University of Florida Taser incident

File:Andrewmeyer.jpg

Andrew Meyer's booking photo

On September 17, 2007, U.S. Senator John Kerry addressed a Constitution Day forum at the University of Florida. Towards the end of the question and answer period, University police forcibly removed questioner Andrew Meyer, a 21-year-old fourth-year undergraduate telecommunications student, from the forum, restraining him through direct force and administering electric shock to him with a Taser. Several videos of the event were then posted on the web. (See videos of the event)

Details of the event

Meyer was in line to ask a question of Kerry when it was announced that no more questions would be taken. According to police, "Meyer continued down the aisle toward Kerry angrily", asking to be permitted to ask a question. Meyer was then recognized to ask a question, which, according to The Washington Post, turned into "an increasingly agitated three-parter."

Meyer spoke for approximately 1.5 minutes, beginning by describing the 2004 U.S. presidential election and allegations of election irregularities.

YouTube Video,"UF Police Taser Student During Kerry Forum"

• BEGINNING on YouTube video *
  

Senator Kerry: "To continue to pile name upon name upon some wall in the future for a strategy that has failed. That's the distinction."
"Sir..."

Andrew Meyer to Senator Kerry: "I first and foremost want to thank you for your time. You spent a lot of time talking to us here today. Thank you for coming and being open and honest. You'd recommended a book to us earlier. I had wanted to recommend a book to you. It's called 'Armed Madhouse' by Greg Palast.

Senator Kerry: "I have it."

Andrew Meyer: He's a top investigative journalist in America."

Sen. Kerry: "I've already read it."

Andrew Meyer: "AND, [in this book, holding up a copy of a yellow book, "Armed Madhouse" by Greg Palast], he says YOU WON the 2004 election!

Sen. Kerry: "Right."

Andrew Meyer: "ISN'T THAT AMAZING! ISN'T THAT AMAZING, YOU WON IN 2004! In fact, there were multiple reports on the day of the election of disenfranchising of black voters in Florida and Ohio."

Sen. Kerry: "Right."

[Police officer interrupts Meyer]

Andrew Meyer: [Turning to police officer] "I'll ask my question. Thank you very much. I'll ask my question. I'm going to preface it. He's been talking for two hours, I think I've got two minutes. Thank you, Thank you very much."

Andrew Meyer: [Turns to side] "I'm going to ask him my question. I'm going to inform people then, I'm going to ask my question, so there were multiple reports of of disenfranchising of black voters on the day of the election in 2004."

Sen Kerry: "Right."

Andrew Meyer: "There was also voting machines, electronic voting machines in Volusia County, Florida that tallied backwards. So, amidst all these reports of phony, bogus stuff going on, how could you concede the election on the day? [small applause] How could you concede the 2004 election on the day? In this book, it says there were five million votes that were suppressed and you won the election. Didn't you want to be President? I am not even done yet, I have two more questions."

• 1:21 on YouTube video *
  
  

Andrew Meyer: "If you were so against [the war in] Iran, how come you are not saying let's IMPEACH BUSH NOW? IMPEACH BUSH NOW before he can invade Iran? Why won't you IMPEACH HIM? IMPEACH BUSH. Clinton was impeached, for what, a blow job? Why don't we IMPEACH BUSH? Alright?"

Andrew Meyer: "Also, are you a member, were you a member of Skull and Bones in college with Bush? Were you in the same secret society, as Bush? Were you in Skull and Bones?" [turns to side]

Andrew Meyer: "Thank you for cutting my mike. Thank you. Are you going to arrest me? Excuse me, excuse me, what are you arresting me for?"

• 1:45 on YouTube video *
  

After speaking for one minute and twenty seconds, Meyer's microphone was cut off. At the request of event organizers, two University of Florida police officers seized him, and some members of the crowd began to cheer and applaud. This physical contact by the police occured 1 minute and 31 seconds after Meyer began speaking. Kerry said, "That's all right, let me answer his question." The student struggled for several seconds and demanded to know why he was being arrested. He shouted several times "Help!", "What have I done?", and "Get away from me!", with his arms raised in the air, visibly resisting the officers. Two more officers joined in, and the four officers began forcibly ushering him to the back of the room as Meyer, once even breaking free. The officers wrestled him to the ground and attempted to handcuff him.

