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Okay, so I just found out about this incident, thanks to reading my slashdot and countdown feeds... curiosity got the best of me so i hit Google[1] and YouTube. Some of the vids from YouTube are embedded below, the last being the most complete. All videos show different perspectives of the incident. An interesting spectacle, to say the least. So, Andrew Meyer[2], for some reason, decides to get nutty and belligerent at an event, asks a whole bunch of ridiculous questions, attempts to incite a riot, resists detainment, and gets tazed. And the only thing he had to identify himself when the police were able to remove him, and begin filing reports was a business card. Now, please, tell me this wasn't a stunt... I need a good chuckle. What's interesting is to see all of the blog reactions out there in reference to this incident. There are posts supporting Meyer, posts bashing Meyer, and posts picking fun at Meyer, the police, and Sen. Kerry[3]. I even found an entry where a guy announced the sale of shirts[4], mugs, and all the other wonderful CafePress[5] junk, carrying Meyer's plea of "don't taze me bro!" Many are crying police brutality[6]. One quoted the right for a person to resist arrest[7]. One drew comparison to Kent State. Kerry's even responded. I did, however find two writings that I believe are worth reading--one being from the vantage point of a fellow student at the event, and the other being another one of us random people reading the stories and watching the videos on YouTube. First, an eyewitness states[8]:
1: http://news.google.com/?ncl=1120931376&hl=en&topic=h
2: http://www.theandrewmeyer.com/
3: https://web.archive.org/web/20190928002622/http://www.johnkerry.com/
7: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=45756875&blogID=311258400
8: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/18/10649/5334
While the final question was being read, some douchebag ran down the aisle, grabbed the mic from the other side of the room, interrupted the kid who was talking, and started yelling at Kerry, demanding that his questions be heard. He started ranting about how Kerry talks in circles or something, and everyone was getting annoyed. The cops are all over him in no time and try to escort him out, but he starts yelling and resisting. Kerry insists that they let him stay and even agrees to answer his question.After the interrupted guy's question was answered, Kerry keeps his promise and lets the angry guy talk. This is the point where people started taking their cameras and phones out. All the videos floating around youtube start around here. You can see in the videos that his questioning gets kind of inappropriate, so somebody cut his mic. Instead of shutting up, he starts yelling and making an even bigger scene. He struggled all the way up the aisle, and started violently trying to free himself. They threatened to taze him and he wouldnt stop fighting, so he got tazed. They only had to arrest him because he was causing a disruption and wouldn't leave peacefully. He wasn't being silenced for asking tough questions, trust me.
The latter person, Jamilah Kolocotronis[9], wrote in reference to the negative comments being theorized about Meyer:
9: http://faithechoes.blogspot.com/2007/09/holding-my-tongue.html
He is a human being who had something to say. If some people think he was annoying, well, so what? Can you imagine arresting people just for being annoying? There wouldn't be anybody left.The point is that someone's freedom of speech was violated. Freedom of speech is an essential right--an inalienable right--which cannot be or should not be taken away. In the United States of America, people are not to be arrested and electronically shocked simply for stating unpopular opinions. Without the freedom of speech, the USA will become just another police state.
Interesting stuff. So, what do you think? Personally, I'll back the police. I think the twerp went too far, and he should have been grateful for receiving attention, and quietly slipped away, rather than throwing a tantrum. What do you think?
Tags: #randomness
I wanted to mention these in the post, and forgot... the police report[1] and, an article from the AP[2]. The police report is where I found Meyer's site[3], and the AP story hints at the fact that it was a stunt.
1: http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/images/09/18/offense.report.072274.pdf
3: http://www.theandrewmeyer.com
Okay first I have the slight impression that he doesn't know what he did. Second, his freedom of speech was violated to a point, but the whole reasoning for "meetings" like that is for people to get the opportunity to ask their own questions rather than having someone else ask. They can hear it for themselves. If everyone could just get up and go off on a tangent every time they stood behind the mic then questions would never get asked, defeating the purpose of the whole damn thing. Third, that guy is fucking crazy! I think I would've shut the fuck up when they threatened to taze me! Ya know instead of screaming - "what did I do", over and over and over and over and over..... on and on and on... oh sorry got carried away. Somehow I think I've made my point. lol
I dunno. I think he knew what he was doing, but just didn't expect it to go that far. He was obviously wanting to make some sort of point there, and wanted to do so by whatever means necessary... he just didn't expect to get his ass jumped in the process... And, I believe that it can be safely assumed that he is nuts to some extent, otherwise he wouldn't have attempted to ask the question on Skull and Bones... It's well known that the organization is kept underwraps. The most Kerry couldv'e said, if he wanted to go that far, would ahve been "yes,"... he wouldn't have been able to go any farther than that. On the topic of Skull and Bones, have you seen the documentaries that tie all of the groups together, tracing everything back to the Knights Templar and the "fabled" Luminati? Awesome conspiracy theory stuff there...
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