UF student restrained and Tasered at Kerry speech

You've probably already heard about the student who was arrested and Tasered during John Kerry's speech in Gainesville yesterday.

Toward the conclusion of Kerry's UF forum, 21-year-old Andrew Meyer approached an open microphone at University Auditorium and demanded Kerry answer his questions. Meyer, a UF student in the College of Journalism and Communications, claimed that University Police Department officers had already threatened to arrest him, and then proceeded to question Kerry about why he didn't contest the 2004 presidential election and why there had been no moves to impeach President Bush.

A minute or so into what became a combative diatribe, Meyer's microphone was turned off and officers began trying to physically remove him from the auditorium. Meyer flailed his arms, yelling as police tried to restrain him.

He was then pushed to the ground by six officers, at which point Meyer yelled, "What have I done? What I have I done? Get away from me. Get off of me! What did I do? ... Help me! Help."

Police threatened to use a Taser on Meyer if he did not "comply," but he continued to resist being handcuffed. He was then Tased, which prompted him to scream and writhe in pain on the floor of the auditorium.

After the incident, Capt. Jeff Holcomb of the UPD said Meyer had been charged with disrupting a public event and placed in the Alachua County jail.

I actually find the video of the event very disturbing.

If you have about six minutes, go see the full video here. If you only have a couple of minutes, scroll ahead about a quarter of the way, to the point where Meyer is apprehended and the university police try to remove him from the auditorium.

I don't care if he's asking a question beyond the allotted time (which I understand Sen. Kerry permitted) or even if he's being overzealous. I think the police officers' actions here are clearly excessive. So much for free speech at the University of Florida.

UPDATE (10:33 am 9/18/07): I can't find the linked video on YouTube, but there are many if you search for them. Here's the most complete one I could find; the video quality is poor but the audio is quite clear ... and indeed Sen. Kerry called on Meyer.