Tasered For Speaking

Off Topic
41

[quote]USNS physique wrote:
The 2 most responsible cops will be sued and this video is an expose of the tactics used against those who don’t play by the new rules of shut up and listen.

kerry is a pussy loser who rambled while someone who questioned his inaction and falsehood was rushed and electroshocked. It was an easy way for kerry to evade the questions.

these tactics are used all the time at republican events to silence critics and protestors. They have a manual on how to stop anybody who disagrees from even getting into the events.

they cut this kid’s mic and got him out of there when he dared to speak truth to this asshole. The police cannot come in and lay hands on you because you’re asking questions the guest speaker is afraid of.

His speech is constitutionally protected, whether he cut in line or not. The police can’t just say hey sit down because I told you to…this isn’t china. So, these cops are in deep shit.
[/quote]

No, you don’t understand. Freedom of speech and the press means that I can publish a newsletter and say whatever I want. It doesn’t mean that I have to print your manifesto in my newsletter. In this situation, it’s the university’s facility, they own the building, they pay the bills, they invited the speaker. It’s their show. They don’t have to let this guy get up on their soap box and give a speech. If you get up to ask a question, and they don’t like what you have to say, they can cut your mike.

Watch the video. The guy didn’t ask a question. He rambled for a minute, the moderator asked him to ask his question, he was rude to the moderator, he was rude to the guest. After a minute and a half, the moderator cut him off, motioned to the cops to escort him out, and the guy started flailing around. If he had just walked out with them, I’m sure they would have let him go.

Watch the guy during the arrest. Listen to him. Listen to the guy’s confrontational tone of voice when he first gets up to the mike. He is getting exactly what he wanted, and hamming it up.

42

Yeah, I know…but I didnt say anything about kerry ordering the bum rush lol. You must be drinking.

What I DID say is kerry just sat there with his long face mumbling. He could have EASILY called of those pigs if he wanted to. Yeah, sure, kerry said he’d answer it but he never did- he cracked some jokes about that student.

Why did they cut his mic? he was over the time limit? Come on man…if that was some fanboy kissing his ass the mic would have stayed on and he’d be given as much time as he needed. Obviously kerry was afraid of the direction the questions were heading, and did not insist on the mic being turned back on.

Whoever shut it off did so for a reason- time limit my ass. The question of shrub’s impeachment came up and then skull and bones then the guy was cut off, and the police escalated the situation with words. As stated before, the police can’t just tell you what to do unless you’re detained…and the guy wasn’t detained.

They can’t tell a civilian to do anything if the civilian is not breaking the law- and this guy broke no laws: going over time limit isn’t against the law. Police can’t just throw you out of an event because they just don’t like what you’re saying- not in this country, and I don’t give a shit what YOUR president says.

Remember, your president is the one who usually has those who show up wearing anti bush t-shirts and anti-war t shirts arrested…if they even get that close…but usually I thinkthe official protest zone is like 100 yards away, outside the venue. Looks like kerry took a page out of the g.w. shrub campaign playbook.

43

They should have put a black bag over that kids head and sent him away to Guantanamo Bay.

Seriously, that kid didn’t need to be shocked. Did you see the video? They shocked him after they had him on the floor. What kind of bullshit is that. If you need to stop someone whose moving and has become a threat, you taser them. You don’t just taser people to quiet them down after you’ve thrown them on the floor.

I can understand if that kid had kept pressing the question and had been an obnoxious douche he would have been carried out of the room.

Arresting him was unnecessary. Shocking him while he was on the ground was just stupid. Those cops will regret that decision.

44

[quote]NAUn wrote:
Nate Dogg wrote:
I love Gainesville and UF. We always have so many exciting things going on!

I must say, after assuming the incredibly dull Kerry would provide an incredibly dull debate, it was pretty surprising to see the headline “Don’t Tase me” on the front page of the Alligator today.

After seeing that video he seems like a jackass though. “They are going to kill me.” What an attention seeker. I’m sure enough students will complain to get him off though.[/quote]

Yep.

45

[quote]CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
I wish I could see the video. Some people need to be tasered. I have no idea if this guy was one of them but based on CrewPierces description he may have deserved it.

He did, like CP said, for general jackassery.

