Several readers have appealed to the ultimate authority, Monty Python. From a reader:
Am I the only one who thought of Dennis the Peasant from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, when watching this irritating punk in the video?
“Help, Help! I’m being repressed! Come and see the violence inherent in the system!”
In all seriousness though, this kid has noone to blame but himself. Maybe the police were too quick to use the taser, but until the investigation is complete, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. All he had to do was comply with their orders and none of this would have happened. They gave him more than fair warning.
I am a graduate of the University of Florida, and this has long been a problem at speeches on campus. Crazy lefties, and aging hippies always seem to find a way to the microphone, and hijack these events for their own personal platform of crazy-talk. They are not interested in getting answers to honest questions, they simply want to be the center of attention. It’s not fair to the speaker, or to the students who came to listen. Regardless of whether or not the police were too aggressive (and I don’t think they were), I’m glad the event organizers are starting to do something about it by cutting off his microphone, and having him ejected.
Me: Alas, I couldn’t find the scene at Youtube, but I did find this pretty good re-enactment of it.
Meanwhile, another reader had the same thought I did:
Just watched the video. Reminded of great Eddie Murphy line from “Trading Places”, to wit: “May I suggest using your nightstick, officer?” That wasn’t civil disobedience; it was actively resisting arrest.
Me: True story: Once in high school, I was being questioned by a police officer in regard to some seemingly disorderly conduct associated with drinking in public (no need to go into details here). A friend of mine, who’d also been drinking but hadn’t been caught engaging in tomfoolery, came up to the cop and said, “Pardon me, may I suggest you use your night stick officer?” The cop, mildly amused, let us off with a warning — which of course, I took completely to heart and followed the straight and narrow path for the rest of my life.