The video quality is awful, but the message comes through. And it is chilling. If you watch one video on the Internet this year, this should be the one. CNN is now reporting on this incident, read the comments on that page, we’re in big trouble.
A better quality video of the same incident is available from a local news station.
I don’t know which point is most disturbing about this incident:
- That a young man was arrested and tasered for asking pejorative questions of a powerful politician in public
- That John Kerry didn’t step in on behalf of this young man, in fact, he continued the event while the man was being tasered in the back of the room
- That other students didn’t intercede on this young man’s behalf
- That he was being arrested for “inciting a riot” and accosted for identification
John Kerry, SHAME ON YOU! We clearly have to get professional politicians out of the way, they do not understand the concept of free speech when its looking them right in the face. You may be a war hero, but you were nothing close to being a hero on this day. UF Police, SHAME ON YOU! You escalated a situation that didn’t need to be escalated. Get some remedial training, start by reading the Constitution of the United States. UF Students, SHAME ON YOU! That could have been YOU! And might be YOU at some point in the future. Suggest you read the Constitution and start exercising your rights.
This is a sad, sad example of how free speech is dying in this country. No wonder people are afraid to speak out…they can be arrested and tasered under bogus charges. This young man was asking questions that needed to be asked and refused to take no for an answer. This is why we have the Constitution, to protect his (and your) ability to speak out in public without fear of arrest and/or torture.
Our democracy is dying…you can watch it on video.
I agree with everything except your third point. The students should not have interceded. They should have done exactly what the did do: record the event and follow along as much as they could without threatening the officers. Interfering with the officers’ duties would really have escalated the situation. As you noted, they were not well-trained so they might not have responded well. Just the act of recording and observing is enough to keep the situation in check. Something “bad” happened but at that moment the only thing that can be done is to keep it from getting worse. Of course he never should have been arrested, but once he was that bell can’t be unrung. You just need to keep everyone calm until things can settle down.
Kevin, I understand your point and you could well be right.
However, at some point, we all have to stand up and say “not on my watch.” This presumably is all done to “protect” a celebrity from a disturbed audience member. At no point was this student threatening to Kerry, his fellow audience members, or the police. As you say, at least it was documented – but that’s not enough.
I remember during the 2006 campaign for governor that Arnie came to the Sun campus. The audience was screened in advance for that event – it was an orchestrated event and it was clear that no “dissenting voices” would be welcome. That’s the sort of environment we’re working in now and when people do voice dissent, they’re being arrested.
How far do we let this progress? It seems to be so common that people have forgotten that dissent is the most patriotic of activities and that dissenters should be protected not prosecuted.
I think we are talking about two slightly different things. You
are talking about the censorship of the questioner, and we both
agree that was wrong. He was obviously an agitator, but a person
of true character and leadership (which Kerry didn’t show) could
have dealt with him better. Let him rant and ask his multiple
questions, but at some point you, the quesioned, must demand that
you be allowed to answer the questions. If the person asking
questions really wants answers they will listen. But if they just
want to speak and be heard then, and only then, should that person
be removed. The students could have, if they knew what was coming,
created a human shield to protect the student and let him finish
asking his questions.
Now, the situation that I’m talking about is after he was (wrongfully)
detained. The moment has now passed for the students to create
their human shield. Passive civil disobedience can work but actively
interfering with the duties of an officer is dangerous for all.
Unless the cops started beating him with their batons it wouldn’t
be wise for a mob of students to converge on a small number of armed
police officers.
The tasering is the grey area. It’s almost a baton attack. How
much does a crowd allow before stepping in and risking a riot? In
my opinion that moment didn’t occur. Dispite their mistakes, the
situation did diffuse enough down stairs where the tasering stopped
and a large enough crown (with cameras) had gathered to keep things from
escalating.
Fair enough Kevin, I concede the point. There is no upside for the students interfering in this situation. Read about the other bogus arrest posted today. This looks to be a trend…
Now you can get the t-shirt.
http://tinyurl.com/2zdvge
That’s priceless Kevin, thanks for posting it here.
Don’t Tase me Bro!