“Don’t Tase Me, Bro” most memorable quote of ‘07

On the shaky video footage, 21-year-old student Andrew Meyer, surrounded by police officers, shouts in a plaintive voice, “Don’t Tase me, bro!” before an officer pulls out the shocking device and shoots Meyer with it. He screams in agony for what seems like minutes, and then officers drag him out of the forum at the University of Florida where he was so recently asking questions of Senator John Kerry.

The scandalous scene caused an uproar among students across the country, who felt that Meyer had been Tased for exercising his right to free speech, rather than for being disruptive. The jury’s still out on that, but we’re not sure why just being annoying merits a shock with a Taser.

Later Meyer apologized, promised to do community service, went on probation for 18 months, and mea culpa-ed his way out of punishment.

But his Internet fame continued on after the incident - his heartfelt message, with its ironic juxtaposition of a plea against violence and the term “bro,” usually a word reserved for close friends, made him an instant celebrity. Mashups of the incident and an MC Hammer music video caused many people to laugh more than they should at a violent act, and t-shirts and Halloween costumes were made to celebrate Meyer’s ridiculous choice of words.

The quote was recently named the most memorable of 2007 by the Yale Book of Quotations, beating out Mahmoud Amahdinejad’s declaration that Iran did not have homosexuals and Miss Teen South Carolina’s tortuously confusing monologue about U.S. Americans. or something. Here’s the video, I promise that it will make you happy.

Roundup: Halloween stupidity, Taser news

Problems with (toy) weapons: The Chronicle reported that Wittenberg University students were sent text messages about an “armed suspect” on their campus last night. Turns out they were armed with airsoft guns, probably as part of a costume, and then five suspects were arrested, according to the local paper, the Springfield News-Sun. They also reported that students thought the response was good:

Wittenberg student Alex Wendt, 19, signed up for the alert system, saying it was a good idea and that police response Tuesday night was fast.

“I was kind of shocked to say the least,” Wendt said about the text message.

There are occasions that I worry about if a response is too speedy, and this is one of them. I understand the need to be vigilant, and I think the police’s response was quick, but when do we risk jumping the gun (excuse the punnery) on incidents? Especially on the eve of Halloween, a pretty well known “Mischief Night,” a lot of incidents could be seen as emergencies that end up being stupid kids, and not worth the expense of sending these messages. Imagine the paranoia and ridiculousness of a theoretical costumed individual causing

In the less-higher ed world of elementary school, The New York Times reports that students aren’t allowed to bring in toy weapons of any kind, with a lot of disgusting “times have changed” quotes to back up freaked-out administrators. Are we serious here? Projectiles have always been an issue for Halloween. Look at this quote:

?When you consider all the horrific things that have happened in recent years, including 9/11, I can?t blame any school for wanting to steer away from anything that might promote violence,? Ms. Nielson said.

Really? Invoking the name of Sept. 11 to justify this is preposterous. A 7-year-old with a pretend laser blaster is not going to promote violence. I think parent Laura Santoro pretty much sums up my thoughts about this. ?I mean, come on, the whole thing is getting really sad.?

Mr. “Don’t Tase Me Bro” is on probation: I must have missed all the legal proceedings, but Andrew “The Andrew Meyer” Meyer agreed with the University of Florida to 18 months of probation, making a donation to the American Cancer Society and performing community service, according to reports from The Gainesville Sun. He’s also out of school until January on a voluntary leave of absence. On a slightly humorous note, The New York Times’ The Lede blog suggests to turn the whole thing into a Halloween costume:

You?ll need four things: hair gel for a shocking hairdo, a makeshift taser prop, a black magic marker and a white T-shirt. You know what to write on it.

Bigger news though: Meyer has apologized ? and how! ? about his actions in last month’s Taser incident. On the legal case’s website, there are four (!) letters: addressed to the university, the University Police Department, university president Bernie Machen and a general release for the public. In them, he addresses his wrongs in acting the way he did, and I think does a nice job apologizing for the leave of absence a few officers got. Of course, his public statement sounds completely contrived and politicized. Here are the clich?d last two paragraphs:

The polarized environment in this country that underlies my concerns still exists. The United States has been divided. The country has been split into “left vs. right,” “red state vs. blue state,” [Ed., not Red vs Blue?] “Republicans vs. Democrats.” All of this is false division. We are one people, and once people can forget their differences, we can all start to focus on the issues that truly matter.

