Tased and confused
September 20, 2007 at 2:57 pm by Andisheh Nouraee in NewsRe: Andrew “Don’t Tase me, bro” Meyer
I’ve watched the videos, read the news reports and absorbed the opinions of local bloggingheads.
What have I learned?
1) If I were stuck at a John Kerry speech, I might just walk up to police and request a Tasering. With a side of pepper spray. How else could I be expected to stay awake?
2) The local blogosphere has critiqued the media coverage and Andrew Meyer’s state of mind, while ignoring THE key point.
The question to be asking about this event is not “Should the police have Tasered Meyer?”
The question you should all be asking yourselves is “Why did police officers approach him in the first place?”
Regardless of how rude or publicity-hungry Andrew Meyer may be, police had no business laying a hand on him.
Rude, showboaty, weird people are a staple of public forums. Go to your next neighborhood association meeting if you think I’m exaggerating.
The correct way to deal with people like that is to let them drone for a few minutes, then politely move on. That’s how they’re dealt with every day at civilized public talks.
Meyer was seemingly talking out of turn, but he wasn’t breaking any laws. Police had no business trying to stop him from talking. The police had no more legal right to grab him than any of the other people in the room did.
I’m stunned that bloggers, of all people, don’t instinctively recognize that police officers — agents of the government — should not be mediating public discussions. Inserting opinions where they aren’t necessarily welcome is what bloggers do. If you value your right to irritate people with words, you should be horrified by what happened to Meyer.
Do those who say Meyer deserved to be zapped not see how dangerous it is to accept the notion that public discussions should be policed?
Police should be at public gatherings to protect personal safety and property. They should NOT be protecting our sensitive ears from annoying people.
September 20th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
As you might have guessed I disagree. I think what happened prior which you can find in the police report elucidates quite clearly why there were police nearby when the video started rolling.
September 20th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
You didn’t even TRY to get me any extra calzone sauce yesterday.
You have zero credibility with me right now!
September 20th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
I knew you wouldn’t let me forget that. You’re just lucky I didn’t have my taser!
September 20th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
I am, bro.
September 20th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Awww, are you two having your first fight?
I don’t think it is fair to cast this as a situation where Meyer was removed and tasered because of what he was saying as opposed to how he was acting while saying it and afterwards. First amendment protections only go so far and arguably they do not include a right to disrupt a public event. They certainly do not include the right to resist arrest.
I also don’t see the analogy to blogging, from a freedom of speech standpoint. There is that whole “captive audience” thing at work in that auditorium of people, which is not really a true public forum because it was an event designed to have Kerry speak and answer questions, not to hear Andrew Meyer wax crazy into the microphone without actually even trying to engage in a back and forth question and answer session with Kerry. In the case of a blogger, a person has to take affirmative steps to get to the offending blog and is free to close the browser window or turn off their computer if they don’t like what they see. There is usually somewhat less constituional protection for speech made to a captive audience as opposed to speech that people have to seek out or from which they can avert their eyes, etc.
September 20th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Without giving a damn about the Constitution, the case is still troubling from a practical standpoint.
First, he was not so disruptive that it justified calling in the police to drag him away to begin with.
Second, he did not pose any danger to anyone in the room. The police instigated the physical confrontation.
Third, this guy was an attention-seeker, and he certainly got plenty of attention from the way the police handled the situation.
As Andisheh pointed out (and I’m beginning to wonder if he and I are the only bloggers in Atlanta who have ever attended a public forum where someone behaved inappropriately), let the guy release the steam and move on.
In a situation like this, where there is a seasoned public speaker — a U.S. Senator, at that — it’s unconscionable to have so little trust in the speaker’s ability to respond appropriately: let Meyer wear himself out, and re-direct attention elsewhere.
The whole “captive audience” thing doesn’t justify the use of force when someone violates the rules. Normally, in a case like this, the rule violator simply walks out looking (and sometimes even feeling) like an idiot. And they lose a point or two in the so-called marketplace of ideas.
Using force to shut the guy up (whether for violating the rules, or just being belligerent within the alloted time) is simply overbearing. Ultimately, it can backfire.
Again, I’m trying to argue from a more practical standpoint than from a legal standpoint.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
I’ve attended multiple public speaking events where someone in the audience attempted to shout down the speaker and was quickly escorted from the venue. They weren’t tasered, but then generally they are not dumb enough to struggle and resist the officers when they come to take them away.
Now Meyer wasn’t shouting down Kerry, but he was getting pretty close. He wasn’t waiting for an answer to his questions, he was simply ranting into the microphone about a conspiracy theory. I don’t necessarily disagree with you that practically speaking, the action taken to remove him was not really necessary and that there might have been a better way. But I think the way it was handled was within the range of reasonable judgment calls the organizers and cops could have made of how to deal with the situation on the fly. Just becuase it was not the best choice does not mean it was not a reasonable choice to have been made at the time with tensions high and little time to think through all possible alternatives.
September 21st, 2007 at 11:55 am
First, who called the cops? My guess is the organizer of the event or the facility management. Private security, which is the nature of campus police, and regular cops rarely act or react, in a situation like this one, without instruction from someone else in authority. That said, who asked the cops to get involved? The cops are not repressing anyone, they are doing their job. The repressor is the person who called them to do that job.
Second, a lesson in how cops work. First they asjk you to do something, then they ask again (usually four or five times) with increaseing seriousness, usually they warn you several times of the consequences of non-compliance, then they begin applying escalating levels of force to get you to comply. Show resistance or agreession and the timeline shortens dramatically. It is almost always the decision of the uncooperativ person how far it escalates. I have been on the business end of the baton and understood instinctively how not to get my ass kicked. See Chris Rock for further instruction. http://www.ifilm.com/video/2458063
What I saw was a passionate person who felt he didn’t have to obey the lawful order of a police officer. The school and the organizer of the appearance by Senator Kerry have the authority, just like your employer, to limit speech in any way it deems appropriate.
It could have been handled better. I think it is hilarious that anyone got that excited at a Kerry speech. Senator Kerry seemed to stand up for the guy a bit early on by saying he as going to answer the question and implying, to me, to leave the poor sap alone. I can’t believe I just defended Senator Kerry.haha
Bottom line, Jackass Taser Boy could have accepted that he was not welcome, followed the rules and walked away. He chose not to and he got exactly what he bargained for, a meeting with the cops. I can’t remember a better example of “asking for it”.