UF - University of Florida OTR: Police Report: Officer Mallo Gives False Information... an Attempt to Cover Her Ass?

Police Report: Officer Mallo Gives False Information... an Attempt to Cover Her Ass?

Posted by Debbie D. 09/19/2007 07:19 AM
Category: Tags: taser police brutality, police reports, john kerry, UPD, andrew meyer

***There is a more recent post with more information on Mallo's report here.***

The recently released police “report” paints a dramatic picture--not in Meyer's favor--of what happened during Kerry's speech. Unfortunately, it also contradicts reality.

First of, let's start off with what actually happened, based on this this YouTube video, as Meyer approached the microphone :

Senator Kerry concludes his discourse, saying “to continue to pile name upon name upon some wall in the future for a strategy that has failed. That’s the distinction.”

He then turned his attention to Meyer, and called on him, pointing to him in a gesture to ask Meyer to speak, saying “Sir.”

With Kerry's explicit permission, Meyer then began speaking into the microphone, where he was already standing, beginning with: "I first and foremost want to thank you for your time."

Here’s Officer Nicole Lynn Mallo’s interesting little version of the event, as stated in the police "report":

As Senator Kerry was ending his speech, a man disrupted the senator by screaming, yelling, and flailing his arms. The man moved his way down the aisle yelling, "Why don’t you answer my questions, I have been waiting and listening to you speak in circles for the last two hours." "These officers are going to arrest me". The man was screaming and yelling obscenities until Senator Kerry told him to calm down and that he would take his question, but he needed to calm down. At that point, the man stated, "You will take my question because I have been listening to your crap for two hours"

Mallo says that this all happened before Meyer even asked a single question. Good work, Officer-Just-Covering-My-Ass. The cameras were rolling; your little ‘report’ was completely made up!

This bizarre and complete fabrication begs an important question: Is this how police reports are normally made?

+ 41 comments

Anonymous says,

officer mallo is the same cop who arrested my friend for some bullshit... what a **** Posted 09/19/2007 10:47 AMReply

Anonymous says,

wow talk about getting caught red handed...debbie d you rock! Posted 09/19/2007 2:14 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Debbie....

What Mallo reported DID happen, a bunch of us were there. The thing is what you posted above happened before he had his camerasrolling. You see, the cameras only began rolling ONCE Kerry acknowledged he would answer his question. What happened is that Meyer was in line waiting to ask his question (there were many of us there!) and there were two podiums, one on each side of the room to better accomodate the students. When ACCENT and Kerry called the forum to an end, because time was up, that's when this guy got upset! He proceeded to barge to the head of the line and thats' when he started his first tantrum. Then....after he turns to the girl he handed his camera to and asks her if she's filming (she stated he had given her the camera and asked her to film him, she thought it was kosher because he probably just wanted it for his own personal record of meeting a Senator) then he began the rest of the tirade. What really stinks is that the cameras he had there didn't roll till he BEGAN asking his questions. But I'm telling you we all heard him long before the cameras rolled. Those of us there had to fill out witness reports and state everything we saw and heard. I wish you could have seen him, he was like a lunatic. Hope this info helps...Chris Posted 09/19/2007 5:58 PMReply

Anonymous says,

And one more thing..it's not polite to call someone a "****" especially when they aren't even gay. That's kind of idiotic don't you think? If your friend was arrested, he or she probably deserved it. Posted 09/19/2007 5:59 PMReply

Anonymous says,

If this happened before the cameras were rolling, why did the cop wait until after he was actually being given a chance to ask his question?

Logically, the cop should have either arrested him when he was going wild FIRST, or not arrested him at all.

I call bullshit. Posted 09/20/2007 08:33 AMReply

Anonymous says,

Everything you quoted happened before the video cameras started rolling. (And most likely the reason they were rolling in the first place) Posted 09/20/2007 09:09 AMReply

Anonymous says,

According to the eyewitness report at Daily Kos that's exactly what happened BEFORE the cameras started rolling. Doesn't sound made up at all.

