GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida police were justified in using a Taser against a student who refused to stop questioning Sen. John Kerry on campus last month, according to a state investigation released Wednesday.
Some had questioned the use of force in using the stun gun against student Andrew Meyer, leading to the investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. A summary of the agency’s report was released Wednesday.
The scuffle between Meyer and police started during the Sept. 17 speech by Kerry when Meyer refused to leave the microphone after his allotted time was up, police said. The videotaped altercation and Meyer’s cries of “Don’t Tase me bro!” were played frequently on the Internet.
The report says the officers’ intent was to escort Meyer from the auditorium, but he broke away and refused to follow the officers’ instructions.
D.C.: Canadian detainee’s case
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged on Wednesday that the United States mishandled the case of a Canadian engineer seized by U.S. officials and taken to Syria, where he and the Canadian government say he was tortured. Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen, was detained by U.S. immigration agents on Sept. 26, 2002, as he stopped in New York en route home from a vacation. Days later, he was sent by private jet to Syria where, according to Canadian officials, he was tortured. After nearly a year in a Syrian prison, he was released without charges and returned to Canada. Arar’s name remains on U.S. watch lists that forbid his entry into the United States.
Apology for airline profits remark
NASA’s top official expressed regret Wednesday over his agency’s stated reason for refusing to make public a survey on air safety problems according to the nation’s pilots. He dismissed any idea that the space agency would put commercial interests ahead of public safety. NASA administrator Michael Griffin said he disagrees with a senior official’s written reason for refusing to turn over the results of the $8.5 million pilot survey to the media. That official, Thomas Luedtke, said the information could undermine public confidence in the airlines and could affect the airlines’ profits.
Nebraska: Mom’s alleged beer run
A woman let her teenage daughter lean out of a moving van to take beer from a vehicle that was driving alongside, authorities said Wednesday. Terry Kisling, 47, of Hickman was driving the van of high school cheerleaders to a football game in Nebraska City earlier this month when a group of boys pulled up next to them in a sport-utility vehicle, officials said. Kisling inched the van closer to the SUV, letting her daughter lean out to grab a can of beer one boy offered, he said. Kisling was charged with procuring alcohol for minors, contributing to the delinquency of minors and reckless driving.
Montana: Wildlife killed by feds
Federal wildlife agents killed more than 1.6 million animals last year — including a record number of endangered wolves and more than a million birds — because of threats to livestock, crops and air travel. The overall number was down slightly from 2005, when 1.7 million animals were killed, according to a recent federal report. But killings increased for several carnivore species including coyotes, foxes and gray wolves. Wildlife Services reported almost 64,000 cases of animals damaging or threatening to damage property or natural resources in 2006. Those include such acts as beavers girdling trees, coyotes killing sheep, bird strikes on aircraft and woodpeckers damaging buildings.
N.Y.: Pearl widow drops lawsuit
The widow of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl has withdrawn a lawsuit seeking damages against al-Qaida, a dozen reputed terrorists and Pakistan’s largest bank. The lawsuit had sought unspecified damages against people and organizations that Mariane Pearl alleged were involved in the kidnapping, torture and murder of her husband in 2002. Pearl, 38, The Wall Street Journal’s South Asia bureau chief, was abducted from Karachi, Pakistan, while researching a story on Islamic militancy in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. His remains were found in a shallow grave on Karachi’s outskirts.
Mexico: 18 oil workers killed
At least 18 oil workers were killed when a drilling rig hit an oil platform, spilling gas and oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the state-owned oil company said Wednesday. At least seven other workers were still either floating at sea in life rafts or were unaccounted for, and the oil leak is out of control, Petroleos Mexicanos officials said. The accident occurred about 20 miles offshore from the port of Dos Bocas in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. The Mexican navy had sent eight helicopters and four boats to help in the rescue effort, it said.
Israel: Gaza electricity threat
Israel unveiled a new tactic Wednesday aimed at deterring Palestinians from firing rockets out of the Gaza Strip: It will cut off Gaza’s electricity bit by bit as a pressure tactic every time rockets hit Israeli territory. Israel provides more than half of Gaza’s electricity. A lengthy power blackout would not be imposed, defense officials said.
From Herald news services
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