Zapping free speech

A brief Associated Press item (scroll down) in the Boston Globe this morning led me to the Rutland Herald, which reports that the police chief in Brattleboro, Vt., has been fired in part because of questions over the Tasering of two non-violent protesters last summer.

Herald reporter Susan Smallheer writes the following about an internal investigation that was conducted into former police chief John Martin’s conduct:

The findings of fact repeatedly mention the Tasering of two protesters, who were then arrested and charged with unlawful trespass for refusing to leave private property on Putney Road. According to the findings of fact, Martin received a one-day suspension for failing to provide leadership to his officers during that incident.

According to the report, Martin was at home during the Tasering and arrests, or was already headed to a meeting in Montpelier with Vermont State Police. The town said Martin gave conflicting information about where he was that morning — at home or on the road.

The two protesters, Jonathan Crowell and Samantha Kilmurray, have since hired an attorney, who has said he plans to sue the town and the police department for excessive force.

This seems utterly unsurprising. Which is why I’m scratching my head over University of Florida student Andrew Meyer’s decision to apologize and admit to wrongdoing over an incident in which he was Tasered at a speech by Sen. John Kerry earlier this fall.

You’ll find the video here. Meyer was certainly being obnoxious, but that’s not a crime. I’m not sure why Meyer, like Crowell and Kilmurray, isn’t thinking about filing a lawsuit against the campus police.

Maybe there were previous offenses. The Independent Florida Alligator story doesn’t say. But there’s something here that just doesn’t add up.

Literally shocking

If you haven’t seen video yet of a University of Florida student being subdued and tasered by police during an appearance by Sen. John Kerry, well, here’s one of them:

Yes, it’s pretty shaky, and this package from MSNBC is clearer. But the amateur video captures the entire incident. It’s kind of astounding to hear Kerry droning on while the student, Andrew Meyer, is screaming from the electric shocks.

Meyer was being an obnoxious jerk, but I didn’t realize that was a criminal offense. As for Kerry — wow, talk about clueless.

More: Blue Mass. Group’s David Kravitz, who worked on Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign, links to an AP story suggesting that Meyer was engaged in some sort of stunt. Well, maybe. But I don’t think his getting electrocuted zapped by police was a stunt. And why couldn’t Kerry bring himself to say, “I want the police to stop that”?