Taser Tag

On Sept. 17, campus police at the University of Florida were justified in tasering a student who, during a forum featuring Senator John Kerry, kept shouting out. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, FDLE, began stating that the officers used excessive force in subduing the student, Andrew Meyer. During this forum, students were allowed to approach the microphone in order to ask questions to Senator Kerry. However, when Andrew's turn came up, he refused to leave the microphone. Meyer, known for his website containing many practical jokes on it, kept shouting questions at Kerry, despite being scolded at for not leaving the microphone. The report of the incident stated that officers attempted to escort him from the forum, but he broke away and refused to obey the officers, therefore allowing them to escalate to the action of tasering, of which there is much controversy.

As the video of the incident is widely spread on the internet, the report also stated that, " Officers decide not to escalate to hard empty hand strikes, kicks, knees or baton ... [it] would have looked like the officers were beating Meyer into submission." The President of the University said that 2 officers were put on administrative leave, but were soon reinstated. He also stated that, "The FDLE determined that our officers acted well within state guidelines." Meyer's lawyer had not yet seen the report and had no comments. Meyer has been charged with resisting an officer and disturbing the peace.