A Shocking Moment for Society: Tasering at University of Florida

Today's news shows a recognizable shock moment in the annals of a closing society. A very ordinary-looking American student -- Andrew Meyer, 21, at the University of Florida - was tasered by police when he asked a question of Senator John Kerry about the impeachment of President George Bush. His arms were pinned and as he tried to keep speaking he was shocked -- in spite of begging not to be hurt. A stunning piece of footage but unfortunately, historically, a very familiar and even tactical moment.

It is an iconic turning point and it will be remembered as the moment at which America either fought back or yielded. This violence against a student is different from violence against protesters in the anti-war movement of 30 years ago because of the power the president has now to imprison innocent U.S. citizens for months in isolation. And because, as I have explained elsewhere, we are not now in a situation in which 'the pendulum' can easily swing back. That taser was directed at the body of a young man, but it is we ourselves, and our Constitution, who received the full force of the shock.

There is a chapter in my new book, The End of America, entitled "Recast Criticism as 'Espionage' and Dissent as 'Treason,'" that conveys why this moment is the horrific harbinger it is. I argue that strategists using historical models to close down an open society start by using force on 'undesirables,' 'aliens,' 'enemies of the state,' and those considered by mainstream civil society to be untouchable; in other times they were, of course, Jews, Gypsies, Communists, homosexuals. Then, once society has been acculturated to that use of force, the 'blurring of the line' begins and the parameters of criminalized speech are extended -- the definition of 'terrorist' expanded -- and the use of force begins to be deployed in HIGHLY VISIBLE, STRATEGIC and VISUALLY SHOCKING WAYS against people that others see and identify with as ordinary citizens. The first 'torture cellars' used by the SA, in Germany between 1931 and 1933 -- even before the National Socialists gained control of the state, during the years when Germany was still a parliamentary democracy -- were informal and widely publicized in the mainstream media. Few German citizens objected because those abused there were seen as 'other' -- even though the abuse was technically illegal. But then, after this escalation of the use of force was accepted by the population, students, journalists, opposition leaders, and clergy were similarly abused during their own arrests. Within six months dissent was stilled in Germany.

What is the lesson for us from this and from other closing societies, some of them democracies? You can have a working Congress or Parliament; newspapers; human rights groups; even elections; but when ordinary people start to be hurt by the state for speaking out, dissent closes quickly and the shock chills opposition very, very fast. Once that happens, democracy has been so weakened that major tactical and strategic incursions -- greater violations of democratic process -- are far more likely. If there is dissent about the vote in Florida in this next presidential election -- and the police are tasering voters' rights groups -- we will still have an election.

What we will not have is liberty.

We have to understand what time it is. When the state starts to hurt people for asking questions, we can no longer operate on the leisurely time of a strong democracy -- the 'Oh gosh how awful!' kind of time. It is time to take to the streets. It is time to confront those committing crimes against the Constitution. The window has now dropped several precipitous inches and once it is closed there is no opening it without great and sorrowful upheaval.

We also need to understand from history that the temptation at a moment like this to grow more quiet -- to stay out of the line of fire -- is the wrong choice by far. History shows categorically that if citizens do not stand up now to confront and imprison the abusers, things do not get safer -- they get much more dangerous for ordinary people, activist or not.

I was scared when I wrote The End of America -- personally scared because the blueprint I was tracing in the summer of 2006 showed clearly that protesters and critics would start to be hurt within the year. When I told a dear friend that I was scared, he gently reminded me of the history I was reading. He asked, will things be scarier for you and the ones you love if you speak up now -- or if you are silent?

We don't just need to speak up now. We need to act. It is time to rebel in the name of the flag and the founders.

This post first appeared on PowellsBooks.Blog.

Naomi Wolf is the author of The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, Chelsea Green Publishing, Sept 2007. She is also a co-founder of the American Freedom Campaign, a grassroots and grasstops democracy movement.

Comments

[IntegrityIntact]

I really do hope you circulate this piece to all your friends and contacts in the media, Naomi. You posed the strongest argument against the outrage that occured at the University of Florida.

Already as the tide rises in anger and response to the incident--a backlash is underway to justify Andrew meyer being unlawfully arrested and tasered.

And those that justify with thoughtless quips of "he shoulda left" when asked or "he got what he deserves for acting up" underscores your point, Naomi, that its the people themselves who need to fight to keep their rights alive.

I beleive we are being tested to see how much the people are willing to take. And the Andrew Meyer incident shows people unwilling, resisting to get up off their asses and to REACT, forget about protesting!

React you robots! I've called the University of Florida now at 352.392.11­1 and demanded to know what they're gonna do with the 7 campus police members who participated in this orgy of rights abuse.