I <3 how people twist things and try to make it sound like he quietly asked a question and was assaulted for it.[/quote]

Go google the U.S. Constitution and cite me the section where it says you must show no emotion, nor ask in frustration and with haste because of the distinct possibility that you will be cut off before you get your questions out. Please, find that section where it also details tonal and volume requirements for questions posed to public officials.

I’ll be waiting for those citatons, and while you are at it, read the 1st amendment a few times and tell me how much that right is worth if when you exercise it you are stopped and removed…thereby your right is circumvented indirectly.

The cops will say that he resisted arrest,and you cannot legally resist an arrest even if its unlawful- so be it. But, you can sue their fat asses off in civil court, and for false arrest, and for violating his 8th amendment rights. They will have to fire these idiot cops just to save face.

It was a shameful response by a bunch of stupid cops.

46

[quote]skidmark wrote:
The point was that the response was out of proportion to the “infraction.” Tasers are provably lethal response to an exercise in free speech, which - as I recall - is a right guaranteed us in the Bill of Rights. Perhaps his questions were unpopular and ill-timed and possibly asinine, but is tasering him a reasonable reaction?

And - If a politician is not competent enough to respond to so-called stupidity gracefully, how good a representative will he be for his constituency?[/quote]

what i find funny about this is the fact that he didnt get tasered for asking a question. Hell he wasnt even under arrest until he started flipping out. It looks like they were just escorting him out becuase he wasnt being respectful becuase when told his time was up he kept talking so they shut the mic offand at that time he started creating a scene. Which is why he was getting escorted out.

It’s interesting that anytime the police or secruity tries to defuse a situation by doing what they are trained to do, the person over reacts instead of keeping a cool head and they by over reacting bring this upon themselves. I mean what do you really thinks going to happen to you when you have 5 officers around you escorting you out? Do you really think by flipping out there just gonna back off and allow you back to your seat?

He could of Listened when they said his time was up on the mic and nothing else would of happen accept maybe him being embarrassed by asking such retarded questions. But instead he decided to create a scene !

Tho i think being taserd was a bit extreme becuase that should be used as last resort and i’m pretty sure between all those officers that they could of gotten him out without the taser.

If i was any of the officers i would of tasered him for being a complete jackass !

47

[quote]USNS physique wrote:
CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
I wish I could see the video. Some people need to be tasered. I have no idea if this guy was one of them but based on CrewPierces description he may have deserved it.

He did, like CP said, for general jackassery.

I <3 how people twist things and try to make it sound like he quietly asked a question and was assaulted for it.

Go google the U.S. Constitution and cite me the section where it says you must show no emotion, nor ask in frustration and with haste because of the distinct possibility that you will be cut off before you get your questions out. Please, find that section where it also details tonal and volume requirements for questions posed to public officials.

I’ll be waiting for those citatons, and while you are at it, read the 1st amendment a few times and tell me how much that right is worth if when you exercise it you are stopped and removed…thereby your right is circumvented indirectly.

The cops will say that he resisted arrest,and you cannot legally resist an arrest even if its unlawful- so be it. But, you can sue their fat asses off in civil court, and for false arrest, and for violating his 8th amendment rights. They will have to fire these idiot cops just to save face.

It was a shameful response by a bunch of stupid cops.[/quote]

If you have read the Constitution than you know there are parameters to Free Speech. As already mentioned you cannot yell “Fire” in a theater as a pretty famous line of logic for when Free Speech is not allowable. Also hate speech and inciting a riot. There are parameters as there are rules you agree to abide by when participating in a college sponsored event. If you’ve been to a political forum on campus than you know that you are told that to participate you have to agree to certain rules and restrictions and if you don’t you will be asked to leave.

There is disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, trespassing, assaulting a police officer or peace officer (profanity or hateful speech directed at the officer.)

This is why there is usually a lot of the protesting done OUTSIDE the forum. That way they can do things lawfully without the lawful restrictions of the campus.

The Constitution is a fluid document. It does and will change and it is a document meant to be interpretted often in the current times of those looking to the document for guidance. Such as the additions of hate speech being a no no, as well as inciting a riot.

But the issue wasn’t Freedom of Speech. Don’t hide behind a shadow.

48

[quote]Avocado wrote:
wow, I wish i were surprised that so many people support the suppression of human rights. No matter how stupid the question you should support his right to speak it. It’s not about what he says it’s about what happened to him for saying it. If you support that then you are just like the people in germany that thought hitler’s regime was cool.