As Meyer requested he be allowed to leave of his own accord, they threatened several times to tase him if he did not cease in his attempts to resist arrest. Meyer requested that he be allowed to leave. Meyer yelled, "Don't tase me bro, don't tase me", but was drive stunned (referred to in the police report as a "contact tase") in the shoulder by officer Nicole Lynn Mallo with her department-issued X-26 Taser shortly after.

I managed to take control of Meyer's right hand and restrain it into one side of my handcuffs. Due to Meyer's erratic flailing, the inability to attain Meyer's left arm from his resistance, and increased potential for injury with one cuff on, Sgt. King attempted to deploy a contact

tase to no avail. He then instructed Mallo to apply a contact tase to gain compliance in order to place Meyer's left hand into the other cuff. Mallo gave verbal commands and informed Meyer that he would be tased if he did not comply. Once Mallo applied the tase, Wise assisted Meyer's left arm to where I was able to apply the other cuff. Once he was restrained, he was escorted out of the Auditorium where I checked the fitting and applied the

double-locked function on the cuffs.

— Police Report, Statement of Officer Pablo De Jesus, Jr.

He continued screaming for help as the officers removed him from the room. During the altercation, Kerry urged everyone to calm down, joked that "Unfortunately, he [Andrew Meyer] is not available to come up here and swear me in as President" and kept speaking to Meyer's question, which he referred to as "very important".

POLICE [in background]: "GET DOWN!"

Senator Kerry: "I think if everybody just..."

POLICE: "DO IT NOW!"

Senator Kerry: "calms down this situation would calm down. ... I'll answer his question. Unfortunately, he is not available to come up here and swear me in as President.

Andrew Meyer: "Why are they arresting me? Did someone do something here? Are they arresting?"

Senator Kerry: "Let me just say. because it is a very important question.

— YouTube Video Tape starting at 2:34

Senator Kerry later released a statement saying that he was unaware that any Tasing had occurred until afterwards. Meyer was then escorted off the premises, remaining uncooperative with police during questioning [[1]]. He was detained overnight in the Alachua County Jail. Some students protested outside the jail that evening.

Legal action

Meyer was arrested for inciting a riot and charged with resisting an officer and disturbing the peace. He spent one night in the Alachua County Jail and was released the following morning. His attorney, Robert Griscti, stated he will seek to have the charges dismissed. Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (a free-speech group), believed that excessive force was used; he said, "I would find it highly likely that [Meyer] is going to sue."

Fox News quoted two experts who believe Meyer could claim the use of excessive force in the incident. Attorney Karen Conti said Meyer has a good argument for excessive force since officers Tasered him when he was under control. Conti said, "I think the police officers were probably embarrassed that this was going on," Conti said. "I think they weren’t expecting anything like this and I think they overreacted."

Response from university officials

The university president, J. Bernard Machen issued a letter http://www.president.ufl.edu/incident.htm prior to a press conference saying he requested the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the arrest.

Excerpts from University of Florida President's letter:

University of Florida Police Chief Linda Stump has requested the Florida Department of Law Enforcement [FDLE]conduct a formal investigation into the arrest of UF student Andrew Meyer. * * * Two officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. * * * We plan to assemble a panel of faculty and students to review our police protocols, our management practices and the FDLE report to come up with a series of recommendations for the university.

Administrators and police officials plan to analyze the incident and conduct an internal review and will consider changing protocols in response to this incident, if necessary.

Finally, as is standard procedure, the State Attorney's Office will review the charges brought against Mr. Meyer. We have communicated with the State Attorney and understand he plans to expedite his review.

http://www.president.ufl.edu/incident.htm

Officials said it would determine whether the officers used an appropriate level of force. The University of Florida Police Chief has made a similar request. Machen called the situation "regretful for us" [sic] and announced that two officers involved in the incident were placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the probe.

University spokesman Steve Orlando said Meyer was asked to leave the microphone after his allotted time was up. The university president,"would not say whether he thought the latest episode was a prank."

