During the closing months of the 2008 presidential race, then-Sen. John Kerry spoke at the University of Florida’s Constitution Day ceremonies.
What was billed as a celebration of America’s founding document quickly devolved into a lesson for future candidates when police wrestled a student to the ground before immobilizing him with a stun gun amid cries for help.
Andrew “don’t tase me bro” Meyer was a fourth-year communications student at the University of Florida when Kerry stopped by the university. Meyer had a background in journalism from his high school years and by 2007 was a regular columnist for the school’s paper, the Independent Florida Alligator.
At the end of Kerry’s Q&A, Meyer was still waiting to ask a question. He handed a video camera to another attendee, asking her to film him, before grabbing a second microphone and addressing the Massachusetts senator.
Meyer quizzed Kerry on irregularities in the 2004 election and why the candidate had failed to support attempts to impeach President George W. Bush. Meyer then questioned Kerry about his involvement in a secretive society during his time at Yale University.
“Were you a member of Skull and Bones in college with Bush?” asked Meyer. “Were you in the same secret society?”
Officers quickly surrounded Meyer, and the audience applauded as police forcibly pushed Meyer up the aisle and away from the stage.
“Excuse me, what are you arresting me for?” Meyer yelled. “Woah, woah, woah, woah. Is anybody watching this? I’m not doing anything.”
When officers pinned the Florida student to the ground, the moment darkened as police physically overpowered Meyer. Kerry can be heard attempting to calm the situation as officers command Meyer to put his hands behind his back or be shocked with a stun gun.
“Get the f— off me, man. I didn’t do anything,” shouted Meyer before uttering the famous words, “Don’t tase me, bro!”
Police drove a taser into Meyer’s side as the college student cried out in pain. Shocked onlookers yelled for police to stop as shouts of “police brutality” rang out in the background.
The incident, caught on camera, became one of the first viral video moments in the history of the internet, with one uploaded clip reaching more than 7 million viewers. The New Oxford American Dictionary announced that “tase” or “taze” was the word of the year for 2007.
Meyer doesn’t enjoy reliving the experience. “I don’t go out of my way to watch it, but it comes up sometimes,” Meyer told the Washington Post in 2014. “Every time I see it, it’s still painful. People talk about the taser as if it were nothing. Maybe some people have been tased, and they didn’t feel it. When I felt it, it was excruciating.”
Today, Meyer, 33, is a journalist who has published with Cernovich News and appeared in interviews with Candace Owens and Scott Adams. His book, Don’t Tase Me Bro! Real Questions, Fake News, And My Life As A Meme, was published in late 2018.
