How about a NY salary thread today? It has been over a month since there has been any discussion of movement from the $160k payscale. With a new year coming up, and first years just arriving, will anyone step up and raise NY salaries to where they should be - higher than the rest of the country?

second? nope, first.

I agree with 12:34(2). Get us raises, Lat.

Do you think I could get 190k to start tasering wackos? Is there a minimum wacko per year requirement?

When cops have you on the ground in handcuffs, it's probably time to stop screaming and trying to get away. Taser him again.

What? No mention that Chemerinsky lost his appeal to the Ninth! An appeal on behalf of Palestinian Islamic Jihad!!

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/6DFD4322CA06B5FA88257359005660A6/$file/0536210.pdf?openelement

My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw a confidential compensation committee memo at 31 Flavors last night.

Lat - start calling around for official comment.

This post should be entitled: "Speaking of D-Bags . . . "

What is the alternative? Leave the guy at the microphone while everyone else goes someplace else to finish the event?

Maybe he didn't need to be tased but the idea that he could have been removed without forcibly removing him by, you know, force, is unrealistic.

According to what people said, he was asked to leave the microphone a couple of times. His turn was over. If someone doesn't leave when asked and doesn't comply when someone shows up in uniform they simply aren't going to.

And if the guy wasn't right in the head?

This reminds me of a video clip of Buzz Aldrin being confronted by a conspiracy nut who was verbally abusive and ignored Buzz's demands that he back off. It was like he had no clue at all that he wasn't entitled to be abusive without consequence and I have no doubt that when Buzz clocked the guy (clearly self-defense, IMO, and Buzz wasn't charged for punching him) that he was surprised and confused that he was attacked for no reason.

When people who make a scene on purpose get arrested they get hauled off more or less quietly. Someone takes Mother Sheehan's arms and another cop takes her legs and they carry her off.

I saw another clip of someone who was removed from a political event. I can't remember who the political guy was and she wasn't thrown down or anything (but she was a rather small woman.) She wasn't being totally obnoxious just obnoxious and was asked to leave quite politely, she refused, and when she was made to leave physically she *cried* don't touch me don't touch me what have I done what have I done! She sounded panicked and distressed.

A *rational* person knows what they have done, *knows* they have a limited amount of time before they will be ejected, and makes the best of it while it lasts.

Terrible behavior by the police.

Cops are assholes. They didn't need to use the taser if they weren't such wimps. It took 5 cops and a taser to get the cuffs on the guy.

Not sure if the cops should have tasered him but I'm glad somebody did.

Sue those bitches; sue 'em good.

Does anyone notice that the crowd starts cheering once the cops begin to take the guy away? Could it be possible that the crowd WANTED this guy to stop talking? Or was it that they were applauding his loud resistance to the police?

Tasering someone after you have them pinned on the ground by like 6 police officers kind of screams of police brutality to me.

"What is the alternative?" -- Umm, maybe turn off his microphone?

The kid is an idiot, but I'm not sure what cause they had to place him under arrest in the first place. Thoughts?

Additionally, though the video isn't great, it didn't look like he was resisting enough to justify a tazer.

They should have beaten him with sticks also.

In addition to the embarassment of being tasered he whines like a pre-pubescent girl- no pain tolerance- what a pussy

So he was resisting the cops, but not under arrest and then put under arrest for resisting arrest ? Is that why they cuffed and tazered the dude? Makes sense to me, fry 'em up.

What about macaroni - let me finish - salad?

The kid is an idiot, but I'm not sure what cause they had to place him under arrest in the first place. Thoughts?

Trespass- he exceeded the scope of his license to be there by acting like a bitch.

This could be the best thing to ever happen to the kid - he's going to get a huge settlement.

Kudos to Kerry for trying to answer the kid's questions.

That kid is a complete f-ing pussy and the cops -- who were just doing their jobs -- should not have had to use force or taser him. His parents must be proud -- although it was probably the parents who didnt teach this d-bag how to act in a public forum.

I think the cops should have beaten the shit out of him

First he disturbed the peace, then he resisted arrest for disturbing the peace.

I would have shot him.

I do wonder why the six cops felt the need to break out the Taser once he was on the ground

I feel safe as a citizen knowing fine cops such as these are out there protecting us. Watch out bad guys, there's six of 'em but they'll get you.

So this is what it's like to live in a police state. Tasering someone for asking too many questions? Good lord.

They felt the need to break out the taser because they don't get paid enough to put up w/ whiny self-indulgent grandstanders who co-opt meaningful discussions. They should have tasered him in the balls.

The kid is a total douchebag. But, as others have said, what could possibly justify tasering him after he's cuffed and on the ground? It's a shame they didn't taser him before he was cuffed, as clearly, if anyone ever deserved a high-volt juicing, it's him.

That was a bit excessive. A nightstick to the teeth would have been sufficient.

Weren't there enough of them to carry him out instead of letting him stay there screaming? Did they think that if they sat on him long enough he'd give up?

Solution: Carry the asshat outside, and then he'll probably quit screaming. At the very least, it will stop disturbing the event. Hearing John Kerry drone on in the background, however, was frickin hilarious. It was like 2004 all over again.

I'm thinking this was disorderly conduct, and then interference with official acts by refusing a direct order of a peace officer.
He should have known better than to physically resist five armed officers. Idiot.

I hope those cops lose their jobs and UF has to pay a huge settlement.

In looking at the video, the force did not seem that excessive. He was tasered after trying to tackle the 2 cops, one of whom was female.

Its not easy to carry someone out who is kicking and squirming and screaming. He had ample opportunity to stop being disruptive, he chose not to do so. You could hear that he saw the Taser before he got hit with it--that would have been the time to shut up and stop acting like a fool if you were concerned about being Tased.

If that dude was afro-american, the NAACP would be all over this.