Student response

About 300 University of Florida students marched to the steps of campus police headquarters the following day, with another 100 marching to Emerson Alumni Hall, chanting that police used excessive force and waving signs that read, "Stop police brutality", "Taze Pigs," "Freedom of Speech not a Felony," "Tasers Kill", and the now-famous phrase "Don't Tase me, bro". They demanded that Tasers be banned from campus, and that charges be filed against the police officers that restrained and tased Meyer.

Response from Senator Kerry

On the day following the incident, Kerry's office issued a statement :

In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way. I believe I could have handled the situation without interruption, but 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. I asked the police to allow me to answer the question and was in the process of responding when he was taken into custody. I was not aware that a taser was used until after I left the building. I hope that neither the student nor any of the police were injured. I regret enormously that a good healthy discussion was interrupted.

Police report

The University Police offense report contains statements from several Police Officers.

Police Report, Statement of Officer Nicole Lynn Mallo

"* * * Before asking the question, I had a chance to ask the man [Andrew Meyer] if he was a student and he stated, "I don't have to tell you." I the asked him if he knew the rules to the student code of conduct and he said, "What?" I informed the man that after he asked Senator Kerry the question that I needed to talk to him outside.

After asking the question, the man would not let Senator Kerry finish his statement and kept badgering the senator about his beliefs, talking about "blow jobs", and yelling as loud as he could as to sensationalize his presence.

At that moment the Accent Director, Max Tyroler, asked us to take him [Andrew Meyer] out of the auditorium and had his microphone turned off stating, "He had said enough." Officer Wise and I grabbed both of the man's arms and asked him to come with us out of the auditorium to speak with us. * * *"

A slightly different version...

Police Report, Statement of Officer William L Wise

• * * I leaned over to Ofc. Mallo and we made the decision that Meyer would be escorted out of the auditorium after his statements/questions due to his overall demeanor and actions. Meyer continued his disruptive behavior at the microphone and made a statement concerning why President Clinton was almost impeached for receiving a "blowjob", at this point ACCENT staff cut the sound off to the microphone. Meyers threw his hands up in the air in disgust of having the microphone turned off. * * *
  

Notice, there are different accounts in the Police report. Officer Mallo says, "Max Tyroler, asked us to take him [Andrew Meyer] out of the auditorium"; while Officer Wise says, "I leaned over to Ofc. Mallo and we made the decision that Meyer would be escorted out of the auditorium after his statements/questions due to his overall demeanor and actions." Both agree that Accent staff turned off the microphone.

Andrew Meyer asked a woman if she was recording him moments before beginning his questions.

Police Report, Statement of Officer Nicole Lynn Mallo

The man at that point turned to his friend and said, "Are you taping this? Do you have this? You ready?" The man was talking to a woman who was there to film him.

The report states that "as [Meyer] was escorted down stairs with no cameras in sight, he remained quiet, but once the cameras made their way down stairs he started screaming and yelling again." Additionally, the report states that Meyer was "laughing and being lighthearted in the car, his demeanor completely changed once the cameras were not in sight." The police officers have said that during the ride, Meyer said that "I am not mad at you guys, you didn't do anything wrong, you were just trying to do your job."

See also

• UCLA Taser incident
• Electroshock weapon controversy
• Student protest

External links

Videos of the event

• Video by Clarissa Jessup - shot with Meyer's camera from beside him, shows his question and police response [2]
• Footage from rear of room - Shows Meyer's question, Kerry onstage, crowd response, close-up of being pinned to the ground and escorted into the hall
• Footage from front of room - with clear audio of Kerry's joke. Followed by separate footage (same as above) of police escorting him outside through a hallway, "inciting a riot" quote, "they're going to try to kill me" quote
• Footage from front left of room
• Commentary

Videos of the protest

• Video showing early stages of the protest and the students at the UPD station
• The sit in at the Alumni Hall
• The news conference including the student statement to the media
• More video of the march

Commentary

• The Police Report
• The AP Report in The Miami Herald
• InAndrewWeTrust.com - The Support site for Andrew Meyer
• Reaction on the liberal blog Daily Kos
• The UF student newspaper report in The Independent Florida Alligator
• Andrew Meyer's website
• Video of Greg Palast, author of Armed Madhouse, discussing the incident on Air America Radio
• Washington Post article