By now you’ve probably heard that John Kerry gave a speech recently at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and at that speech a student named Andrew Meyer started asking questions and got tasered by cops.
But have you heard the rest of the story?
On Sept. 11, Andrew Meyer (or “The Andrew Meyer” as he calls himself online) protested with a giant sign on Turlington Plaza that claimed President Bush was responsible for the terrorist attacks of 2001.
On March 11, 2005, Andrew Meyer wrote a column for the “Alligator” (campus newspaper) detailing his love of being confrontational.
Seems this vaunted free speech hero is nothing but an attention whore, professional taunter, and camera monger. As a matter of fact he has hid own accomplice there with him for the sole purpose of video recording his words … and the subsequent actions against him.
Once the cops made contact with Meyer, he began acting in a violent manner pushing the officers involved, including lifting one off the ground and screaming obscenities. Meyer was told on several occasions to comply with the officers and stop resisting, in which Meyer did not.
Yet Meyer was laughing and being lighthearted in the car, his demeanor completely changed once the cameras were not in sight. Meyer did ask, at one point, if the cameras were going to be at the jail. Meyer stated, on the way to the jail, “I am not mad at you guys, you didn’t do anything wrong, you were just trying to do your job.” Quite a bit different from the “You can’t kill me”, “They are giving me to the government” and “They are going to kill me.” he was spouting while the cameras were rolling.
Meyer was charged with disturbing the peace (interfering with a school function) and resisting with violence. A use of force report was filled out and Meyer was sent a Judicial affairs form for his actions. None of the officers injured needed to seek medical attention and the injuries sustained from this incident were digitally documented.
This was not a free speech issue. It was nothing more than a punk hack wannabe journalist trying to hijack a public proceeding, engage in behavior that is inappropriate for a public forum, and intentionally disrupting the event. Were the officers not reasonable in restraining this jackass when there is a U.S. Senator not 25 feet away from him? He had, by then, already shown himself to be somewhat unhinged.
This clown was infringing upon the free speech of others. He showed no civility, just anarchy and idiocy, the hallmarks of the average Moonbat. And all you out there screaming about poor Andrew Meyer and his trampled rights, and all you Florida students protesting … you all are losers too.
John Kerry, taser, Andrew Meyer, free speech
7 responses so far ↓
1 Jessica // Sep 19, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Officer Nicole Mallo is a longtime friend of mine, she’s getting such a bad rap in this! All folks hear about is the people who hate UPD and support Andrew Meyer but as more info comes out it becomes more apparent that he’s a loon. I knew it from the beginning. We’re in this to support Nicole all the way, she’s a good person, a great cop and doesn’t deserve the crap she’s getting around the nation!
Thanks for posting about the incident!
Jess
2 somebody // Sep 19, 2007 at 7:35 pm
I believe the students protesting, that have seen the whole scene, may have a more complete view of the case. So don’t be a joker and just accuse anyone. And DON’T forget; he was not allowed to freely express his opinion. Is that democracy? I believe it’s not.
someone
3 Jack // Sep 19, 2007 at 7:35 pm
This idiot is just a jack@ss, next time taser twice as much or just
4 Shamalama // Sep 19, 2007 at 9:37 pm
“Not allowed to freely express his opinion?” Are you really an idiot, or you just trolling for responses?
There was nothing resembling civil discourse in his feeble attempt for 15 Minutes Of Fame. This was not a reasonable man asking reasonable questions. This was a punk that wanted public attention – and he got it.
It’s obtuse to suggest that free speech means a person can take over whatever gathering they want to make a political speech. Forums have hosts and the hosts set the rules. When you don’t follow the rules, you are trespassing and can be removed. People get removed from forums all the time for going off an a diatribe.
There are many students present at the event, people “that have seen the whole scene”, that are starting to make their voices heard, and most are saying this guy was acting like a jerk before he even reached the mic.
Go stand on a street corner, or a park, or start a blog, vlog, podcast, whatever – say anything you want. But, when you participate in a public forum there are always rules that can get you removed if you don’t abide by them. If that weren’t the case, the aggressive would control all forums and civil and polite citizens would be pushed out of public discussion – anarchy – THAT would be a real infringement on freedom of speech.
By the way, we don’t live in a “democracy”, otherwise known as “mob rule”, and nobody with any sense would really want one. We live in a constitutional republic, different from a democracy, joker.
5 Douglas Willinger // Sep 20, 2007 at 11:48 am
How long have you been a Jesuit?
6 BobG // Sep 20, 2007 at 4:03 pm
An excellent discussion can be found at Lawdog’s.
7 Rob // Sep 24, 2007 at 3:18 pm
To be honest — yes, it probably was a publicity stunt. Yes, he was an attention-seeking whore. However, I still feel that he was exercising his right to Free Speech. If you listened to the video, he asked three distinct questions:
1) Why did you conceed the presidential elections with 5 million votes uncounted for?
2) Why don’t you support impeaching President Bush?
3) Isn’t it true you were a part of the same secret society as George Bush?
He’s establishing the basis for a conspiracy theory and, not that I’m a conspirist, but these all sound like an example of redressing the government of grievances.
In the long run, it was a public forum on private property — even though he broke the forum rules by being loud and going over his time limit, that makes him an asshole, not a criminal. The charges initially stated by the police officer on the video were ‘Inciting a Riot’ leading me to believe that the police were reacting first and thinking later.
Granted, I’m not a big Kerry Supporter or Democrat (as this guy seemed to be); however, I feel what he did is a valid form of protest. Having become somewhat of a Second Amendment activist myself recently, I’m willing to afford someone the support of their constitutionally protected rights (as assninely executed as they were) as I would hope someone would offer me when I open carry my sidearm.