If it was Rumsfeld or Rove speaking and some spineless liberal was tased, it would be front page news.

that is fucked up. unbelievable.

I am against tazers. I prefer night sticks. This kid needed a few hits to the stomach from an experienced NYPD officer and he would have left quietly. Just another narsacistic fool looking to be on Youtube. he deserved everything he got.

This is a disgrace to UF. The President should immediately reprimand university police, issue a public apology, and demand that all charges against the student be dropped.

He was surrounded by 5 police! He could have easily been escorted out of the building. He even said, "I will walk out."

Why did no one in the auditorium do anything while this was happening???

He was on the ground and pinned. No need to use the taser. Period.

The fact that they tasered this kid is fucking bullshit!!! Five or six guys are fucking standing over him and holding him down and in the process of arresting.

Where the fuck have we gone in America is someone can get tasered for asking provocative questions in an academic setting?!@#$!#

These guards should be disciplined and the one who tasered this kid should be arrested and fucking charged. This is absolutely fucking outrageous.

It's one thing to arrest the kid for disturbing the Town Hall meeting, but FUCKING TASERING HIM?!@$?#?@!#$?!@#$

He should sue the FUCK out of the college. I can't think of how many of these things I went to in college and law school, where many a student asked provocative questions and refused to be ignored. I could see someone being removed from the room, but how the hell can you justify someone for being tasered like that.

The reason they did it had more to do with the fact that they wanted to "exact revenge" on the kid for being a pain for them to deal with than any threat he posed. Which is the only reason you should be tasering someone in the first palce -- if they pose a threat to the officer or anyone else. What threat did this kid pose?????

I can't even express how fucking pissed off I am about this. These guards need to be held accountable for this bull shit.

He was pinned on the ground and still fighting. Absolute need to taser. Period.

I would have slapped the sleeper hold on him! Lights out bitch!

I would say that he could have been charged with douchebaggery in the second degree, but the 11th Circuit held that the Florida statute creating the offense was unconstitutionally vague.

Judicial activists...

1:40: "still fighting"? Can I get the name of your eye doctor? He or she must've given you the ability to see through chairs for you to make that statement. I wouldn't mind x-ray vision myself.

Yelling is not "fighting" and even if it's "resisting" it doesn't merit a Taser blast. Tasers are supposed to be used to subdue a suspect. He's on the ground and pinned--where's he gonna go? How is he going to hurt the officers or anyone else?

Was he a self-indulgent d-bag? Sure. Does every d-bag deserve to be tased? I hope not. Especially since wanting a guy to get tased for being a d-bag sounds like rank d-baggery to me.

Who's John Kerry?

Right, some whiny little brat monopolizing a rare public forum with a former Presidential candidate to spout conspiracy theories and message board detritus is a great American "asking questions."

When the cops grab you, stop resisting. He was spastically flailing, and generally suggesting that he was dangerously unstable. These cops have to deal with people like this constantly, and the more they tolerate, the greater the chances they lose teeth or eyes. Sorry, but I defer to their judgment here.

They warned him multiple times that if he continued resisting, he would be tazed. He continued resisting, he was tazed.

1:39 and 1:48 = D-Bag who got tazed.

I submit that one need look no further than the numerous youtube videos of people getting tasered by police, tasering themselves, tasering their friends, and tasering their kids (really!) to conclude that while people certainly raise a ruckus about it after they have been jolted in a confrontational situation, and that while it is not without risks (including heart failure), it is an acceptable alternative to nightsticks, guns, or forcing police to engage in hand-to-hand combat, all of which carry their own risks. Ultimately, it knocks down and take the fight out of somebody who is resisting arrest, with minimal harm to everyone involved.

The question of whether any particular person "deserves" to be tasered seems a little off base. If you're resisting arrest, and the cops say "stop resisting or you're going to get tasered," and you don't stop resisting, you should not be surprised when you get tasered. And if the issue is whether somebody somebody deserves to be arrested at all... well, you're all lawyers, what do you think somebody who has been arrested should do?

Some wonder if the police have become overbearing and physical in the last decade. They seem much more inclined to have individuals on the ground and handcuffed and in no way try to use courtesy and a more gentle aspect to their confrontations.

Well the flipside to this is that people are more inclined to initiate a confrontation, even with a cop. If you are asked by the forum moderator to stop speaking and relinquish the mic, do it. Don’t be a pretentious ass-hat and then start arguing with the guy with the badge and gun. Courtesy ends when you start getting in my face. I’ll ask nice once, after that, an ass whooping is inevitable. If you’re asked to leave and refuse to leave, a physical escort will result. If you resist, you will be cuffed. Why is that so damn hard to understand?

The problem to me is less with the police and more with idiots like this guy who think they have a God-given right to do what they want anywhere they want. Spend a day doing crowd control at some event and I guarantee you will want to start tazzering people within 20 minutes.

OK, let's think about this for a second. 5 cops, that are trying to NOT hurt you and yet you continue to act like a d-bag. The point is people, it's not like the cops can snap his arms and legs and then drag him out. Obviously none of you have tried to remove someone without hurting them. Try it some time, you'll find out why they tazered him. Oh yeah, the cops won't be reprimanded in any way, they acted correctly.

Anyway, ATL to $160k!!!

What a little liberal bitch

This kid deserved to be beaten to death.

I went to UF and it's a very political school because, let's face it, practically every US Congressman, State Senator/Rep, and Governor in Florida graduated from there.

When I was there, President Bush (the first and not insane one) came to speak, as well as Gorbachev. That being said, we had A LOT OF protestors especially with Bush on the Iran-Contra affair and the whole Central American guerilla warfare. No one got tasered. NO ONE SHOULD GET TASERED.

I love UF, but the UF police department should be ashamed of themselves for using excessive force on someone attempting to merely SPEAK. I'm so fucking mad.

