The recent tasing of a University of Florida student at a town hall style meeting with John Kerry has been making headlines around the world. Tonight I decided to check out YouTube to see what I could make of the situation. Some are saying that it was police brutality and a suspension of the student's first amendment rights. Others were saying that he was warned and resisted arrest. This video (according to a Wired article) appears to be the number one viral video, but I think this other video gives a much better angle and has much better sound. From the videos, my conclusion is that the student was warned many times and the police had to keep escalating their level of force. By the time he was saying that he would walk, it was too late. Even after he laid on the ground, he still continued to resist arrest. What reactions did others have?
Warning: Both videos do have the tasing and the student does use one very non-Family safe word once.
(bowhunter): The guy disrubted a forum, was asked to leave, gave a fight, resisted arrest, and was tazed, seems totaly fair. What was not fair is that he wanted that to happen. He wanted to get on tv and for people to check out his website. He had previously set up so that two people would video tape him and catch his antics. This is total crap and is not fair to the police or to the Senator. This guy has made it less likely that any people of importance will be inclined to speak at college events. Thank you for making our stupid colleges even more ignorant.
YanıtlaSilI refuse to watch the video, simply because the perpetrator has admitted it was staged and expressly told the police "You did the right thing." My thoughts are essentially:
YanıtlaSil1. What were you trying to prove?
2. Do you have so little in life that you had to try to pretend to be Rosa Parks?
3. Why choose a John Kerry rally? Could you have found a MORE irrelevant venue, if you had tried?
didn't realize he admitted that it was staged just that the Wired article suggested it and it appeared that he was asking to be tased by how he was behaving.
YanıtlaSilI agree with nomad on not watching the video. i tend to avoid viral videos if at all possible - partially to be different and partially because they're generally idiotic. in this case it's really because this guy was trying to make the police appear to be overly brutal and i can't support that with either my clicks or my time.
YanıtlaSilI tend to be with Bowhunter in this. The guy wanted this to happen and pushed the police until it did.
YanıtlaSil