Letters to the Editor
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Huh?
This is getting overblown and there's a certain amount of hyperventilation and hyperbole as a result. These folks were not tasered for asking questions or skateboarding or refusing to show ID. It's dishonest to suggest otherwise. In every case, as far as I can tell from the videos, the taser-ee has refused repeated lawful requests by uniformed security on private property, started screaming and otherwise acting like an idiot and then resisted arrest when the cops have no options left but to subdue him or just walk away from their sworn duties. Of course the Bush administration is crypto-Fascist. Of course the Republic is long-since dead. But that has nothing to do with unstable people thinking they can defy lawful requests on private property, resist arrest, wrestle with cops and just walk away unscathed. Would you rather see cops use the old low-tech solutions of cudgels, joint-locks and come-alongs? Everybody is overreacting, from the taser-ees who would rather be tasered than admit that, say, a university has a right to restrict access to its library, up to the people who think the black helicopters have finally been dispatched. Take...a...deep...breath.
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@Alabama
Wrong!
The student was subdued and under the control of four cops, at least.
They could have dragged him out of the room, secured him in plastic handcuffs, and transported him.
Four cops against one student.
The issue here is not whether he "deserved it", whatever the fuck that is supposed to mean. The issue is that the police overreacted in a situation against someone who posed no threat.
Was he disorderly? You bet.
Was his behavior inappropriate? I think so.
Were you tased the last time you acted inappropriately?
If a college student at a public forum cannot safely speak up, then neither can you. If you want to keep your freedom of speech, you must grant others the same right.
Let me paraphrase Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up their freedom in exchange for security deserve neither."
And let me add: "Those who would give up the freedom of a fellow citizen to act the fool give up their own."
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Wrong?
"The student was subdued and under the control of four cops, at least." Not true. They shocked him because he was not under their control. They are heard repeatedly telling him to roll over and he is seen repeatedly refusing to do so and resisting.
"They could have dragged him out of the room, secured him in plastic handcuffs, and transported him." Not before getting him under control.
"Four cops against one student." Who could very well have been armed, given his demonstrated instability.
"The issue here is not whether he 'deserved it'". I never said anybody deserved anything, only that they shouldn't do what they did and equate the response with the creation of a police state.
"The issue is that the police overreacted in a situation against someone who posed no threat." As I said, I think everybody overreacted, but nobody knows what threat any of these people posed. That's the point of removing them from a populated area and/or arresting them.
"Were you tased the last time you acted inappropriately?" I've never disobeyed the lawful requests of a group of cops and run screaming around a college auditorium when they try to restore order.
"If a college student at a public forum cannot safely speak up, then neither can you." He safely spoke up for quite a long time before he was asked to yield the floor, as would anyone who genuinely values free speech and a civil society, and as does everyone else at this and almost every other forum in the nation. This man wasn't denied his 1st ammendment rights. He was denied the right to disrupt a dialogue between Kerry and the audience. To say he has the right to do that is to extend free speech to the proverbial shouting of "fire!" in a crowded theater.
Let me paraphrase Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up their freedom in exchange for security deserve neither."
And let me add: "Those who would give up the freedom of a fellow citizen to act the fool give up their own."
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Electroshock therapy
A fit ending to one man's personal episode of Jackass.
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Former cop here
And those cops were oafs. They may or may not get away with their unprofessional, excessive behavior, depending on the quality of the investigation, but they handled that situation with a level of incompetence one would usually only expect from a Bush political appointee.
Setting aside for a moment the question of whether the kid should have been taken down in the first place (I think he should have been allowed to rant, myself), skillful, well-trained police officers have methods for dealing with unruly individuals, not the least of which is basic diplomacy..
There is absolutely no reason why that situation should have devolved the way it did except that the officers involved didn't know what they were doing and overreacted. In my former department, that level of incompetence wouldn't be tolerated.
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Was He REALLY Tasered or was he Faking it?
Sorry, I watched the whole video.
http://video.nbc6.net/player/?id=157250#videoid=157250
I don't believe this guy was tasered at ALL. The cop actually says he was never tasered. After the guy screams he has been tasered (ow, ow, ow!) he WALKS out of the room (they don't carry him) all the while SCREAMING his head off. Wow, not very effective tasering! Everything I have read about being tasered the person isn't doing too much. Then he goes on screaming that the cops are going to take him away and KILL him. Personally, at this point he was making a huge scene it seemed just to get attention including making the accusation of being tasered.
Now, while his questions reach a belligerent level towards Kerry (he never takes a breath long enough to let Kerry even begin answering him) I do not believe the cops should have grabbed him at the point they did. It's very likely he would have calmed down and let Kerry finally get the chance to answer. So perhaps this was clearly an overreaction by the campus police.
On the other hand, maybe the police felt he was reaching a level of hysteria that he was going to try and harm Kerry. You know, especially after Virgina Tech, if this guy had brought in some type of weapon and if students in the crowd or Kerry were hurt or killed, we'd be bitching about about a whole other subject here. So, maybe the police thought better safe that sorry.
Sure, freedom of speech and being able to confront a political figure should never be impaired (like anyone's had the chance to do this to Bush!) but I also think doing it in a reasonable nonhysterical manner that doesn't raise the question of safety and security of the people in the crowd or the speaker is not asking too much.