[Guest post by DRJ]
Andrew “Don’t Tase Me, Bro” Meyer has apologized and will avoid jail:
“The Andrew Meyer seen in YouTube clips does not apologize. He rants at Senator John Kerry, struggles with police officers trying to escort him out of the room, implores them to “don’t tase me, bro,” and, quite disturbingly, wails in pain as they do it anyway.
But his lawyer, Robert Griscti, told the University of Florida campus newspaper that Mr. Meyer began drafting apologies immediately after his release on Sept. 18. Indeed, Mr. Meyer penned three separate apologies (available here) as part of a deal to avoid criminal charges, The Gaineseville [sic] Sun reports.
The saga ends with Mr. Meyer voluntarily taking an 18-month leave of absence from college and agreeing “to perform certain actions including making a donation to the American Cancer Society or performing community service,” the paper said.”
Meyer apologized to his school, all Americans, and specifically to the police officers who had already been cleared of wrongdoing:
“It was my actions that forced the officers there into a position where they needed to take action,” he said in the letter to the police department.”
Meyer will avoid jail time as a result of these actions.
I hope he stays contrite for a long, long time but I have my doubts.
— DRJ
Update 1: From Andrew’s lawyer’s website –
“Andrew is a good and decent young man. He is a student, and he has shown his capacity for learning. I submit to you that he deserves great credit for taking the high road and focusing on the future. He will address the issues he is concerned about at his website link.
For Andrew Meyer, the future is now. It is the presidential election of 2008. As his lawyer, I hope for Andrew that the legacy of his story will be realized by Americans of whatever belief voting their conscience in 2008 and helping to insure that their countrymen can and will do the same.”
Update 2: I’ve read Andrew Meyer’s letters that can be accessed at his lawyer’s website for this case (use the menu on the left side). I am impressed with Meyer’s letters but his lawyer’s comments are strangely at odds with Meyer’s expression of remorse. I hope Meyer’s comments say more about his attitude than his lawyer’s statements.