I am sure he will get all kinds of ass now from liberal chicks that feel sorry for him- DUDE- parlay this into a week long fuck fest!

1:49 - Totally right. This guy was not tasered for "asking questions" or "exercising his rights." He asked his questions and exercised his rights. Then he exceeded those rights by being an obnoxious a-hole and depriving the next person of the ability to exercise their rights and maybe ask an intelligent question.

He was asked to stop. His mike was turned off. He persisted in being a d-bag. They began to escort his ass out. At that point, frankly, I think the right result would be walking him to the exit and slamming the door in his face. But no, he started bitching and moaning about his right to be a d-bag and struggled with the cops. And struggled. And struggled. Simple rule: when a cop or security guard with authority escorts you out, don't struggle or you will be tasered. Where's the problem.

Actually, when you think about it, HE was the one depriving people of their First Amendment rights by not giving up the mike. You can be tasered for violating consitutiional rights, can't you?

What's the big deal with being tasered? You're never going to believe this, but I've never been tasered. But from the looks of it, it hurts like hell and incapacitates you, both only temporarily. Seems like it causes a lot less damage than those nightsticks upside my head that I experienced about 15 years ago. I've still got the bruises. Next time I get pulled over for speeding, taser my ass.

White guys with tazered hippies!

So his offense seems to be that he was a douchebag who monopolized the microphone. Perhaps law professors should be armed with tasers for use on that one gunner who dominates every class with insipid questions.

All in favor of tasering Bitchy raise their hand!!! No one should get tasered, they should be shot instead!! Idiot.

There is no 1st Amendment problem here. The session was a limited public forum w/ a moderator and time limits. He violated those rules and his mic was cut. At that point his actions became disturbing to the peace. Furthermore he was violating the free speech and free association rights of everybody else there.

Cops are the biggest bunch of over-egoed and dim-witted pussies in this country. While there are exceptions, these cops proliferate the rule: losers with guns. Six cops can't get cuffs on one guy without a taser gun? Are you kidding me?? I'm pretty sure I could have gotten the cuffs on him myself.

Looks like Mr. Fatty wanted to bust out his new shiny taser gun to show that guy who's boss and who's the law. Sweet. You've got a big penis too, f*cking loser.

"Was this a case of police brutality? Might Andrew Meyer have a cause of action against the officers? Or was he just an annoyingly self-indulgent questioner who deserved to get zapped?"

Why is this not a poll?

the best part is the student is quoted as saying to the police, right before they tasered him, "Don't tase me, bro."

LOL, was it snake from the simpsons or smoehting?

The kid knew he would get tasered if he kept resisting. The cop says "Stop resisting or I will taser you." The Kid says, "Dont taser me." The cop says, "then stop resisting."

The kid didn't stop resisting... he knew exactly what was coming and, by his asctions, asked for it.

I'm with 1:39--

That tasering was HORSESHIT and someone's ass should be collected for it.

The cops could have simply walked the disruptive student out of the auditorium (like the kid offered). Tasering him while he was on the ground under the wieght of five cops was outrageous.

The United States is NOT a police state, despite the neocon youth that pray each day that things were otherwise.

Remember kids, today it might be your ideas the cops chose to beat people into agreement with, but things change. In the future, when the tables have turned, it might be you (or your kids) sustaining the ugly beatdowns....

Police brutality is always bad.

no, the stuoid little hippie said, "Don't tase me bro."

look, police cross the line all the time, and that bullshit, BUT the reality is, theyre like bees, dont mess with em and you wont get stung.

protesters who know what they are doing/civil disobedience go limp.

it never ceases to amaze me that people resist the cops and then cry about it after they get a beat down of some sort. WHAT THE F*CK DID THEY THINK WAS GONNA HAPPEN, THAT THEY'D WIN?

"The cop says "Stop resisting or I will taser you." The Kid says, "Dont taser me."

I love that. Watching him scream like a little girl was brilliant. He was not subdued so they did what they had to...entertain us with brilliant comedy.

I think the police action was entirely appropriate. If anything, they waited too long to TASER his ass. They politely and firmly asked him to comply, and he refused. He was trying to showboat and draw attention to himself by disturbing the peace.

All of you criticizing the police, consider what the Secret Service would have done if he approached Sen. Kerry.

Oh, f that bullshit argument "the cops said they were going to do it before they did." So what!? Listen, criminal law 101, someone can hurl the most graphic insults about your mom and you have NO right to hit them in return. So why do police officers have that right? Why can they return verbal exchanges with physical ones? I should be allowed to walk past a police officer and say "you're an f'ing pig." When I go back to UF to visit, you can be assured that I will.

Tasers are used as nonlethal force (though they HAVE killed people) to combat physical altercations - not verbals ones. The police are NOT above the law.

"If that dude was afro-american, the NAACP would be all over this"

If that dude had been black, he would have been shot, not tasered.

Dear President Machen,

As a graduate of the great University of Florida, I was horribly dismayed and embarrassed by the tasering incident at Senator Kerry's speech. Since when is tasering used against people who are merely speaking? Even though he was told to stop, tasering is used to combat a physical altercation and not a verbal one. If someone slaps you in the face, you do not have the right to take out a gun and shoot them. Perhaps more on point, if someone was hurling disgusting insults about my own family members, as horrid and retched as they might be, it would be completely illegal for me to hit them in return. The law does not allow it for citizens, and UF should not allow its police officers to be above the law. To taser someone for merely speaking is disgusting and an excessive use of force. I am so dissapointed that our wonderful University is in the national news for such a travesty of civil liberties. We should be in the news for our crowning academic achievements, our illustrious alumni, and our mighty Gators - not this. The officers involved in this altercation need to be removed from the force and the remaining officers need to be lectured in excessive force. Please right this wrong.

