It pains me to see someone like Andrew Meyer become both a vaunted hero for freedom of speech and a poor victim over overzealous police. Mr. Meyer styles himself an agent provocateur, and has staged outrageous pranks and other stunts to grab attention to himself.
A short review of his own websites: http://www.theandrewmeyer.com/ and http://www.freewebs.com/newforum/index.htm does much to display his penchant for attention grabbing scenes.
Andrew Meyer was not tasered for asking a question; he was tasered for bucking the line, and continually resisting an officer as part of a publicity stunt. In the hierarchy of true martyrs of free speech, he barely merits a mention in the third footnote of the appendix.
If you want to talk about free speech being squelched by violence, there are a hundred better examples to use than Andrew Meyer. Theo van Gogh, the Hollywood Ten, Kareem Amer, to name three off the top of my head.
Because of their writing or their beliefs, they were murdered in the streets of Amsterdam, persecuted by the US Congress, or jailed under threats of death.
“Don’t Tase Me, Bro”, makes a witty frat-boy catchphrase, but it is not more than that – a catchphrase. Do not conflate a soundbite from a silly college prank to the impassioned plea of a martyr, lest you dim the importance of the martyrs.
Note: This letter references an article in the Sept. 21 issue of The Minaret.