Taser

This is inevitable:

Do you think the use of the Taser (http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2007/09/18/moos.taser.tale.cnn if you live in a hole ) was appropriate?

My opinion? I think it was totally uncalled for. Sure, he was resisting arrest. But is it the citizen's responsibility to do everything a police officer asks of him/her? The kid was almost certainly making a point, but does that mean we should ignore it?

I think more disturbing than the actual Tasering is the reaction of some people.People think that the kid deserved it because he wasn't doing what the police officers were asking him to do. Since when are the police the ultimate authority? Police SERVE me, they do not control me.

In any case, the situation could've been handled better.

I don't get it. What did he say to Kerry that made the police come after him in the first place?

He was just being loud. Check out YouTube for more videos...there are like 15.

I've been seeing this, I think it's absurd. This same thing happed to several other students at other schools. These rent-a-cop's are all on a power trip and I think it's BS, there is NO reason to use this kind of force on some one that is being "loud" or vocal. He was not in a violent state of being and he was not issuing any type of violence.

The same thing happened several months ago at another school, something really needs to be done about this, because it's not acceptable behavior by these police officers.

Tasers have gotten out of hand. Cops on a power trip think that they can just use it on anyone who doesn't comply with their every order. They had no reason to arrest that kid, so he shouldn't have had to resist arrest in the first place. This is why a lot of people don't respect police officers anymore.

Just my 2 cents, but I think that the guy was being completely disrespectful. He interrupted the Senator more than once when telling him to read a book that the senator said he had already read, and then he acted surprised when they cut his mic. Also, do some research on the police reports. Apparently, the guy would only resisted when camera's where around. I know these might be biased, but give me a break. The minute the cops grabbed his arms to cuff him and escort him out, he was shouting and saying things like is anyone video taping this. Several minutes later, and a few more cops later, they finally tazed him. Another reason his mic was cut was because he was over the time limit that is given to each person. According the CNN and other news sources, this person has been know to do things like this at school before. Also, for the record, he was not charged for asking questions. He was charged with disturbing the peace and resisting arrest.

I can see your point about the tazer being too much, and I'm sure if the police could redo it, they would have handled it a little better. It was in the heat of the moment and the cops did what they thought was right. We are all guilty of it. I am not at all conservative with my politics, so please don't stereotype me. I do not agree with a lot of things that are going on now in our government and I am more than willing to say something about it, but in a respectful way. If you want respect and answers, you should be willing to do the same.

The kid was certainly doing it to get attention/bring up some points. But this is a university! Things like this happen all the time, without the Taser-ing.

One of the great things about our country was that we CAN do things like he did (or we are supposed to be able to...). I think the cops were just itching to do something about the kid. Look at them standing behind him when he went to the mic...

Kerry had said that he was no longer taking any questions, so they were standing there to keep kids like the one who got tazed from going up there and doing what he did. Kerry decided to let that kid offer his comments, which is why it seems as though the cops are standing right behind waiting for him to provoke them.

In all honesty, I think the kid was being stupid and pretty much asked for whatever the cops were going to deal out to calm him down. You don't act like a clown at a serious event and expect to get away with it. Granted, a Taser was a bit much, considering there were more than enough cops to subdue him the ol' fashioned way.

People get mad at cops using Tasers because we only hear about and see instances like these. Granted, some cops let the power get to their heads and abuse their authority, like in the case with the Iranian student at that California university.

The problem is that police officers no longer work under the presumption to serve and protect the people, but rather to instill order. The whole War on Terror has really messed this country up and we need to get rid of the clowns in Washington that keep shoving it down our throats to keep us in line. The Constitution starts with "We the People", let us change our state of affairs to where that is once again the supreme law.

He was being totally disorderly, disturbing the peace and disrupting the proceedings. He refused to leave a state-owned hall when asked by the police. So they had every legal right to arrest him.

There were enough police there that they could have cuffed him and hauled him away. But struggling as he was, he probably would have dislocated an arm or caused them to drop him and cause him further injury. Oh well. Sucks to be a jerk sometimes.

Is the guy an idiot? probably. Was he rude? yes. Was he disrespectful? yes again.


Since when is it ILLEGAL to "interupt" a Senator, or the President for that matter... Since when is it ILLEGAL to be "disrespectful"? What SHOULD he have done??? Write a letter to Mr. Kerry? Leave a voicemail????

Lesson: Disagree/disrespect/interupt with a Politician?? You better NOT!!!

I think what the psuedo-police did was in complete violation of this man's Constitutional Rights. But... It will continue... People who disagree with what he was saying will say he deserved it, instead of pondering whether or not his rights were violated.

It makes my stomach turn...

What happened to that guy is nothing. Check out the story here.

That my friends, is what is known as overdoing it with a taser.

Did the student receive verbal warning that he was gonna be tazed?

If so then he got what he deserved. This was clearly a stunt as he brought his own camera to record it. Not to mention he asked if anybody was taping it. I feel this guy was expecting a confrontation from the beginning and have no sympathy. He is the one who escalated the issue by resisting.

It's like they say, "Play with fire and your gonna get burned."

I don't know what point the guy was trying to make but when the police came to escort him out he could have left on his own accord and nothing would have happened. It is my opinion that the officers were probably escorting him out for disturbing the peace, which is a legitimate charge in the situation. He could have made his point with out yelling and causing a scene. I have not scene the whole video so I don't know what his point was or what his political views are so the following is not based on if I agree with the guy or not. In this situation the police were justified in the use of the taser. A taser is a less than lethal device used to control an unruly subject with out resorting to a higher level of force. If a taser had not been used to control the subject then the officers might have used physical force, think night stick( pepper spray was not an option in this case), which could have taken him much longer to recover from. I have to say unless you are a police officer and have been in these situations you are really not qualified to pass judgment on the way the officers acted. I have been hit by a taser and I have to tell you it really is not that bad, after it is turned off there are no lingering effects. The officers took the proper steps to bring the subject under control in the fastest way possible in this situation.