It was only after the dude started acting like an ass that everyone flipped their cameras on.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/18/10649/5334

"While the final question was being read, some douchebag ran down the aisle, grabbed the mic from the other side of the room, interrupted the kid who was talking, and started yelling at Kerry, demanding that his questions be heard. He started ranting about how Kerry talks in circles or something, and everyone was getting annoyed. The cops are all over him in no time and try to escort him out, but he starts yelling and resisting. Kerry insists that they let him stay and even agrees to answer his question.

After the interrupted guy's question was answered, Kerry keeps his promise and lets the angry guy talk. <b>This is the point where people started taking their cameras and phones out.</b> All the videos floating around youtube start around here. You can see in the videos that his questioning gets kind of inappropriate, so somebody cut his mic. Instead of shutting up, he starts yelling and making an even bigger scene. He struggled all the way up the aisle, and started violently trying to free himself. They threatened to taze him and he wouldnt stop fighting, so he got tazed. They only had to arrest him because he was causing a disruption and wouldn't leave peacefully. He wasn't being silenced for asking tough questions, trust me." Posted 09/20/2007 09:13 AMReply

Debbie D. says,

@ Anonymous: damn, chris. it sounds like there's more to this story than i thought, and too bad mallo's report is being substantiated, because i really think cops do this sometimes, and this would have been a great opportunity to call them out on corruption. Posted 09/20/2007 09:19 AMReply

Anonymous says,

About the tone of your last comment- you sound bummed that the cop did what he was supposed to do in his report. He accurately documented the events that led up to the confrontation. Why are you not now excitedly holding this case up as an example of the police doing exactly what they are supposed to do? You have a preconceived notion that the police are all corrupt and you blindly accept evidence that conforms to your view while disregarding evidence that contradicts it. Posted 09/20/2007 10:33 AMReply

Anonymous says,

"This bizarre and complete fabrication begs an important question: Is this how police reports are normally made?"

Not normally, but often. Posted 09/20/2007 10:56 AMReply

Anonymous says,

@ the above comment. Actually he has a preconceived notion that police abuse their power, which I would agree is somewhat valid. You on the other hand are one of the "drink the koolaid" types and obviously trust them without question. I believe that there is evidently more to the incident than just a youtube video/s, but does it really take that many police and a taser to subdue one unruly student? There are many many instances of excessive force, maybe you should research police abuse of power a bit. Google it, you will see.

http://www.aclu.org/police/gen/14614pub19971201.html Posted 09/20/2007 11:08 AMReply

Anonymous says,

Congratulation's Debbie, proving Internet reporter's aren't worth a damn for uncovering the complete truth - but only whatever will help support their position. You are less concerned with seeking the truth than you are about damning the police. Quite a few eyewitnesses have corroborated that this person had been disruptive even before what we've seen and was being asked to leave. I've watched further videos of this person as he is being led away, and he's screaming as if he is genuinely fearful of being taken away, refusing to give up his name and crying out for help. You would think that he was being sent to a soviet-nazi death camp. Coupled by his insinuation that Kerry/Bush being both in Skull and Bones (.. and you know where this was headed), my belief is that this person has some serious paranoia/delusional issues that need to be worked through with a psychiatrist. Posted 09/20/2007 11:18 AMReply

Anonymous says,

Debbie D,

I hope to god your not a journalism major.
As others have pointed out the video begins after the initial disturbance. That is why there are cops behind Meyer when the video starts, because he had already made a loud annoying ass of himself.