Go Gators...

"If that dude was afro-american, the NAACP would be all over this"

If that dude had been black, he would have been shot, not tasered.

Posted by: The Ghost of Amadou Diallo | September 18, 2007 02:39 PM
--------------------

word.

No more criticizing the police or you will be tasered.

Go rent "Judge Dredd" or you will be tasered.

I am so tired of you ridiculous conservative *ssholes. You sit on your fat white asses and review contracts all day. What do you know about what happens in the world aside from what you see on Fox News or the Drudge Report?

The kid was speaking his mind and Kerry WAS ANSWERING HIS QUESTION! Did you watch the video? Why did they stop him--possibly because they didn't like what he had to say or that he was speaking about something controversial at all! That may also be why you're fine with his tasering.

God forbid we have political discussion with a politician. Most of you "taser him" idiots have never had to stand up for what you believe and wouldn't have the balls to speak for yourselves even if it were necessary.

Now I ask, when you have 5 cops on top of you and one says to another, "Taser him," are you going to lie still or fight like hell to get away. I know I wouldn't lie still.

Personally, I don't imagine when it could be appropriate to taser a student on a university campus. The kid was trying to stand up, that's all. He was not kicking, punching, biting or screaming.

BTW in Florida you are allowed to resist an illegal arrest without violence. There is absolutely a 1st Amendment problem here despite the brilliant analysis that he was violating other people's 1st Amendment rights, in which case the 1st Amendement would be a nullity. I am a former prosecutor who finds every reason to back up the cops but this is just inexcusable.

Watch the entire video... you will realize that it wasn't a rosy exchange between the kid and kerry as you suggest.

I did. Read the articles that interviewed people there and listen to Kerry in the background. He was answering the kid's question when the cops pulled him away, and Kerry continued to answer even when the cops had the kid pinned in the back of the room.

the kid was a moron-- he was harranging a us senator and former presidential candidate. his questions were silly and beneath the senator...

BUT...

FUCKING CAMPUS COPS SHOULD NEVER USE A WEAPON AGAINST A NON-VIOLENT STUDENT--- EVER.

I'm a liberal who's amazed that so many adolescents (or those just out of their adolescence) are so up in arms about this little punk being tazed. I watched two versions of the video, and on each he:
- went beyond his speaking time limits
- continued shouting after they turned his mike off
- physically resisted the police
- attempted to dictate terms to the police ("I'll walk out if you let me go...")
- fought his way to the floor
- attempted to make a scene and selfishly tried to grab the attention for himself
- didn't listen when police warned him they would taze him
- incredulously yelled out, "What did I do?"
- girlishly yelled out, "Don't taze me bro!" (hopefully to the black officer)
- was eventually collected by the police

There are so many more people deserving of our attention and outrage. We shouldn't cheapen the concept of civil disobedience by championing this kid's public temper tantrum.

He asked his questions and then wouldn't shut up. There have to be some limits.

This UF and Florida Law alum will not be dontaing a penny to either institution unless a formal statement condeming all involved (including Kerry) is issued forthwith.

That is all.

I've got two reasons why the cops should have tasered Kerry instead of the kid: 1. Roberts. 2. Alito.

FUCKING CAMPUS COPS SHOULD NEVER USE A WEAPON AGAINST A NON-VIOLENT STUDENT--- EVER.

Agreed- they should have simply kicked his teeth down his throat.

Wow! You're no liberal. The kid was speaking at a university function. He may have been out of line, but there is NEVER reason to taser someone given these circumstances. A taser may be a better option to prevent injury to police, but there was no such risk here.

Two have been suspended, thankfully. Let's hope this leads to new policy. I could never imagine this happening at my college (even during the rallies and speaking engagements I attended). That, however, might be because my university police force isn't equipt with tasers to quiet students.

Being liberal doesn't mean I'm overly-permissive of stupid. There is nothing wrong with the public having standards and enforcing those on people. The police aren't always right, but they have a very important function.

We all have to live in this world.

By the way, look at the photo here:

http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20070918/NEWS/70918008

They were set to taser him from the beginning.

2:02 LOL! Man, I would pay a lot of money to taser that hippie bastard. Classic.

Don't forget, if you're a UF security dude, you do NOT want to get punched or knocked around in your job. That's why you use maximum force---its just better for everyone. When I did that type of work, I didn't have a taser and to avoid getting wacked, I'd have to use a choke hold.

To all the liberal d-bag posters: Why don't you stand up for the cops who did everything in their power, before tasering the guy, to bring the meeting to order?

3:04 we aren't standing up for the cop because they should not have exercised their power. I can see them saying sit down etc etc but not manhandling the kid for pure political speech.

Also the email I received didn't say the officers were suspended, they were placed on administrative leave pending the investigation. This is all standard procedure. No punishment to officers yet.

I meant to say "overly-permissive OR stupid"

This kid deserved it! He killed Ron & Nicole.

There are real political protest issues. Wear a t-shirt to a Bush event and you will be arrested, according to a recent court settlement. That is wrong. But someone disrupting an event like this, refusing to leave, fighting the police, ignoring warnings. Anyone in the room would have tasered him, regardless of political leanings.

I like the part in the video where the cops taser that guy. Classic!

Yeah...tasering him brought the meeting to order. Listen, you cannot invite a political candidate to speak at your university and not expect dissent. It's a university for god's sake. However, violence should only be used (1) in response to violence or (2) to protect officers. Watch the damned video again. He was a shit. He was yelling, but he was not violent. Hmmm...

The reason why so many people are distrustful of police officers is because there are arses like yourself out there who think POs are beyond reproach. I am a proud liberal d-bag, who has cops on both sides of my family, and I generally trust them. I, also, have done enough criminal defense work in my short career to know that some cops lie, cheat, steal, abuse, profile and just overall f#ck with people, because they think they can. Those bastards should be locked up, not kids who want to know why our country is so f#cked up.

