make a damn difference

The issue is his right to ask the questions that he wanted to ask. The cops took that away from him.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

32. He was screaming, using vulgar language......

....not letting others speak, not letting Kerry answer.....

Stop trying to act like he simply asked a question in a calm, reasonable manner and was immediately surrounded. He was acting like a lunatic, and had zero intention of asking any legitimate question, or calmly listening or expecting an answer from the Senator.

[Cetacea]

46. So we should zap those whose behavoir is inappropiate,

knowing that Tasers have the ability to cause fatalities?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

49. The screaming and yelling got him thrown out.......

......it was assaulting a police officer that got him the taser. Two different issues.

[rocktivity]

37. There's no reason why FOUR cops couldn't have hustled him out the door

It sounds like this guy COULD have behaved better. But he didn't deserve to be tasered.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Marr]

41. Was he tasered, or did they use a stun gun on him?