This is not "false information" and this article is a shoddy, ill-researched piece of crud. Posted 09/20/2007 11:26 AMReply

Anonymous says,

Yes, that is how all police reports are made. The officers just write down whatever they like, and it is taken as fact. Posted 09/20/2007 12:46 PMReply

Anonymous says,

I think you should edit your blog post based on new evidence that what the officer wrote actually did happen. Before you people start crying out injustice, please investigate further. Remember that media, even 50 YouTube videos, can be manipulated. For the record, I think what the police did was fair given the situation they were in. Posted 09/20/2007 1:25 PMReply

Anonymous says,

@ <a href="#c3215">Debbie D.</a>: Yes, cops do make up fake police reports sometimes. There will ALWAYS be some bad apples in a bunch. However, by jumping to conclusions without proper investigation, you're making the jobs of all the good cops that much more difficult.

I don't support a totalitarian/police government, but I also don't believe that people like Meyer should go on unchecked. They're both extremes. Posted 09/20/2007 1:33 PMReply

Debbie D. says,

@ Anonymous: to my variably pissed off readers: yes, i will edit the post based on the new information. right now i'm in class, so hold your horses! Posted 09/20/2007 2:24 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Please don't misuse the phrase 'to beg the question'.

I have been a victim of a fabricated police report as well, but I have a strong mathematical background and was able to discredit the officer in court. The charge was eventually dropped. Posted 09/20/2007 3:10 PMReply

Anonymous says,

There are other ways to remove disturbances. One is to answer their questions, and the other doesn't involve tazering. Posted 09/20/2007 3:14 PMReply

Anonymous says,

I would like to point you to an account which strongly agrees with this officer's description.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/9/18/10649/5334

I would also like to say that I know firsthand that this student who was tazered was quite often outrageous and loud as this link suggests.

I would also like to remind you all that I consider myself a democrat. I was a strong Kerry supporter last election. However, it is important to check your sources thoroughly before falling in line with sensationalism. Posted 09/20/2007 3:14 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Yes this is *exactly* how police reports are made. I have an ex-wife who is now in jail for assault and armed robbery. Yet when she used to attack me and the neighbors would call the cops, the police reports invariably contradicted what the neighbors, me, and our children would say. Instead it would be what my ex said. Oh, did I mention she's totally hot? ****ing cops. Posted 09/20/2007 5:07 PMReply

Anonymous says,

@ <a href="#c3215">Debbie D.</a>: You should try to find some REAL corruption instead of manufacturing it for your own agenda. Like I read somewhere recently - it's not a police state if you have to create it yourself. Posted 09/20/2007 5:30 PMReply

Anonymous says,

@ Anonymous: Yeah, I've read at least 10 eyewitness statements that agree completely with the police officers report. get your facts straight before you condemn someone you idiot. He interrupted another student while the other student was speaking, and then to calm the guy down, kerry said, ill get to you after this student has finished. once the first interrupted student finished, the camera began rolling...God, you will never make a good investigative journalist. Posted 09/20/2007 5:35 PMReply

Anonymous says,

@ Anonymous:
obviously because the police were there to serve protect....it didn't get ugly until crybaby made a scene and scared the crap out of a lot of us...
SO SHUT UP STUPID Posted 09/20/2007 9:04 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Gee Debbie, How about an apology to the police officer who appears to have been totally justified and vindicated. Posted 09/20/2007 9:04 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Debbie..
here's a scary eerie fact...you ready to comment on..ooh..I will be waiting.
Since you seem to know this cops so well..what else would you like to know about her?
Well..as a UNFABRICATED real friend of hers ...he is one of the agency's friendliest down to earth person you will ever know...she has receieved numerous letters of commendations..(did I spell that right?) and she teaches a "battered women's" self defense class.
I knew her when she was in college (HERE!! go gators)
and she single handledly started 3 or 4 peace rallys for the Israeli/Muslim unity movement.
So like everyone else above has been saying..
A good journalist ALWAYS gets their facts straight before publically documenting it...its too bad you look like an ass and hopefully feel like one right now.
This girl could be anyone's sister, friend...you've vulified her...
Make it right.....be an adult...appologise..go talk to her...guarentee your skewed mind will change.
By the way...I went to the Kerry thing...she done good. did what she was told...That GUY ACTUALLY SAID..THEY ARE GOING TO KILL ME....u r supporting a disturbed guy....but I feel like the way u overreacted with this one..just means he is probably your friend and YOU are covering that fact up. understandable but unacceptable to drag a damn good cop down to prove it..you know? Posted 09/20/2007 9:30 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Debbie,

