Prison Planet | September 18, 2007
Paul Joseph Watson
Media coverage of a University of Florida student being tazered by cops for asking a question didn't spark a debate about ongoing police brutality and political persecution, but instead prompted partisan bickering and mindless ninnying about John Kerry's behavior during the incident, while leftist blogs defended the actions of the police.
Andrew Meyer was grabbed by cops yesterday after he asked the former presidential candidate why he didn't challenge the rigged election of 2004 and about his membership of the skull and bones secret society. Meyer asked police what he was being arrested for as they dragged him to the back of the University Auditorium before manhandling him to the ground.
As the photo above shows, two female officers, one with some kind of gangland tattoo on her arm, seem to be smiling with pleasure as they move in to seize Meyer.
Only when Meyer was immobile and had five officers on top of him did the police decide to send 50,000 volts of electricity coursing through his prostrate body, seemingly waiting until Meyer begged them not to do it so as to enjoy the maximum power trip from administrating the torture.
Watch the video.
Fox News, MSNBC and others relentlessly replayed the video yesterday - not as a shocking indictment of the police's actions during the incident, but to discuss John Kerry's behavior and the fact that he continued taking questions while Meyer was being brutalized.
This prompted leftist blogs like News Hounds to slam Fox for endlessly showing the footage as Democrat websites closed ranks and either ignored what was a savage act of police brutality and political persecution or simply claimed Fox News were hyping the story.
They even defended the actions of the police in stating the cops were right to tazer Meyer as he lay on the floor. Imagine if this had happened during a town hall meeting with Bush - liberals would have screamed bloody murder and rightly so - but in this instance they applaud the police for their act of torture simply because Meyer dared question their idol John Kerry.
Another detail left out of press reports is Meyer's political affiliation - he is not a Neo-Con who was attempting to put John Kerry on the spot as Fox News has tried to portray - he was a 9/11 truther. Meyer links to the 9/11 Mysteries documentary from the home page of his website.
Beyond the mindless partisan ninnying, the heart of the issue is that this was another act of wanton police brutality and torture by means of tazering.
The police are now trained that "pain compliance," a euphemism for torture, is acceptable in apprehending anyone even if that person poses no physical danger.
In many cases, cops will tazer someone even if they offer no resistance whatsoever, simply for the sick enjoyment of the power trip as the victim begs and pleads not to be tortured. They also seem to get a kick out of tazering young children and even toddlers.
Take the case of UCLA student Mostafa Tabatabainejad (video above) , who was stunned over and over again for refusing to show his ID at a campus library.
Tabatabainejad agreed to leave and was on his way out of the building before cops tazered him and then proceeded to order him to get back on his feet just so they could shock him over and over again as he cried and moaned for them to stop.
The bottom line is that Taser use is being abused by police all over the country as cops are trained that torture is a perfectly acceptable response to somebody who asks the wrong question or refuses to show their papers
Fox anchor: 'officers should be commended' for tasering student
David Edwards and Jason Rhyne
Raw Story
Wednesday September 19, 2007
Weighing in with his legal opinion regarding police officers' tasering of a University of Florida student, attorney and Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett said no excessive force was used during the incident.
"He is resisting. And the videotape really doesn't lie--it speaks volumes about what's going on," said Jarrett, referring to video of the event that is circulating around the internet. "The law doesn't allow you to resist police officers when they ask you to do something," he added.
The tasered student, Andrew Meyer, was wrestled to the ground by officers after asking Sen. John Kerry a question during a school forum.
"Now you may have a beef with them being there in the first place and trying to escort you out--you can argue that later--but when they ask you to do something, you have to do it. That's the law," Jarrett said.
Reviewing the videotape of the arrest, which played throughout the interview, Jarrett pointed to moments that he says show Meyer is clearly resisting arrest.
"There he is raising his arms," he said as he watched. "Yeah he may be saying 'I'm not doing anything,' but he is...he is repeatedly resisting."
Asked about an eyewitness report of the incident reported earlier in the segment, which indicated Meyer may have told officers he would cooperate if they let him stand up, Jarrett was incredulous.
"Why should they believe him?" the anchor asked. "He has already demonstrated in the previous minute that he is not going to do what he says he's going to do."
The tasering, according to Jarrett, was good police protocol."The taser device actually is a method by which you decrease the level of force by subduing somebody, not increasing the level of force...these police officers out to be commended for what it is they did."
Regarding the possibility of future lawsuit from Meyer, Jarrett said the student didn't have a case, adding that no jury would sympathize with him as he was being "utterly obnoxious."
Earlier in the program, witness Matthew Howland, who was on the scene during the scuffle, said at one point Meyer told officers he'd cooperate.
"Andrew said 'I'm not resisting. If you let me up, I'll walk out of here with you right now," Howland told Fox. " But they kept him on the ground and about 20 seconds later they tased him."
Howland later said that after the tasing, Meyer was taken to the lobby of the auditorium, where police asked for his name and other information--requests the student refused.
"He doesn't give up his information like his name because he says he's scared--he doesn't want to give them any more information."
