Andrew Meyer, Meet John Kerry. Senator Kerry, Meet A Lost Opportunity To Defend Freedom Of Speech.

Andrew Meyer, the University of Florida student who garnered national attention this week while attending a John Kerry speech on Monday, is but the latest victim in this country’s war – not on terrorism, but on the free speech rights of its own citizens. Mr. Meyer was physically carried and dragged to the floor by four or five police officers, then held down and tasered with 50,000 volts of electricity, handcuffed, arrested, and ultimately spent the night in jail, charged with resisting an officer and disturbing the peace. He may be charged with resisting arrest with violence, a felony.

Meyer is a college senior who came prepared to discuss with the U.S. Senator, in an open Q and A session held on university grounds, issues that led to Mr. Kerry’s loss of the 2004 presidential election. Meyer, in addressing Kerry, held up a book he suggested the Senator might want to read. The book, Greg Palast’s ‘Armed Madhouse,’ from which Meyer based several questions, and with which Kerry said he was familiar, suggests hundreds of thousands of votes not counted were in part the reason George Bush was able to retain the presidency.

The real crimes that took place on Monday are many, but few, if any, have brought them all to light.

Mr. Meyer and the University Police:
Was Andrew Meyer looking for attention? Possibly, as his website and reputation suggest. But, does someone with a reputation for attracting attention have the same rights as his peers to freely ask questions? Absolutely. Were his civil rights violated by campus police? Absolutely. There are hundreds of videos posted on YouTube that show the police overreacting and poised to take him down. This is easily a Federal civil rights case.

Regardless of Meyer’s intent, it was agreed that he be allowed to speak, and the police stopped him from speaking.

The Media:
The mainstream media has taken many different stances in their presentation of this incident, from MSNBC’s Chris Matthews airing a segment on “nationwide censorship and control,” to CNN’s Jeanne Moos showing a roundup of taser incidents in an attempt at humor, even ending with what not to do, a reference to Meyer’s now popular “don’t tase me, bro.”

Perhaps the most negative and slanted report came from the internationally syndicated Associated Press, run in hundreds of newspapers and Internet outlets, their lede stating, “A university student with a history of taping his own practical jokes was Tasered by campus police and arrested after loudly and repeatedly trying to ask U.S. Sen. John Kerry questions during a campus forum.”

What is truly concerning is that the media has taken sides in this issue. Headlines ranging from “Was Tasered Student Pulling a Stunt?” to “Tasered student has history of practical jokes” are among the 1200+ news articles on Google News currently.

Senator John Kerry:
Perhaps the most culpable, in the big picture, is Senator Kerry, who claimed he was unaware, until he left the auditorium, that Meyer was being tasered. How that is possible defies even imagination. But the true crime here is that Kerry took no action. Yes, if you watch the videos carefully, it is very clear that Senator Kerry, before the campus police grabbed and restrained Meyer, stated, “That’s all right, let me answer his question.” But Senator Kerry had an opportunity to demonstrate leadership, to show freedom of speech in action, and to leave hundreds of young minds with an inspirational, positive, lifelong lesson about our values and how we should protect them. Instead, and by his own admission, he left the matter to the Police.

“In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way. I believe I could have handled the situation without interruption, but I do not know what warnings or other exchanges transpired between the young man and the police prior to his barging to the front of the line and their intervention. I asked the police to allow me to answer the question and was in the process of responding when he was taken into custody. I was not aware that a taser was used until after I left the building. I hope that neither the student nor any of the police were injured. I regret enormously that a good healthy discussion was interrupted.”

While these types of situtions are challenging, so is the daily business of being a political leader. Kerry showed a lack of leadership, in a time that a small dose of leadership would have caused no harm, and would positively have helped shape the minds of the hundreds of students in the auditorium. Kerry could have chosen to act. Kerry could have chosen to demonstrate what defense of free speech really looks like. Instead, Senator Kerry chose to allow force over speech, setting a poor example for a group who sorely needs to see freedom of speech in action: tomorrow’s leaders.

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For more in-depth information about the voter fraud issue Meyer was referring to, read Michael Clancy’s piece in The Village Voice.
Tim Grieve over at Salon is troubled, too: “We can’t quite decide which aspect of the thing is the most disturbing”

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Tags: Andrew Meyer, Fascism, John Kerry, leadership, Media, News, Police, Press, taser, The Constitution, University of Florida, YouTube