They should have hit him in the groin with a football.

And then tasered him.

WASHINGTON D.C. – Sen. John Kerry issued the following statement today, in response to the arrest of a student at the University of Florida.

“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."

http://kerry.senate.gov/cfm/record.cfm?id=283508

Track down his parents and taser them as well..

Brains and privilege are wasted on shmucks like 3:16 and 3:18.

"I'm a liberal", your summary of the events betrays your moniker. In fact, if I turn on Rush Limbaugh, I'm betting he uses the exact same "description."

Brains and privilege are wasted on shmucks like 3:16 and 3:18.

Fuck you douchebag- How do you like them apples?

I like the part of the video where 3:22 is a total douchebag.

I like the part of the video where 3:22 is a total douchebag.

An excellent point Mr. Siskel.

How come the article doesn't address what happened to the Summers who tasered that guy? Did they, too, get cold-offered? Why has nobody brought this up?

It's just so easy. You little girls get excited when I insult you, but you have no problem with police brutality or any other horrendous thing that happens in this world (I imagine).

Kudos to you. Still, I stand by my original statement. A waste.

Please go back to reviewing your contracts for that new water plant in Tajikistan or studying securities regulation or whatever exciting it is you do.

331 - I hate you... mainly because I'm reviewing securities regulations and can project my unhappiness on you.

I see neither brains nor privilege were wasted on you, 3:22. Thank God. More for the rest of us.

12:39 - I've also heard if Meyer dies from his tasering injuries, he's going to donate his eyes to Stevie Wonder

3:27 - We don't know whether the Summers who tasered him got offers or not becuase they were Summers from a completely different law firm! They just happened to be at the lecture too, but their firm had nothing to do with this at all- NOTHING!. Did you actually read the article and watch the video??!! Jeeessshhh!!

My supervising partner tasers me if I try to leave before 7pm -- what is the big deal?

Please go back to reviewing your contracts for that new water plant in Tajikistan

ummm, the Tajikisatn water project is classified. You will not make it home tonight beause you apparently know about it. Men are en route to kill you.

Your all MORONS!!! Learn to friggin' Read!!! You're posts are RETARDED!!!

THE COPS WEREN'T SUMMERS!!!

How do illetterates even come to be at a blog, anyway???

LLLLAAAAATTTTT!!!!!!!

Please delete these trolls.

PS: First, bitches!

The cops may not have been Summers, but you have to admit, that one that the kid spilled his drink on was pretty fat!

Liberal or conservative, I think we can ALL agree that if the kid had sung the "fat bitch" song to the cop he would have deserved tasering.

Really a missed opportunity, when you think about it. I mean, he was tasered anyway. Might as well have gotten a few bars out before they juiced him.

The kid shouldn't have sent the email to the whole UF law listserv. No wonder he got tasered.

First- The kid came into the auditorium with the intention of causing a scene. He came into the place late with several cops in tow acting crazy and making a scene. Kerry agreed to answer his question anyway and you saw what happened.

Second- He wasnt tased for asking questions or even just being obnoxious. He was tased because he was resisting police officers with physical force. The cops are trying not to hurt the kid, who obviously has serious mental problems, and tasing him was the best option. Using pure force to put the cuffs on him could very easily have broken his arm or wrist, tasing caused 20 seconds of pain.

His actions embarrassed his school and the State of Florida and I hope he is prosecuted. He deserves everything he received, and will receive in the future.

So here is one liberal who thinks that kid got exactly what he deserved. His first "question" was being answered, but he also wanted to spout conspiracy theories about skull & bones. When asked to leave, he refused and argued with the police; when forced to leave he refused and resisted. If he had let them get him out the door he never would have been tasered.

And Christ, what a pussy. "HELP! HELP! OWW! OWWW!" "MOM!"

It's always a sign of insecurity and inferiority when a person calls out dissenters by referring to them as "little girls." Well, I refer to those people as "men with little dicks who I wouldn't f**k with Paris Hilton's vagina."

And scene.

SUCKS TO BE A FLORIDA GAYTOR

Sucks to be a Florida Gator? That's hilarious coming from a loser Nole! What does a UF and FSU student have in common? They both got accepted to FSU!!! You know why that's so funny? Because it's true! Only the complete idiots at my high school went to FSU and only because they got denied admission to UF. Additionally, we are far superior sportswise evidenced by...facts. And the Noles are??? Nothing.

Everybody wants to feel sorry for this guy because it's shocking to see somebody tasered, all the yelping and carrying on, but they did this guy a favor when they tased him.

Judging from the video, prior to that point, they couldn't get him under control, he was struggling so hard that it took five people sitting on him just to contain him (and they had to get him out of the room), and if they had tried to move him while he was still struggling like that he could have done something he would have really regretted (trying to hit somebody, for example), fallen over and hurt himself, or hurt somebody else.

The security, cops, whatever, wanted him quiet and out of the room. Immediately after they zapped him, he got up and walked out of the room with no other questions asked and no harm done to him. In other words, it worked exactly like it was supposed to.

The fact that this was a school-sponsored political gathering is not relevant: he was arrested for his refusal to stop his harangue and was tased for resisting. To say he was "tased for speaking his mind" or even "arrested for speaking his mind" is just wrong. I'm no 1st amendment scholar, surely, but I'm pretty sure this wasn't content discrimination or anything verbotten... he was being unruly.

I am going to assume that security was within their rights to forcibly remove him, but even if they weren't, no matter, he shouldn't have resisted, he should have sued them later, and the heck with wonky Florida law that says you can "resist" an unlawful arrest "nonviolently". People need to understand that the moment of arrest is not the appropriate moment to hold forth about constitutional rights.

