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Report Clears Police In UF Taser Incident

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The Associated Press

Published: October 25, 2007

GAINESVILLE - University of Florida police were justified when they used a Taser against a student who refused to stop questioning Sen. John Kerry at a campus event, according to a state investigation released Wednesday.

The university released a 17-page executive summary of the 300-page report by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which was asked to investigate after some thought officers overreacted against student Andrew Meyer.

The scuffle started during the Sept. 17 speech when Meyer refused to leave the microphone after his allotted time was up, officials said. Police said he used vulgar language and physically resisted the officers. The videotaped altercation and Meyer's cries of 'Don't Tase me, bro!' were played frequently on the Internet.

'In short, the FDLE determined that our officers acted well within state guidelines,' university President Bernie Machen said in a letter to students, faculty and staff.

Rob Griscti, Meyer's attorney, said he couldn't comment on the report with a criminal case still pending. Griscti said he would respond when he could compare the whole FDLE report with the facts from his own investigation.

Meyer, a journalism major, was known for posting practical jokes on his Web site, but his attorney said Wednesday his questions for Kerry were serious. Meyer asked about impeaching President Bush, why Kerry didn't challenge the 2004 election results and whether he and Bush were members of the secret Skull and Bones society at Yale University.

'He raised questions about voter disenfranchisement and other matters about American voting rights, which cut to the heart of our Democracy,' Griscti said in a statement. 'These questions deserve the media's attention and full public discourse.'

Meyer has been charged by police for resisting an officer and disturbing the peace, but the state attorney's office has not yet decided whether to file formal charges.

'Our investigation is running on a separate track,' said Spencer Mann, a spokesman for the state attorney's office. 'We're not quite there yet.'

Mann said the decision may be made some time next week.

Machen said two officers placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation were reinstated Wednesday.

The report states the officers' first intent was just to escort Meyer from the auditorium, but he broke away and refused to comply with their verbal instructions.

'Officers decide not to escalate to hard empty hand strikes, kicks, knees or baton ... it would have looked like the officers were beating Meyer into submission,' the report said. The report, which has Meyer's name and that of other students blacked out, said the officers did what was necessary to control the student.

Machen said a committee reviewing event management would continue to meet.

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