Kerry Condemns Heckler Arrest

September 18, 2007 11:48 AM

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 captures on video -- making it an immediate Internet and TV sensation.

Videos show Meyer being pulled away from the microphone after as 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!"

Watch a clip from ABC's "Good Morning America" here.

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.

During the 2004 campaign, protesters were occasionally ushered off of the premises by Secret Service officers assigned to protect President Bush. In one incident, in West Virginia in July 2004, two protesters at a Bush event say they were arrested for refusing to cover up their anti-Bush T-shirts.

In another, post-campaign incident that drew wide publicity, two people were ejected from a presidential event in March 2005 in Denver. In a lawsuit, they claim they were kicked out even before the president arrived because they drove up in a car with a bumper sticker that said, "No more blood for oil."

In this year's presidential race, security has been a major concern early on. One candidate, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., gets Secret Service protection because of her status as a former first lady, while another, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has been assigned protection because of concerns over his safety.

Kerry, who was the Democrats’ nominee in 2004, is no longer assigned Secret Service protection, and does not bring his own security to events. That left University of Florida police in charge of security -- to notable results on Monday.

Two University of Florida police officers were on leave with pay Wednesday as university officials tried to sort out what caused them to use an electronic stun gun to subdue a student, the school's president said.But the student's behavior and past activities prompted questions about whether the incident was part of a stunt.
The Florida Division of Law Enforcement will investigate Monday's arrest of Andrew Meyer, said University of Florida President J. Bernard Machen. Machen called the incident "regretful for us."
"The thing that I regret is that civil dialogue and civil discourse did not happen," Machen said. "That's fundamental to a university campus. Why it didn't happen is what we're trying to sort out."
During Monday's forum, Meyer came to the microphone to question John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee. Watch the incident unfold »
"You will take my question because I have been listening to your crap for two hours," Meyer told Kerry, according to the police report of the incident.
He then turned to a woman and said "Are you taping this? Do you have this? You ready?" the report said.
Clarissa Jessup, who contributed I-Report video of the incident to CNN, said Meyer gave her his camera and asked her to shoot video of him posing his questions to Kerry.
Organizers had cut off questioning before Meyer went to the microphone, she said.
Meyer asked Kerry why he did not contest his loss to President Bush in the pivotal state of Ohio over allegations that African-American voters were disenfranchised.
Meyer also questioned Kerry about why he did not support impeaching Bush and whether he belonged to the Yale University secret society Skull and Bones, as Bush did.
One of the police officers on the scene observed that Meyer was "yelling as loud as he could as to sensationalize his presence," according to the police report.
Meyer had about a minute and a half at the microphone before police stepped in to haul him away. As he tried to escape their grip, Kerry protested, "That's all right, let me answer his question."
While Kerry pleaded for calm, officers warned the student he would be shocked if he did not stop resisting.
Meyer responded, "What did I do? Get off me ... get the f--- off me, man, I didn't do anything. Don't Tase me, bro, I didn't do anything."
But as Meyer repeatedly questioned why he was being arrested, officers dragged him to the back of the auditorium and then used a Taser on him when he continued to struggle.
Police noted that his demeanor "completely changed once the cameras were not in sight" and described him as laughing and being lighthearted as he was being driven to the Alachua County Detention Center.
"I am not mad at you guys, you didn't do anything wrong. You were just trying to do your job," Meyer said, according to the police report.
At one point, he asked whether there were going to be cameras at the jail, according to the report.
Meyer was charged with resisting arrest with violence -- a felony -- and a misdemeanor count of disturbing the peace. He was released without having to post bond Tuesday.
Machen said the clips posted online paint an incomplete picture of the scene.
University spokesman Steve Orlando said before police moved in, Meyer was asked to relinquish the microphone because he was "being disruptive."
The arrest triggered a a vocal but peaceful sit-in Tuesday by about 100 students, protesting what they called an attack on free speech and Meyer's treatment.
One of them, Benjamin Dictor, called the arrest "an assault on reason itself."
"For a question to be met with arrest, not to mention physical violence, is completely unacceptable in the United States," Dictor said.
"I didn't sign up to go see a Kerry speech and end up seeing some guy being tasered and shaking in the back of the room," said Sheallah Palmer.
Not all students agreed.
"I thought he got what he had coming to him," said Scott Markowitz. "If it was me I would have tasered him long before they did."
During Meyer's scuffle with police Monday, some students cheered his removal, and others looked on quietly. But several screamed in protest when officers prepared to shock him.
Meyer was carrying a business card advertising "TheAndrewMeyer.com 'Speak My Mind,' " the police report said.
The Web site features videos of Meyer taking part in several practical jokes. It also includes a "disorganized diatribe" that criticizes the war in Iraq and the media.
The Web site said his friends had posted coverage of his arrest.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Kerry said he didn't know a Taser had been used on the student until after he left the event, and said he hoped no one was injured.
"In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way," he said.
"I believe I could have handled the situation without interruption, but again, 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."
Machen said authorities have not determined whether Tasers were used improperly.
In addition, he said a student-faculty review panel will examine "all of our protocols relative to student dialogue and faculty interaction" in the wake of the incident.