The two officers placed on paid leave for using a Taser on a University of Florida student explained Wednesday why they felt it necessary to use a stun gun on the unruly student. Andrew Meyer, 21, refused to sit down at the end of a question-and-answer session with Sen. John Kerry and insisted that his questions be answered, they said. The officers added that Meyers' rant, directed toward Kerry after the question and answer period was over, included a reference to a sex act.
Police also suggested Meyer staged the incident. They said he handed a woman next to him a camera and asked her, "are you taping this? Do you have this? You ready?" When, police said, Meyer would not be quiet to let Kerry answer, his microphone was cut off and organizers of the event asked officers to escort him out. "The man lifted me up and pushed Officer Wise to avoid being taken in to custody," Officer Nicole Mallo said. When more officers were called in, they said he continued to "push, kick and elbow the officers." When officers were only able to place one handcuff on Meyer, Sgt. Eddie King gave the order to use the Taser. "One contact Tase to the man's left shoulder was deployed," King said. One officer said he drew his Taser on Meyer but was ordered not to use it. Police said it was only after his continued, active, physical resistance to being arrested that the order was given to Tase Meyer. On his way to jail, Meyer became lighthearted, police said. According to the police report, Meyers told officers: "I am not mad at you guys, you didn't do anything wrong, you were just trying to do your job." Meyer's lawyer said the Taser was unnecessary and promised to vigorously fight the charges police filed, which include inciting a riot and disrupting a school function. The videotaped incident in Gainesville, Fla., has rekindled a national debate over the controversial stun guns.
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