miamiherald.com
BY DIANA MOSKOVITZ
GAINESVILLE — A University of Florida student from Weston was stunned with a Taser and taken to jail on Monday after police say he disrupted an event with U.S. Sen John Kerry and refused to leave.
The incident was caught on video, which has since been distributed on the Internet.
Andrew Meyer, 21, was in the Alachua County Jail Monday night, according to jail records. He faces two charges: resisting an officer with violence and disrupting a school assembly. He’s scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m. today.
Within hours of the arrest, articles about it and video of the entire incident were posted on Meyer’s website, www.theandrewmeyer.com
(Video of incident)
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Wake up, California dudes!
Recall Pelosi so the Congress can impeach Bush & Cheney.
Stop this disgusting and obscene national thuggery and thievery!
It is most unworthy of the best that is in us! Most bogus!
Most unreal.
Contact Andrew Meyer at: [email protected]
His website is: http://www.theandrewmeyer.com/
hey brother
i am appalled by the misbehavior of the campus pigs toward your constitutional rights to petition “our government officials in redress of grievances”. this act reminds me of what occured in chile under the dictatorship of agosto pinochet….
i did send kerry a letter in relation to what took place yesterday…here is the text:
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dear senator,
i am a veteran antiwar activist. i am appalled at the way the police roughed up andrew meyer at your speaking gig at the university of florida by tasering him. i am surprised at the way, you passed the buck on to the police when they forcibly dragged mr.meyer away…i know that YOU of all people should recall what issues we as an antiwar community confronted due to the nixon administration’s war on dissent. now it seems to be a repeat performance under the current watch.
i wonder if you could take a stronger position on behalf of the student whose first amendment rights were compromised. You know this is a throwback to the repressive days of chile under agosto pinochet…this violation of the bill of rights must be dealt with appropriately.
in fact, police officers should undergo a sensitivity training course as to the hows, whys and history of dissent.
many supported you for president because they felt you offered a way out of the current bush dillema. it would be nice if you dont let people down!!! it’d be great if you do keep the faith of peace and justice as envisioned by martin luther king, jfk, rfk, john lennon, george mcgovern…
i hope to get a reply from you
aron kay
http://www.pieman.org
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anyway, you do have a lot of people supporting you and demanding justice for you!!!
feel free to write me via [email protected]
09/18/2007
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.”
You are not the only one by any means who is outraged by this. You and I and everyone else who sees this growing ‘crackdown’ mentality across our nation against dissent and in direct contradiction to our First Amendment Rights must speak out at every opportunity – especially when given the right to speak to power as this young man did.
He pays tuition at that college. Part of his tuition goes to student events – one of the most expensive ones would be a visit by John Kerry. This wasn’t a private event, it was a public event with the students WHO PAID FOR IT TO HAPPEN able to participate. The police overreacted – especially in tasing him while he was held down by 4 or 5 officers. What cowards. The bastards should lose their badges.
John Kerry should be ashamed of himself (again). He could very easily have said “let him speak”. Instead, he ignored the young man’s questions and moved on – ignoring the chaotic scene taking place in front of everyone.
I hope this young dude sues the pants of the University Police and the school.
I’m trying to stay calm and collected about this. I want to get really mad and do something. But, if I can just stop and think a minute I may be able to come to grips with how bad it has gotten and what I can do to change this oppression of our rights. From the videos I’ve seen it is clear that the police and university officals are standing with this guy and they really wanted to stop him from speaking. The guy is a true hero. He knows he has the right to speak and they beat him down. Who is next? It may be me.