Andrew Meyer
| God, guns, and freedom U.S. Politics |
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| Starting arguments over Thanksgiving dinner |
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Andrew Meyer is either a victim of the suppression of free speech and a victim of police brutality, or an irritating twat who got his just desserts.
Free speech incident[edit]
On September 17, 2007, while attending a talk by John Kerry at the University of Florida, Meyer was tasered by the police and subsequently arrested.[1] His crime? Speaking past his allotted time and asking Kerry a question about a sensitive subject.[2] Meyer was released after a night in jail; two of the officers involved were put on leave. After his microphone was shut off, he was escorted aside and tried to break away. As he was doing so, the officers forced him to the ground, handcuffed him and then tasered him. During the tasing, he reportedly shouted, "Don't tase me, bro!" giving rise to a new meme. The event, caught on video, briefly made him a minor martyr to "free speech."
A dose of reality[edit]
Standing back to see the whole picture shows us a side of Meyer that waters down his claims of martyrdom. He has what is called a "disorganized diatribe" on the "world wide web" that criticizes the Iraq War, the news media for not covering the conflict enough, and the American public for paying too much attention to celebrity news.
Meyer made a big stink to make sure that he could be the last speaker after it was announced that questions were closing, and it was only so he could bring up two pet points: Kerry's membership in Skull and Bones and alleged vote fraud in Ohio a state that Kerry supposedly won but wouldn't challenge the official results. Turns out he was just a jerk, not a hero. Or maybe a jerk can also be a hero (or vice versa?).
Hoax?[edit]
Some sources reported that Meyer may have intended to get "censored". The official police report states that he was calm and jokey once he was in the police car and that he resumed acting hysterical once he saw cameras.[3] Conversely, many students believed that he was not intending for it to happen, as he wasn't the kind to usually attempt to start trouble (as if asking these kinds of questions aren't starting trouble in the first place).[4]