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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (15104)	9/18/2007 5:39:55 PM
From: Ann Corrigan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 224729

Kerry was for the arrest, before he was against it >Kerry Condemns Heckler Arrest September 18, 2007 ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: Sen. John Kerry on Tuesday comdemned the arrest of a University of Florida student at one of his speeches, saying that he was engaged in a "good healthy discussion" with 21-year-old Andrew Meyer when he was Tasered and taken into custody. "In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way," Kerry said in a statement. "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," he continued. "I hope that neither the student nor any of the police were injured. I regret enormously that a good healthy discussion was interrupted." For politicians, hecklers come with the territory. But the arrest and detention of Meyer at Kerry speech on Monday stood out in at least two respects: Police acted aggressively in trying to silence Meyer, and the entire incident was captured on video -- making it an immediate Internet and TV sensation. Videos show Meyer being pulled away from the microphone after he sought to ask Kerry, D-Mass., a rambling series of questions that touch on allegations of voting improprieties in the 2004 election, possible impeachment of President Bush, Iran, and Kerry’s membership in Yale's secret Skull and Bones society. Kerry sought to answer at least some of Meyer’s questions even as Meyer was dragged off by campus police -- and after police used a Taser to try to subdue him as he was being arrested. "Help me! Help!" Meyer says. "What are you doing! Get off of me! Don't Taser me, bro! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Meyer was jailed overnight on charges of disturbing the peace and resisting an officer. As word spread of his arrest, his friends used his Website as a clearinghouse for supporters to learn about the incident, and to organize a rally on his behalf on the University of Florida campus at noon ET today. The University of Florida has scheduled a news conference to discuss the incident at 3 pm ET today. University spokesman Steve Orlando defended the officers' actions in an interview with the Associated Press, but said an internal investigation would be conducted to make sure they acted appropriately. "He apparently asked several questions -- he went on for quite awhile -- then he was asked to stop," Orlando said of Meyer. "He had used his allotted time. His microphone was cut off, then he became upset." Typically, hecklers and aggressive questioners are handled informally at political events. Shouts of "boo" or political chants drown out someone who dominates a forum, and peer pressure normally is enough to regain order. But sometimes, law-enforcement officials take a more aggressive tack.<