After watching the video, I'm shocked the police used a taser here. Not only was he not in any way, shape or form a threat to anyone, he was being held by fully six police officers. He was resisting arrest, and pretty mildly by the appearance of the video (i.e. it was pretend resistance: he never once threw a punch). The police themselves referred to his actions as merely "squirming". I think the director of the conference over-reacted in asking the police to intervene, the police over-reacted in friggin' arresting him, and massively over-reacted in using the taser.
Really, when it gets to the point that you can't cause a ruckus at a conference without being tortured by thugs in uniform, you have to wonder what freedom really means. I mean, the guy didn't even start shouting naughty words or something equally heinous. He just stubbornly insisted on asking Kerry a question.
InactionMan, I don't hate all police officers, though many of the ones I've personally dealt with deserve all they get from the public. I've also dealt with a couple who have been the very example of what a police officer should be, but they seem to be in the minority.
AWR and thegeriatric: if six police officers can't arrest someone, who wasn't even seriously struggling, without using their fists, then why do we have a police force at all? Their job is to deal with these situations professionally, not cause far more problems, as happened here.
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