It’s tragically ironic that people always ask “How could those germans have let such a monster do what he did?” when a comparable situation is happening right now. Those germans bought into the media they were being shown just as many people buy into the same type of media right now. Hitler’s scapegoat was the jews. Who is Bush’s scapegoat? terrorist’s of course. Concentration camp = Guantanamo.

The styme of critical thinking was as prevalent in 1939 as it is now in 2007 north America.

-chris[/quote]

Chris,

You do know how to read right? Did you see the video? Could you hear it? I just love it when people say stuff like that when they are clearly clueless ! I guess your way of thinking is he can insult or disrupt political functions and create a scene and it’s his right !! Keep insulting Americans too, real classy

49

[quote]USNS physique wrote:
CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
I wish I could see the video. Some people need to be tasered. I have no idea if this guy was one of them but based on CrewPierces description he may have deserved it.

He did, like CP said, for general jackassery.

I <3 how people twist things and try to make it sound like he quietly asked a question and was assaulted for it.

Go google the U.S. Constitution and cite me the section where it says you must show no emotion, nor ask in frustration and with haste because of the distinct possibility that you will be cut off before you get your questions out. Please, find that section where it also details tonal and volume requirements for questions posed to public officials.

I’ll be waiting for those citatons, and while you are at it, read the 1st amendment a few times and tell me how much that right is worth if when you exercise it you are stopped and removed…thereby your right is circumvented indirectly.

The cops will say that he resisted arrest,and you cannot legally resist an arrest even if its unlawful- so be it. But, you can sue their fat asses off in civil court, and for false arrest, and for violating his 8th amendment rights. They will have to fire these idiot cops just to save face.

It was a shameful response by a bunch of stupid cops.[/quote]

YOU cannot practice YOUR right of free speech using MY microphone on MY property against MY will.

If you do you are trespassing. Cops may come to drag you away.

No first ammendment crisis anywhere…

50

[quote]Dreaded wrote:
But instead he decided to create a scene !

Tho i think being taserd was a bit extreme becuase that should be used as last resort and i’m pretty sure between all those officers that they could of gotten him out without the taser.

If i was any of the officers i would of tasered him for being a complete jackass ![/quote]

The scene was his intention from the beginning. I agree that the cops handled the situation poorly. Obvioulsy no one could reason with the kid, because he wanted to escalate the situation, but they should have just grabbed the kid and shoved him out the door. Taseing him infront of the crowd is about the worst thing they could have done.

51

[quote]orion wrote:
YOU cannot practice YOUR right of free speech using MY microphone on MY property against MY will.

If you do you are trespassing. Cops may come to drag you away.

No first ammendment crisis anywhere…

[/quote]

Holey moley a pig must have just flown by my window because I agree with Orion!

52

Don’t know if any of you here arguing are a cop, but you have to look at it from their side too. Someone is being an idiot, fighting, etc. The cops also have to worry about their own protection. From the criminal justice classes I have taken, and the cops I have talked to, it is not uncommon now that if a person is fighting and actively resisting arrest, they taser the guy, even if he’s knocked to the ground for a moment.
Then they cuff him while he’s still in shock.

That is because fighting with him on the ground trying to pin and hold him while another cuffs him is messy and dangerous - the detainee can often end up with bad bruises and/or broken bones from fighting, and many cops have gotten knifed while westling with a someone.

Tasers aren’t the horribly dangerous weapons people think they are. If they were, they wouldn’t zap every trainee in the police academy once, which they do, just so they know exactly what they are doing to someone else.

During my first year CJ class, the police chief was a guest speaker, and was showing off his taser. He asked if anyone volunteered to get zapped. A guy did, so he stood in the middle of the room, two guys stood to his side to catch him, and the cop zapped him. He blacked out and collapsed, as soon as the tasing stopped he was right back up. Shaky and unable to do more than walk for about five minutes, but perfectly fine. It makes arresting a jackass simple, with minimal injury to everyone involved.

So, just a note for the people who think tasers are like throwing hair dryers into a tub.

I have a cop in my life that I love, and I say if some idiots fighting and not stopping, taser his ass. The three seconds of pain’ll do him good.

53

I admit I am no lawyer, but I imagine U of F may ask you to leave campus at any time for any reason. Refusing to do so is trespassing. Then the situation became resisting arrest and possibly disorderly conduct. At no time was his freedom of speech violated. The only place where absolute freedom of speech is guaranteed is the floor of the Senate (yes, if you are so inclined, you can yell ‘fire!’ or incite a riot if you have the floor).