Why is John Kerry still relevant? You ever ask yourself that queston. At least Al Gore reinvented himself for the two millionith time and carved out relevancy via becoming the face of the environmental movement. WTF has Kerry done? Answer is nothing. Go away. Retire. Hang out on Martha's Vineyard. Ride your bicycle. Get a facial with Teresa. But whatever you do please just go awy.

P.S. The kid deserved to be tasered.

. . . with a taser

This idiot posed a direct threat to the speaker, to the student audience, to the police and to himself. When he started moving forward toward the podium is when the police should have gang tackled him. Actually, I think the police demonstrated extreme patience. In fact, too much patience. They didn't know this individual, or his mental stability or whether he was carrying a weapon of any sort. The police always need to error on the side of protecting public safety.

1:17:

"Hearing John Kerry drone on in the background, however, was frickin hilarious. It was like 2004 all over again."

Best. Comment. Eva.

Here this is a forum for lawyers and law school students, and we are engaged in debate on the shocking nature of this video?!? Please. It should be requirement for all future lawyers to spend a week with law enforcement officials. This is Exhibit A of what they have to deal with on a day in, day out basis. This nutbag posed a threat. And the security personnel acted in accordance with their training. How would you like to have been a student sitting there and have that nutjob pull out a .44 caliber, or a switchblade or battery acid.

I'm against the use of tasers. I'm for the use of the billy club. When he started manuevering to the front of the crowd after he was clearly instructed to leave the scene, then the police should have given him a couple of blows with the stick. Then gang tackled him. Then cuffed him. Then lifted him to his feet and removed him from the building.

A stiff shot to his snotlocker would have quelled his ambition.

Unless he was committing a crime (and disorderly conduct doesn't count when the so-called disorder is based on speech) like assault, they had no grounds to arrest or seize him. Probable cause people, probable cause. The ignorance re: the first amendment in these comments is ASTONISHING.

Unless he was committing a crime (and disorderly conduct doesn't count when the so-called disorder is based on speech) like assault, they had no grounds to arrest or seize him. Probable cause people, probable cause. The ignorance re: the first amendment in these comments is ASTONISHING.

Nonsense- he violated reasonable time, place and manner restraints- they should have shot him!

If some hippie got tasered everytime Kerry spoke, I'd like him a lot more.

Most liberals I know are wimpy little creeps who look down on cops because they are still resentful that the High School football team gave them wedgies in the hall way. They can't get over their jealousy and resentment of the cool kids.

A positively shocking episode in presidential politics...

In terms of the people who seem to think this was simply a free speech issue, I'm sorry, but post-Virginia Tech, college students are under increased scrutiny when they do anything that makes them look like a potential mental case. It would have been one thing if he had just been shouting and insulting Kerry, but this kid attempted to walk up to the podium and physically resisted the cops' attempts to restrain him and escort him outside of the building. If the cops had done nothing and this kid had gone postal instead, people would be ranting about campus security being stupid and ineffective.

Whether the kid needed to be tasered or not is one thing, but the "no grounds to arrest or seize him" is a bit naive in today's world.

I was one of those high school jocks who used to terrorize the living piss out of liberal mamby pamby hippie pukes in high school. I'm not proud of the immature indiscretions of my youth. But honestly prevails me to say some of those incidents felt great. Particularly the once incident when I gave the head of our political debate team a head first whirly in the toilet. Got suspended for 2 1/2 days and couldn't play in two basketball games, but God it felt good. The pussy was always walking around school ranting about the destructive policies of George H.W. Bush and Margaret Thatcher.

I am going to start using the phrase "Don't taze me, bro," in all appropriate and not so appropriate situations. I think this one has potential to catch on.

Dear 5:30--- Right on, brother. Now that I'm in my 30s, I can only intimidate liberal Prius idiots with my pickup (I move into their lane). It's not as much fun, but its gives my wife an I something to laugh about together.

Where in the video do you see the kid posing a threat to others? Did he pull a gun that I didn't see? Did the five officers who jumped on top of him feel a grenade in his pocket? Please.

Taggart: I got it. I got it.
Hedley Lamarr: You do?
Taggart: We'll work up a "Number 6" on 'em.
Hedley Lamarr: "Number 6"? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that one...
Taggart: Well, that's where we go a-ridin' into town, a whampin' and whompin' every livin' thing that moves within an inch of its life. Except the women folks, of course.
Hedley Lamarr: You spare the women?
Taggart: NAW. We rape the shit out of them at the Number 6 Dance later on.
Hedley Lamarr: Marvelous.

I own a Prius.....don't taze me bro.

Do you know what I do for sport nowadays? Drive my Chevy Tahoe right up the ass of liberals driving their Toyota Prius 56 MPH in the left hand lane. I swoop in like a peregrine falcon on a pregnant pigeon with a missing leg eating popcorn remains on the sidewalk. I've also perfeced the "bump and run" move I learned from watching Tony Elliott on TV NASCAR races.

Search and seizure (ha-"seizure"-and the guy was tasered!) isn't first amendment, clowns.

"The first amendment" and "the Constitution" aren't two ways to say the same thing.

This whole situation is shocking!

Death to America!

Here is ChiCAgo we would have billyclubbed this punk ala what Dad had the ChiCAgo's finest do to the protesters at the DNC in 68. The guy had his time at the microphone, was asked to leave and didn't, then resisted polite attempt to remove him. He should have had his fuggin nuts kicked in after that. Taser application was letting him off easy.

5:59--I know they aren't the same thing. I was referring to two different ideas 1) you need PC to arrest, 2) people here are making moronic comments about the first amendment.

(PC can't arise out of unprotected speech unless the unprotected speech is also ILLEGAL in one way or another.)

Although I must concede that Nonesense's approach has a certain elegance about it.