RIDE said:

Since when is it ILLEGAL to "interupt" a Senator, or the President for that matter

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When you're an invited guest on state property.

... Since when is it ILLEGAL to be "disrespectful"?

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When you're an invited guest on state property.

What SHOULD he have done??? Write a letter to Mr. Kerry? Leave a voicemail????

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Yes, those are excellent ideas.

Contrary to popular opinion, there is nothing in the Constitution that says you have the right to an audience with your elected officials. They don't have to listen to you, read what you write, or respond in any way to your desires. (As the current president had repeatedly demonstrated.)

Your legal rights to influence politicians begin and end at the ballot box. Beyond that you're at their mercy.

When did it become a constitutional right to publicly flout authority with no consequences?

A university student with a history of taping his own practical jokes...

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Could be he's publicity hungry?

iKitten said:

Could be he's publicity hungry?

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BINGO!

cheesybanana said:

My opinion? I think it was totally uncalled for. Sure, he was resisting arrest. But is it the citizen's responsibility to do everything a police officer asks of him/her? The kid was almost certainly making a point, but does that mean we should ignore it?

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Yes, it is.

I'm sure he had a point, but YES, you do what a cop tells you. Particularly one carrying a weapon, be it a gun or a taser.

If you have a problem with the way you're treated, take it up with the relevant authorities later, but if you obey the police, you don't get into trouble. It's a simple rule.

It was bound to end badly even though he began polite enough. he said, "I first of all want to thank you for your time. You've spent a lot of time talking to us today and want to thank you for being open and honest. You recommended a book to us earlier, and I wanted to recommend a book to you as well. It's called "Armed Mad House" by Greg Palast. Kerry said that he had read it."

Andrew Meyer continued "And he says you WON the 2004 election. Isn't that amazing?! Isn't that amazing, you won in 2004. In fact, there were multiple reports on the day of the election of disenfranchisement of black voters in Florida and Ohio..." A woman next to mic tells him: "Ask you question or..."

Kid: "I'll ask my question, thank you very much I'll ask my question, I'm going to preface it. He's been talking for 2 hours, I think I can have two minutes…I'll ask my question, I'm going to inform people and then I'll ask my question. There are multiple reports of disenfranchisement among black voters on the day of the election in 2004. There was also voting machines, electronic voting machines in Volusia County Florida that counted backwards. So amidst all of these reports, of phony, bogus stuff going on, how could you concede the election on the day? How could you concede the 2004 election on the day? In this book it says that there were 5 million votes that were suppressed for you in the election. Didn't you want to be president?"


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He continued his filibuster: "I'm not even done yet. I have two more questions. If you were so against Iran, how come you aren't saying "let's impeach Bush now?" Impeach Bush now before he can invade Iran. Why don't we impeach him? Impeach Bush? Clinton was impeached for what, a blow job? Why don't we impeach Bush? Also, are you a member of the Skull and Bones in college with Bush? Were you in the same secret society as Bush (mic cuts out) were you in Skull and thank you for cutting off my mic…"

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272616171.shtml

I wouldn't be shocked if what he is saying about secret societies is true, but I would have asked the question in a much more respectable and intellegent way. That is flat out uncalled for. Once again, look this kid up. He loves the camera. I agree that their is a TON of police brutality out there. I've seen it happen right in front of me, but this guy had it coming. They warned him about the taser. They told him to leave or they would have to escort him. He had plenty of chances to clean up and let Kerry give him an answer, but he choose to be disrespectful and interrupt the Senator when he was answering.

Ride said:

Since when is it ILLEGAL to "interupt" a Senator, or the President for that matter

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Ride said:

Since when is it ILLEGAL to be "disrespectful"?

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technologist said:

When you're an invited guest on state property.When you're an invited guest on state property.

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I'm not going to get into a debate, but I capitalized the word ILLEGAL for a reason. You are incorrect. It is NOT illegal to be a jerk, be disrespectful, be rude, regardless of whether or not you were invited, and regardless of whether or not it is state or private property.

Contrary to popular opinion, there is nothing in the Constitution that says you have the right to an audience with your elected officials. They don't have to listen to you, read what you write, or respond in any way to your desires.

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No one is saying he had a right to an audience.
No one is saying he had a right to have people listen.
No one is saying he had a right to be responded to.

What I'm saying is he had a right to speak.
I think one of the many amendments to the US Constitution grants US citizens this right. What-do-ya-know... It's the very FIRST Amendment. ;D

Once he was asked to leave he should have left... It just looks a tad bit ridiculous that the psuedo-police were on him from the moment he stepped up to speak, to me it simply looked like censorship. It's great that we live in a country that allows us to disagree though.

It's not illegal to be rude or disrespectful. But the school is private property and he was asked to leave. He was there for trespassing. He wouldn't leave when asked, he was there for disobeying an order from an officer. He was disrupting the peace you could say.

They then tried to remove him. He fought back. He was resisting arrest. That is illegal. They then subdued him with the taser.

By the way, one of the news channel said that on the student's website or from some other source, that they found out that he is an activist and a trouble maker.

That doesn't make me feel sorry for him.

Kind of like this guy that was standing around on the local college campus earlier this summer with a sign that was telling people that their god was dead and that they're going to ****. He supposedly travels from campus to campus, trying to get students or cops provoked to engage him physically so he can sue.