That guy is a jackass and deserved to be arrested, whether or not tasering was over the top, that was a the officers’ discretion.

54

[quote]orion wrote:
USNS physique wrote:
CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
I wish I could see the video. Some people need to be tasered. I have no idea if this guy was one of them but based on CrewPierces description he may have deserved it.

He did, like CP said, for general jackassery.

I <3 how people twist things and try to make it sound like he quietly asked a question and was assaulted for it.

Go google the U.S. Constitution and cite me the section where it says you must show no emotion, nor ask in frustration and with haste because of the distinct possibility that you will be cut off before you get your questions out. Please, find that section where it also details tonal and volume requirements for questions posed to public officials.

I’ll be waiting for those citatons, and while you are at it, read the 1st amendment a few times and tell me how much that right is worth if when you exercise it you are stopped and removed…thereby your right is circumvented indirectly.

The cops will say that he resisted arrest,and you cannot legally resist an arrest even if its unlawful- so be it. But, you can sue their fat asses off in civil court, and for false arrest, and for violating his 8th amendment rights. They will have to fire these idiot cops just to save face.

It was a shameful response by a bunch of stupid cops.

YOU cannot practice YOUR right of free speech using MY microphone on MY property against MY will.

If you do you are trespassing. Cops may come to drag you away.

No first ammendment crisis anywhere…

[/quote]

Since I assume this is a public college, please tell me who payed for the microphone? If you say the government, who pays the government? The people. If you say the college, who pays the college? The students. Public colleges are public places?

Your house is owned by you, not by the people.

55

[quote]SeanT wrote:
Since I assume this is a public college, please tell me who payed for the microphone? If you say the government, who pays the government? The people. If you say the college, who pays the college? The students. Public colleges are public places?

Your house is owned by you, not by the people.

[/quote]

ugh, by your logic the people own Walmart.

Even a public college funded by taxes has rules. If you are on their property you must abide by them. If you are in the County courthouse you must abide by their rules, if you are in the public library you must abide by their rules. You don’t get to pull your LazyBoy into a public place and take root and make your own rules and play the conquering Visigoth.

geez do you folks go to college or just talk about them. It’s the theory of duty not the functional duty to others at play here? Yah everything can work in theory than reality and specific situations and maturity step in and squash you like a bug.

56

I’m not too keen on ANYONE laying their hands on me in an unjust fashion. Cops or not.

Yeah he was a jackass and playing to the cameras. He didn’t need to be tasered on the ground. But a tasering isn’t gonna kill anybody. It’s a great non-lethal response.

But for them to escort him out because he asked a controversial question is the kind of tactic that the makes me more and more fearful of my government.

I expect this kind of thing at some political rallies, but not at an “open” forum on a college campus.

57

[quote]Ghost22 wrote:
I’m not too keen on ANYONE laying their hands on me in an unjust fashion. Cops or not.

Yeah he was a jackass and playing to the cameras. He didn’t need to be tasered on the ground. But a tasering isn’t gonna kill anybody. It’s a great non-lethal response.

But for them to escort him out because he asked a controversial question is the kind of tactic that the makes me more and more fearful of my government.

I expect this kind of thing at some political rallies, but not at an “open” forum on a college campus. [/quote]

What was unjust about it? He was refusing to leave the stage. He was usurping everyone else’s right to ask questions. Why does he have the right to hijack the event?

He had no right to do so and the actions of security and law enforcement were correct. He had the opportunity to comply when asked to leave the stage. He chose not to do so. He escalated the situation and he had to be dealt with according to his own actions.

He should have acted justly, asked the question and then let the next person have their turn.

58

Walmart is a private company? ahah the rest of it is understandable.

he was arrested for insiting a riot.

59

sorry for the double post, but he was then saying the government was going to kill him, quite jumping to conclusions.

I would say the tasering was defiantly unnecessary.

60

From what I have read and seen, I ascertained the following:

Individual disrupts private event. Individual is asked to leave. Individual does not leave and causes a greater disturbance. Police ask individual to leave. Individual ignores request. Police attempt to escort individual out. Individual resists. Police attempt to physically restrain individual. Individual attempts to flee. Individual is tasered.

Seems justified to me.