He wasn't tasered because of what he was saying. He was tasered as a means of arresting him. To get to the question of whether the tasering was appropriate, you need to through 2 layers of analysis.

1. Was the arrest appropriate?

I'll leave it to those who expressed it fairly well already (4:40 probably does the best job). I'm no Florida law expert, but I'd imagine he could be arrested for trespass once he refused to leave.

2. Was the use of the taser an appropriate amount of force in effecting the arrest?

While I'll admit that I generally think that tasers are used way too much (the most common argument has always been that they're safer than firearms and in practice they're often not used as an alternative), there's at least an argument that tasers should be used as an alternative to other methods of restraint.

The police obviously have a number of alternatives to using the taser - the police are not, nor have they ever been, required to wait for a suspect to stop having a hissy-fit before arresting him or her in a situation such as this. The question is one of the placement of the use of the taser on the use of force continuum.

While there's certainly an argument that the police should have used a choke hold or night sticks to subdue the student instead of reaching for the taser (and I think it's the better argument), and given their numbers they undoubtedly could have overpowered him, chances are that this particular perp would have felt substantially worse this morning had they done so.

one does not have to "pose a threat to others" to be asked to stop disrupting a meeting. If you watch the entire tape (Live Leak has it), and not just from the point where the cops try to remove him, you will see he was repeatedly warned to stop rambling and to ask one question. The cops tried to remove him peacefully; he pulled away and tried to run. They grabbed him; he wrestled, which is to say, fought back. Based on that, they decided to arrest him; he resisted more, despite being asked, and then told, not to do so. Even after he saw the Taser, he refused to place his hands behind his back and comply. One may question whether he should have been asked to leave in the first place, but guess what? This was not a street corner demonstration; the event hosts asked the police to ask him to leave. They have the right to do that. It is not a street protest where one has a right to peacefully seek redress.

The Taser did its job - it got him to lie flat and get cuffed -- and he had ample warning to comply or get jolted. Punk deserved it.

I think a trespass charge is problematic--if he was initially invited in, and then asked to leave, but the reason he was asked to leave had to do with speech, I see a first amendment issue.

So far, I'm not seeing any legitimate grounds for arrest.

The fact that the reason he was asked to leave relates to speech is not, by itself, instructive.

I don't pretend to be a constitutional scholar, but I'd imagine that the time, place and manner restrictions that 7:34 refers to would govern his asking of questions. These restrictions apply regardless of the fact that he's in a public forum at a public university. You don't have to rack your brain too hard to think of numerous examples of situations where the general public is granted access to a public event but has limitations placed upon their speech. If you refused to vacate the microphone at any city council meeting in this country and decided to take the opportunity to deliver a rambling diatribe, my guess is you would politely be asked to leave and, if you did not, you would be arrested.

Kerry's event isn't any different and I don't think anyone is suggesting content restrictions on his speech. It's not like Kerry heard the question about Skull and Bones and demanded the speaker be ejected. The guy refused to ask a question that Kerry could answer (preferring instead to take the diatribe route) and would not surrender the microphone after his turn was over.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I prefer to live in a world where one self-important person cannot hijack a public forum and refuse to relinquish the microphone.

I would be very interested in seeing a first amendment time, place, and manner case where a person was arrested for trespass b/c he or she asked aggressive questions or monologued. Time, place, and manner restrictions have to do with the constraints set on a forum, or laws that restrict speech, but when they are enforced against people, it is because there are clear laws making some conduct illegal, i.e. a certain decibel level after a certain hour.

Where is the law against being obnoxious at a political event? Don't you see the danger that such a law would pose, even if it were written in advance?

Where do you draw the line? If he raises his voice? If he continues to ask questions? If he heckles? If he talks loudly and angrily to a neighbor? If he stomps toward the podium, but in a non-threatening way and points accusingly at the speaker?

What is this, Marquis of Queensbury rules?

"Don't taze me, bro.

Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Anonymouse:

Go to bed, it's late. The charges include "disturbing the peace." It's an oldie but a goody. A nice, arrest-worthy offense.

String 'im up... but tase him first.

HJ--I think we're in different time zones.

Perhaps check out Garner v. Louisiana or Edwards v. South Carolina if you think "disturbing the peace" fares well against a first amendment challenge.

(There I go again, bringing law into it.)

Feiner seems to go your way (speaker who was being threatened by crowd arrested after he refused police's request to stop speaking 3X) but that case was decided in the 50's, no one threatened to kick Florida-guy's ass (well, except on this blog) and in light of Forsyth County, most scholars think Feiner is no longer good law.

7:34, while one does not need to "pose a threat to others" to be asked to leave, one should pose a threat to others to be tased. Appropriate level of force and all that. Unless you enjoy a police state where officers are allowed to tase at will.

Fuck the cops in this case - they had no right to taset him. Did he resist, sure, but who the hell gave the cops the right to do what they did in the first place. They don't have the power of god you know. If cops are acting illegally they don't have the right to taser you. He wasn't distrubing the peace or breaking the law. I'm a republican, but geez this is ridiculous. All he did was ask a question. Obnoxious, yes, persistant yes, a dick, yes - but so what - not crimes. The cops did not have the right to touch him - to arrest him, and sure as hell not to taser him. I hope he gets a lot of money, that the cops get fired, and that he gets to tell his grandchildren how some fat bitch pigs tastered him, lost their jobs and their pensions and how he to ride off into the sunset. God, these stories piss me off. Fucking pigs, think they can get away with anything. Well here's to all the cops out there - FUCK YOU!! what you gonna do about it pig! huh!

Anonymouse, I defer to your book-learning on the finer points of things. I am open to the possibility that the arrest was unlawful, and will gladly conform my signature brand of harsh retributional justice to any specific guidance the higher courts might throw my way.

