The case of Andrew Meyer

I've been thinking a lot about the case of Andrew Meyer, the University of Florida journalism student who got arrested and tasered by police a couple of days ago during the question/answer part of a lecture by senator John Kerry.

See? I don't care what he was asking, or how long he had been in front of the microphone talking, the police officers had no business arresting him...let alone using a taser on the student. What they did was abuse of power.Negligence even. But something else that disgusted me, maybe even more, was the fact that no one else in that auditorium did anything about the situation. I don't know how many students were there, but man, were they cowards. I don't know if it's this generation, or the culture, but college students in this country tend to let others "deal with their own problems"... which is, by my standards, bullshit. How did we come to be spectators? The only thing missing was a glass case that separated the audience in that auditorium and what was happening with Mr. Meyer and the police officers. I wonder if the officer who used the taser would have thought about it before using it if only the others in that room (including Senator Kerry... who had a microphone in front of him) had said something
about it.

I am also disgusted by the reaction of the university. They have let the matter go into an outside investigation of the case. HA, of course. It reminds me the time two black students that were volunteering under my somewhat leadership during the collection of donations for hurricane Katrina survivors in the fall of 2005 outside the Razorback stadium, and got taken into custody by a UAPD officer because the officer thought they were stealing the donations. They happened to be the only two black volunteers with no volunteer bracelets (there were about 5 other volunteers with no bracelets, but of course, they wouldn't be stealing, right?!). Oh, I got in the middle of that one. I took it to the VP of student affairs and what did she do? Put the matter under investigation, of course. So I've learn what that means, it means NOTHING will be done. Which is, again, by my standards, bullshit. Those who have the power don't use it.

I've heard and read all over the place that Mr. Meyer was not most loved student at that university. But it doesn't matter how big of a jerk someone is, what happen to him was unacceptable, and if you dig a little deeper (which I haven't done, so this I'm just saying) a violation of his civil rights. I'll be watching this case, and waiting for something to be done about it.