U. Florida tasering justified

By now everyone has seen the video, or excerpts of the video, of University of Florida campus police arresting and tasering a student, Andrew Meyer, at an open mike Q&A with former presidential candidate and current Senator John Kerry.

Watching various television networks cover the event, and in particular MSNBC, there seems to be some idea that the police here used excessive force and were suppressing Meyer's right to free speech.

Before commenting further, I suggest you watch this video. It's about 4:30 long, but it provides much more coverage of the arrest and aftermath than I've seen anywhere else. Pay particular attention to his attempted escape about 28 seconds in, and the cop's explanation of why Meyer is being arrested near the very end.



This video doesn't cover Meyer's performance at the microphone, but it is fair to say that he was asking a legitimate question - one that, notably, Kerry wanted and tried to answer. (You can find other videos on Youtube that show that part if you must see it).

So the cops walk up to Meyer and drag him away. As you can see, when Meyer got to the top of the aisle, he tried to bolt and attempted to fight off officers who were removing him. That, all by itself, justified the use of the taser. However, police did not tase him then. Instead, they forced him to the ground, where he continued to fight back. Finally they tased him. Again - justifiably, albeit unpleasantly.

Here's the point that people seem to be missing - even if the cops are completely unjustified in their attempt to arrest you, you cannot resist that arrest. In otherwords, it is no defense to a charge of resisting arrest that the arrest itself was unlawful. If you resist, you get zapped. Or worse. If people don't like that, they can ask their legislators to change the law. But just because you don't like a law doesn't mean you don't have to follow it.

As for the initial intervention - that was complete crap. The cop at the end said Meyer was being arrested for inciting a riot. That is just laughable. He asked a question. The cops moved him off the microphone, without any cause to do so.

Had Meyer not reacted like a moron college student, his case would be solid. Unfortunately, like the child he apparently still is, he flipped out and resisted arrest - with violence, just as charged.

If the campus cops are going to be punished, it should be for their initial interference and failure to understand their role providing security at these kind of events. But they should not be punished for their use of the taser, and Meyer should be convicted of resisting arrest.