A girl, who'll remain nameless, forwarded me to the Director of Campus police, Linda Stump, whose telephone has been disconnected with no further information.

If no action is taken and these cops are not thrown from the campus, I will start a campaign of accountability.

[sam2300]

Know I'm coming a bit late to this, but I wish people would get all the facts before screaming "OUTRAGE!" It is this kind of overreaction that gives progressives a bad name.

Andrew Meyer has a history of purposely raising the ire of people. He clearly PLANNED to casue a ruckus and clearly WANTED to create a scene. He STOLE the microphone from someone else who was speaking and asked someone to tape the whole thing BEFORE he started speaking. THIS WHOLE THING WAS PLANNED and anyone crying "OUTRAGE!" is simply being duped by this cunning young man.

[NoMoFearNoMoHate]

straw man

the facts and the video are out there - including the fact that at least some of those officers have been put on leave

are you going to decide for yourself or do what 'sam2300' tells you to do? you wouldn't want to be a dupe would you?

[mickleby]

sam2300 believes that people who don't fall in line deserve whatever violence they receive. Hope he's not my kid's gym coach.

[bethinCary]

Now maybe paeople will begin to understand why the ruse of all of the sham excues given for going into Iraq.

War is always a good excuse to suspend civil rights for the benefit of corporate America and neocons.

War V. Civil rights
A vote for war is a vote aginst citizens' rights.
it's the fascism playbook.

[anotherbozo]

Another point: Couldn't Kerry have averted the tasering, and the police manhandling too? "Officers, if you'll let the student sit down, I'll be happy to answer his questions.­" Instead he delivered a grotesque self-parody: "Folks..." trailing off into nothing.

[anotherbozo]

I saw the tape of Meyers' tasering yesterday, thanks to an email from Greg Palast. It's all over YouTube--the only good news in connection with it. It made me sick. Did mainstream media cover it?
You mention a time to "act." The "Notebook" section of Harpers Magazine (I forgot the author) calls for a national strike this Nov. 4th. Possible? Good-thinking Americans always have trouble coming up with what it means to "act;" maybe this idea has legs.

[janetk]

Political statements at an award show? No crossing over? Why not, we have football (sports show) on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Let's just do football, I'm tired of cooking and cleaning and buying and making believe it's still about the HOLIDAYS.

[THP]

Listen to all of you apologists. Aren't you all mad as hell and don't want to take it anymore? Isn't this what Meyer personified while you apologists focus on niceties, and turns and fairness? When Bush was re-elected in 2004 we should all have blown a fuse but instead we said let us bide our time and wait it out til 2008 and the end result of that may well be World War III.

[Kyuzo]

Very few people are justifying the use of the Taser. However, Meyer was being disruptive and rightly deserved to be removed from the building by the police.

He wasn't dragged out for his questions, he was dragged out for his behavior. Whether the Taser was appropriate (it wasn't) is a different issue.

[ThomasDoubting]

When I hear it said that he deserved it, for not following orders, it seems to me that maybe the wrong people are being tasered. Lets taser the ones who are following orders, maybe it will wake them up. There are those who believe that if they avert their eyes, they can avoid responsibility. If we allow our rulers to taser anyone, eventually they will taser anyone. They have already declared that they have the right to torture us, how can we object to a little taser. I am sure that they are not going to taser everyone, most people will not be affected, but your neighbors might, or your friends, or your kids. They will probably start with minorities. Eventually it will be more random.

[THP]

Peoples, watch the long version video and stop mischaracterizing what happened (like Jim R completely misquoting Meyer). Meyer was angry about Bush winning second term and failure to impeach and escalation of Iraq....an­d anyone who is not angry is a fool. So, this Meyer starts ranting...­.isn't it about time for some impolite questioning? Kerry was quite capable of handling Meyer. Cutting the mike was maybe appropriate and then letting Kerry answer and then asking Meyer to let someone else have a turn. Nothing in that video warranted the precipitous manhandling of Meyer. Maybe Meyer, like many of us, are tired of the staged, too polite, screened questions at such events....­maybe the person behind him was going to ask another inane, pointless question. So what? If those behind him were "suffering" then they are quite capable of taking care of themselves­...like saying, "hey buddy, the rest of us need a turn."
Some of you are arguing that this was justified because the poor other people in line were not getting their turn. Boo Hoo.

[Rapter]

Tasers do not belong on school campuses. The nut cases walking around playing lets pretend I'm a cop are dangerous enough with billy clubs. Putting a potentially lethal weapon in their hand is idiocy. They are untrained, unprepared and definiely untrustworthy. How does asking a question enough to warrant such a response? It does not.