This question, however, is not really my concern. I stand behind my 4:40 post and deem the tasing well-justified. I'd be more amenable to giving him his day in court on the unlawful arrest question if he hadn't gone and fought the law, or, in this case, the FSU campus security, to the point of deserving a good tasing.

Now I'll be taking my own advice and going to bed, sleeping soundly in the knowledge that justice was served.

CNN: Florida campus cops on leave after Taser incident

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/student.tasered/index.html

They should put the officers in prison and let them get a taste of their own brutality!

But what a pathetic audience - just standing around when someone is blatantly being treated like they live in a facist police state! They should have at least risen up and yelled at the cops like the students who witnessed the UCLA tasering a while ago.

State legislatures should ban tasers from all cops - or at least from campus cops. Else free speech will continue to be eroded.

Oink Oink sounds appropriate!

Actually, 11:58, if you watch some of the other video clips on you tube, there are people protesting how he is being treated, including two women who screamed at them to stop, a guy who is visibly shaken and can be heard muttering 'christ' and others who can be heard calling for the police to stop.

The officers said that he was under arrest for inciting a riot - didn't see any riot.

He was invited to ask questions of Kerry, and when the police officers didn't like the questions, they seized him. They didn't actually seize him until after he stopped asking the questions and Kerry said he would answer. At that point, there was no longer any issue of hogging the mike. How is that justified?

I would sue.

Cops are douchebags...they spend too much time giving traffic tickets and conducting business in a you vs. me attitude

Campus police....folks with an IQ of 90, a boring job, and a chip on their shoulder.

They were wrong to arrest him in the first place, but that doesnt mean the kid could legally go on like he did. Even though he was right to be outraged...do't know if I could have held back either.

Ok. Based on the expert legal advice of the liberal morons on this board, I have a guaranteed plan to make me some money to pay off some student loans.

Given that the presidential race is picking up steam, I am going to go to every event where I think the candidate is a d-----bag and stand in line, enter a question lottery, or whatever to get to speak. Then I am going to start screaming "F--- you, d-----bag!" over and over again at the top of my lungs. That is my chosen form of non-violent political protest using protected speech.

I will not be deterred by moderators instructions nor the disablign of my microphone. If the police speak to me, I will ignore them and continue shouting. If they grab me, I will fall to the floor and start rolling around (appropriately, like an alligator trying to drown prey). I will keep my hands at my sides to make it clear I am not trying to strike any officers or be violent in any way--it will be clear I am just being an obnoxious baby exercising my rights.

Whether they taser me, put me in a choke hold, hit me with night sticks/batons, or just carry my ass out, I should have a slam dunk lawsuit against them, right??

Geniuses.

Nice try, 10:16. Whether or not what you described would be illegal, that's not what the kid did.

You can't base disruption on the content or controversy of what the speaker says. If the speech is contentless/merely disruptive, you might be able to toss them on their asses just like you might be able to do the same if they walked up to the mike and repeatedly blew an air horn.

(I.e., harassing phone calls can be criminalized according to the DC Circuit, as long as there is an exception for political speech and because the statute permits calls which involved no speech--just hang-up calls--to be punished.)

Police officers don't get to arrest you without PC. Period. Many states have laws that permit you to resist unlawful arrest. (Including FL, as someone stated upthread.) Not that I think resisting unlawful arrest is a good idea, unless of course you're a civil rights protester who's going to get the sh*t beat out of them like they did in the '60's and you have a chance of escaping.

Why is there so little respect for the rule of law here? Police officers breaking the law is less worse than civilians breaking the law? Ignorance of the law is not a defense if you are a civilian, but it is if you are a police officer, sworn to uphold the law?

Wow. Just wow.

CNN: Florida campus cops on leave after Taser incident

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/student.tasered/index.html

What's interesting is that Kerry actually tried to answer the question, but nobody was paying attention to him anymore.

Not that what Kerry has to say is all that important, b but at least he was going to answer; the kid obviously wasn't being THAT obnoxious.

Watch some of the other videos of the tasering, they show the events more clearly and the words spoken and preceding the event much better.

State legislatures should ban tasers from all cops - or at least from campus cops. Else free speech will continue to be eroded.

Nonsense- all cops need weapons! Vtech demonstrates that violence can and does occur everywhere- even on the cloistered campuses of colleges and universities- DO NOT take weapons away from the police-EVER

It sounds like this ass-clown is a phony. He was looking to gain content for his website by creating a false scene. Fuck the little prick.

this makes me insanely angry. the kid wasn't doing anything that justified an assault on his person. since when is asking questions a crime that requires a physical attack in response?

Yeah, 1:09, because you can take down a shooter with a taser. At least when you shoot someone, you can't deny that you know you might kill them.

I can't believe the commenters who keep saying "he was only trying to talk" or "he wasn't doing anything that justified an assault on his person".

He was asked to leave. He refused and then became physically violent with the officers guiding him out. He was the one who started the physical confrontation, not the police.

Hasn't anyone noticed that the guy was about 6'2"+ It was only when the big cop came to help out that they stood even a slight chance at moving him out of there. Then he continued to fight back. Is there no respect at all for police officers? He had a chance to speak, he spoke, he kept speaking past his time, they asked him to leave, and he refused. After that HE was the one being physical and was obviously a pretty big guy.

What authority did they have to ask him to leave? You can't just assault someone if you ask them to leave and they don't, unless you have legal authority to compel them to do so.

And he didn't "fight" he just tried to pull away.

watching a dumbass college kid get hit with a taser makes me very very happy...

Now idiots are making a fortune of the phrase...check out this site:http://www.cafepress.com/thecrazyirish/2638690

I will admit however, it is funniest on an infant t-shirt

Now idiots are making a fortune of the phrase...check out this site:http://www.cafepress.com/thecrazyirish/2638690

I will admit however, it is pretty funny on an infant t-shirt