University of Florida Taser incident

He asked Kerry whether he was a member of the Skull and Bones society and used the term "blowjob" in reference to the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

Meyer has stated that he writes "mostly whimsical nonsense columns about nothing in particular, yet occasionally finds himself angry enough to rain down fire and brimstone on an unsuspecting politician or celebrity.

"[5] He received international publicity when videos were posted of police tasering him at the town hall forum featuring Senator Kerry.

[8] Meyer later attended the Florida International University College of Law,[3] and registered "Don't tase me, bro" as a trademark in September 2007, using the publicity to sell T-shirts on his website.

Later, Steven Blank, ACCENT chairman, said, "We make it clear that any profanity and vulgarity by anyone asking questions will result in a cutting off of the mic.

Meyer was carried part of the way by officer King, holding Greg Palast's book up in the air with his one free arm and shouting, "Why are you arresting me?

As Meyer requested to be allowed to leave of his own accord, they informed him that he no longer had a say in the matter and threatened several times to taser him if he did not comply with arrest.

but was drive-stunned (referred to in the police report as a "contact tase") in the shoulder by an officer with a department-issued X-26 Taser when he failed to comply.

He then instructed [Officer] Mallo to apply a contact tase to gain compliance in order to place Meyer's left hand into 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.Meyer continued screaming for help as the officers removed him from the room.

[20] After the incident, Meyer was arrested for inciting a riot and charged with resisting an officer and disturbing the peace and taken to Alachua County Jail.

[19][21] Police recommended charges of resisting arrest with violence, a felony, and disturbing the peace and interfering with school administrative functions, a misdemeanor.

If Meyer got into legal trouble during the probationary period, he was to be charged for the September 17 incident with resisting officers without violence and interfering with a school function.

[25] CNN reported that student opinions on the University of Florida campus were evenly divided as to whether the officers acted properly.

"[31] The American Civil Liberties Union's Florida chapter released a statement on September 18, 2007, expressing dismay over the incident.

[32] "Apart from the taser use issues, one must consider the free speech implications of the police officers' actions", said Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida Executive Director.

"People have a reasonable expectation to ask questions in a public setting – even if they are aggressive and some disagree with their position – that is free speech plain and simple.

Neither of them was able to exercise their free speech rights due to the police action.Various news articles speculated that the incident was a stunt by Meyer, noting that he would post comedy videos on his personal website and arrange to have himself filmed by others.

The police officers involved in the arrest claimed that during the ride, Meyer said: "I am not mad at you guys, you didn't do anything wrong, you were just trying to do your job.

"[15] This sentiment was strongly echoed by filmmaker John Ennis and Greg Palast (the author of the book Meyer was holding during the event) in the 2008 film Free For All.

When "asked about speculation that Meyer staged the confrontation", University spokesman Steve Orlando has stated that a member of the Office of Student Affairs told Orlando that Meyer brought a video camera to the forum and gave it to Clarissa Jessup, the young woman who was next in line to ask a question,[34] with whom he was unacquainted, before he spoke.

Henry Perlstein, a university senior who has known Meyer since high school, said, "My first impression was that [the video] was a home movie he made for his friends because it was so surreal.

[1] On September 18, in Emerson Alumni Hall, then-UF President J. Bernard Machen held a press conference about the incident.

He also issued a letter in which he stated that the University Police Chief Linda Stump had requested that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigate the arrest.

[36] President Machen stated that "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.

[38] The Miami Herald stated that, at the press conference, President Machen called the situation "regretful for us" and announced that two officers involved in the incident had been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the probe.

[42][43] University President Bernie Machen stated that "I have full confidence in the police department" and that the two officers previously placed on paid administrative leave have been fully reinstated.

[44] 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.