Thank you all, and God Bless America.
[sig]
Andrew Meyer

There are some words to be said about how terrible an idea it is to forget differences, but I’m not going there today. On the university side, their Ad Hoc Committee on a Civil, Safe and Open Environment has promised to continue looking into the laws that exist and the use of force, “particularly regarding tasers [sic].” What’s impressive about this is if it all goes according to plan, they’ll have a draft (or, less optimistically, an update) for Machen by the end of this year. Most committees I’ve noticed end up floundering in the discussion process for the better part of an academic year, but here we have a clear work plan and maybe some real results will develop. Well, at least the process is open.

Roundup: Carnegie Mellon in Space

An inside track to the moon: The TG Daily is reporting that Carnegie Mellon has the first official entry to Google’s Lunar X-Prize. CMU researcher William Whittaker is assembling a group to compete from the university’s Robotics Institute. Even though it’s only the first entry, Whittaker has a leg up on the competition ? he’s already built a next-gen lunar rover. [Via Slashdot]

Shooting at Delaware State: Various news sources are reporting two students have been shot at Delaware State University. In response to the shooting, DWU cancelled classes today and put the campus under lockdown. It seems like a pretty good response, and everybody of course is making parallels to Virginia Tech. This is just the latest tragedy for Delaware State ? last month four DSU students were shot execution style in New Jersey.

Don’t Tase me, remixed: The Florida Tasing incident, which continues to blow up across the web, is looking to be the next great meme. Search on YouTube for remixes of all sorts, and even t-shirts and apparently he’s getting thrown a wicked kegger. I can has Tazekegger?

Have a good weekend, and root for Ithaca. They’re going to need some help.

A shock at Florida

Updated 9:25 p.m.: Duped? Maybe. There’s now a police report (PDF) obtained by CNN that gives some more detail about what happened before the cameras started rolling for the questions to Kerry. According to the report, Meyer was handing out business cards and disrupted Kerry’s speech before he got to the mic. The report makes it sound a lot more like Meyer knew what he was doing and was confrontational from the start.

If you read the report, officer Jeffery Lamb probably makes the most coherent piece of the report,clearly differentiating between before Meyer started asking his question:

He also excitedly stated as Ofc. W. Wise #501 and Ofc. N. Mallo #48 approached him, before making contact or exchanging words, that they were going “to arrest me for trying to ask my question”. I also approached Meyer from my posted location to possibly assist Mallo and Wise if Meyer behavior escalated any further.

Meyer was told that he would be granted the opportunity to speak by Senator Kerry after he finished answering the question that Meyer interrupted. Before I returned to my post I observed Meyer hand a digital hand-held camera to white female he was present with, and it appeared that he instructed her to film his interaction. When Kerry permitted Meyer to speak, he began ranting without asking a specific question to Senator Kebook with Kerry and congratulated Kerry for winning the 2004 election.

Thanks to faithful reader (and College Ave. alum) Matt for the tip on the PDF.

* * *
A story about a student at the University of Florida who was Tasered by campus police is making some noise. The student, 21-year-old Andrew Meyer, was asking questions during a forum with U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) The topics ranged from the 2004 election to the Skull and Bones society at Yale to thoughts about impeaching President Bush.

There are several videos on YouTube and also a CNN I-Report video, but probably the best comes from WTVJ ? watch that one. Some detailed coverage from conservative blogger Michelle Malkin said he asked his question after the final question was called, which looks to be true. However, Kerry clearly allowed Meyer to ask his questions, and even after Meyer was pulled away, Kerry agreed to answer them.

Meyer was arrested for inciting a riot and resisting arrest, and spent Monday night in jail before his release Tuesday morning. The University of Florida released a statement where President J. Bernard Machen said there would be a formal, independent investigation and that two of the officers have been placed on administrative leave. At a news conference today the college also said they will form a panel to review safety protocol, and conduct an internal investigation. No word if the State will pursue charges against Meyer.

The Independent Florida Alligator has an editorial saying the UPD went overboard in response to Mayer’s actions. Despite Meyer’s clear resistance in the video, I think that’s a good call. There’s also a column that’s less friendly to Meyer, but it too agrees with the fact that the police used excessive force.

The editorial also brings up that this isn’t the first time a student has been Tasered in recent memory. In November 2006, a UCLA student was Tasered after refusing to show his ID in a school library.

Another note: Meyer has written columns and also has a website with some video sketches. On Malkin’s blog, one writer claims he’s just another attention-seeking brat. It could be true, but that’s no reason to get Tasered. Clearly there’s a lot going on here, but hopefully we’ll get some more answers and reaction from eyewitnesses and the college in the coming days.