[Kyuzo]

The UPD at UF is not a bunch of security guards, they are a full-fledged police department. The use of the Taser in this incident was uncalled for and the officer who used it should be reprimanded or fired.

But don't sit there and suggest that these weren't cops.

[mickleby]

Only a moron who has never met a campus cop would decide to give the cop a taser.

[KeysDan]

The handling of the loud-mouthed student expressing political speech at a University-approved political discussion by a politican was grotesque. It is certainly not the first time campus police have had to deal with the antics of college students without resorting to taser tactics. Senator Kerry, standing incuriously at the podium while screaming was going on in the back, was odd. Some of the comments on this thread are sad--seeing no correlation between the impolite (if such a thing exists) political questions and the over-the-top and unprofessional response of the campus police. He deserves all he gets and then some, it seems. While, hopefully, a long way off, I was horrified by another news story of today, the uncovering of an SS officer's snapshots of officers and friends frolicking in leisure time at Auschwitz. Of course, nothing like that could happen here, but it made me pause.

[ArmanRisk]

When directed by lawful authority to stop resisting you must stop or else endure what comes next. That is the law. Don't like it...chang­e it. If you are unlawfully detained..­.you sue...its the law and it works. Fighting a cop is not the way to express yourself. And remember..­.before the taser there was the choke hold and the blackjack. So pick your battles wisely.

[NoMoFearNoMoHate]

yeah but they're going to taze you anyhow - so you might as well get in a few licks while you can

[chombo]

Okay, I get the author's point, but the guy was really annoying. Just a self-important, screaming lefty who wouldn't shut up when he was politely asked to. I think this guy was just looking for publicity and attention for his moronic, self-important lefty website. If I had been there, I probably would have cheered when they tased him. It's people like him that make it easy for the right to label all critics as delusional traitors. This is just like those idiots who try to get questions about the 9/11 "truth movement" into every political discussion. You're not helping, morons.

[brilliantatbreakfast]

The Bush Administration has studied its Third Reich well. Given how much we know about Prescott Bush and his participation in the plot to topple FDR and replace him with a fascist government, and how he financed the Nazis, I wonder if this sort of police state, and how to enact it, hasn't been part of the Bush family dinner table conversation for a generation.

[bethinCary]

Yep-Let's see
there's illegal wiretapping
there's torture
there's military tribunals instead of trials
now there's erosion of free speech.(Sa­lly Fields', war protestors)
vote caging of blacks

It amazes me to see that people on here want to break this down as an isolated incident-guess that's exactly what Hitler wanted the Germans to think before it bacam a fascist state too.
The ignorance of amnay on here not to see that-or the breakdown in civil rights-even in the Larry Craig case, where a foot tap is meant to arrest. these are scary times indeed.

[mageduley]

Lets cut out the personal history of this kid. The fact is, they already had him on the ground. He was already in handcuffs. There were at least 4 to 6 police around this guy. You mean to tell me they could not subdue him and take him out of there? While I am against the squelching of free speech, there is a mature way to express it. This kid did not go the mature route. There is NO REASON, NONE, why this kid had to be tazed. NONE! While his method of speaking was harsh, he did not incite a riot. Indeed many in the audience were applauding him. Kerry asked the police to allow him to answer the questions. The police acted like they didn't even hear Kerry's request. This kid may have had a troublemaking history, but in this instance, I did not see anything criminal here.

I have read Armed Madhouse, and it is disturbing. I can see where he would want answers to his questions. I can also see that anyone who would want to ask those questions would not be allowed to speak (no conspiracy theorists here). He got to the mike to give the audience the background of his question so it would make sense to them. Simply saying "Mr. Kerry, you won the election, why didn't you fight" would not have given the audience the background it needed to know why this was such an important issue. Indeed even Rep. John Conyers met with the author of Armed Madhouse to discuss his investigations of fixed elections.

These were legitimate questions, but ones the establishment did not want aired in a public forum. Especially in Florida (where a lot of this vote fixing occured).

Regardless of this kid's past, the questions were legitimate. This is clearly a obstruction of free speech. It is an outrage he was even arrested, but understandable since he did not do it in a mature manner. But physical pain? To stop him from speaking? It is hard to believe this is America.

[negogato]

Well said mageduley.

Kerry said, "Let me answer the question"

But the police had other plans.

[mickleby]

Well said. I believe you weigh the issues fairly. Still, I don't think this is about speech. The guy was disruptive, he needed to leave. He didn't need to be assaulted with 50,000 volts.

I can totally see myself behaving just the way Meyer did. Kerry needed to be confronted, he cannot walk around with impunity after his betrayal of so many millions of Americans.