Do We Still Have Freedom of Speech?
By now nearly everyone has read about the University of Florida student who was tasered by campus police during a Q&A with John Kerry on campus yesterday. I’m not going to jump in here right now and deconstruct Kerry’s politics or even the views of the student, Andrew Meyer. All you need to know is that Gainesville is a tiny blue dot in a mostly Blue Florida. Life is different in a campus town. Most residents are rabid Democrats, but as soon as you roll outside the city limits into the calm of Alachua or Micanopy, you‘ll see signs during election time that let you know you are right back into the Red.
I will jump in and say I think that campus police took the situation WAY too seriously. So, Meyer got mouthy. He waved around a copy of a book. He asked more questions than most students. All in all, he was at the microphone about a minute and a half. That is not all that long in the scheme of eternity, my friend.
He flailed around a bit while the cops restrained him. I did not see him strike anyone or threaten violence. He did resist arrest, though I bet that while it was happening he must have been overwhelmed by how utterly absurd it was that he was being arrested at all.
But, a taser? Come on, people. Even the out-of-shape campus police must have felt comfortable that he was not going to harm them. I hope that the officer who initiated the shock is put through the ringer on this one, including mandatory counseling to determine if he is mentally suited to continue duty.
As for Meyer being restrained for his diatribe – whether or not I agree with what he was saying, I do feel that he was shown a disgusting lack of freedom of speech. Way to go, Florida. Keep our state in the headlines for the most embarrassing of reasons.
It was inexcusable.
Both the behavior of the overzealous student (let’s blame that on age) and the campus police.
My favorite part was John Kerry.
What a take charge guy.
Had his batteries wound down?
Yikes.
As horrifying as it was to watch the videos of this situation, I was giggling half the time because in teh background you could just hear this droning monotone, going on and on and on without rising or falling. It was priceless.