The Taser investigation results are out, but UF protesters say they're too busy to put up a fight.
On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced that the University Police Department officers who Tasered Andrew Meyer on Sept. 17 acted appropriately, a decision that Ben Dictor said he disagrees with.
However, Dictor, a UF political science junior who led about 300 protesters around UF's campus Sept. 18, said this is not the time for demonstrations.
He said he would hold off on protesting until after UF President Bernie Machen responds to the requests Dictor and four other students gave him Friday.
"We've been given a seat at the negotiation table, and we'll do everything we can to negotiate peacefully," Dictor said.
The group asked Machen to prohibit Tasers until a scientific investigation into their safety is completed.
"Any student ought to feel unsafe while these devices are on campus," Dictor said. "These devices are deadly."
In addition, the students called for Machen to create a student forum to discuss free speech and Taser safety, even though Machen created his own committee in September to discuss similar issues.
Dictor said he would also present the group's ideas to Machen's committee.
If the UF administration doesn't show concern for the requests, Dictor added, it would be met with "an outrage well beyond the levels of when the event first occurred."
But not all UF's student protesters are ready to march for the Taser cause again.
Chelsea Solmo, a UF sophomore and member of Students for a Democratic Society - a group that participated in Taser demonstrations - said the group needs to focus on other goals, such as UF's investing policies.
"SDS has washed its hands clean of the Tasing thing," Solmo said.
Although she said she was initially angry at the behavior of the UPD officers toward Meyer, she's more disappointed in the police training system on a whole.
"The fact that the cops are back, whatever, I don't care," Solmo added. "I don't blame the cops. They used what they were given."
Gwen Kaster, a UF religion junior, said she's not surprised the protests have died down.
"Our generation joins Facebook groups instead," Kaster said.