Changet he title of this report otherwise you're continuing the fiasco of this crap... Remove this webblog, cause 1) Free speech is important, but this is 2) lible... making the officer in question appear unfavorably and contributes to a media storm which should be neutral... innocent until proven guilty. And 3) this is an issue of taser use, not fabricating information. Get your facts straight first and again remove this blog... Posted 09/21/2007 05:01 AMReply

Anonymous says,

I second the above... it is irresponsible Debbie to promulgate the above information as truth even in a blog... not acceptable reporting at all. Especially when an investigation is going on to determine truth. If you weren't there, and the video tape clearly doesn't show all of Andrew Meyer's actions during the Kerry debate, then you must not be able to play judge and jury of an officer's account of what happened. Posted 09/21/2007 05:07 AMReply

Anonymous says,

It looks like the majority of the posts here are made from members of the police department. :(

I hope all of you who think this kind of thing is alright get tazered when you try to voice yourself in public. Raising your voice and mentioning skull and bones is NOT grounds for anyone to use a weapon on you. Tazers are intended for self-defense, not for forcing anyone with "attitude" into convulsive submission. Posted 09/21/2007 1:53 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Debbie comes to this conclusion based entirely on a youtube video that only showed half the story????? How idiotic! She then goes on to commit libel against the officer.

The officers were standing behind Meyer in the video because Kerry asked them to release him so he could speak. Meyer had already created an disturbance and committed more than enough offenses to deserve an arrest. Posted 09/22/2007 9:22 PMReply

Debbie D. says,

@ Anonymous: To the above reader: Again, please look at my more recent post that takes new information, namely, eye witness accounts, into consideration. The article is linked in the first line of the above article, or you can click on this link: http://www.collegeotr.com/university_of_florida/eye_witness_accounts_support_mallos_police_report_3840 Posted 09/23/2007 09:00 AMReply

Anonymous says,

Here is what I find interesting. I've seen the video you link before it was edited and the original one started much earlier and ended in the lobby when Mr Meyer was saying they were going to kill him. The original video still doesn't show any altercation until they cut the mike. What I would like to know, with so many video camera's there and the ability to place video's online so readily available, you can't tell me there wasn't anyone filming all this supposed pre-question violence Mr Meyer supposedly did, if it really happened. Since there is nothing to corroborate that pre-question violence, it makes me wonder if the people claiming this happened are just protecting the police? You cannot tell me that people only would have filmed from the point Mr Meyer got to ask his question. If there was a disturbance prior, I'm pretty sure it would have been video taped by someone and placed online by someone. So far I have not seen a single video that shows anything but Mr Meyer being prompted to ask his question by Senator Kerry. Until I see that real evidence I'm still viewing this as overreaction and abuse by police. Just because someone says it happened this way doesn't mean it did. Since I don't know any of the people involved I'm just looking at concrete evidence. The evidence supports police overreaction, and abuse. Posted 09/23/2007 2:49 PMReply

Debbie D. says,

@ Anonymous: to the above anonymous commenter:
i completely agree with your reasoning, and i personally like to rely on concrete evidence (and as a journalist that is the only type of evidence that i rely on). it is pretty interesting that no one posted video coverage of the events that led up to meyer's question, especially if they are as dramatic as mallo reports.

in my opinion, the only possible way to get to the bottom of this is by conducting a series of one-on-one interviews with eye witnesses, and again, there's no way to tell if they are telling the truth, they could be consciously lying to protect the police, meyer, accent, etc, or they could by mistake misreport the events... the plasticity of human memory is well documented.

thanks for the love Posted 09/23/2007 7:45 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Especially when it involves a possible but likely case of police misconduct. From the video, I just don't see what warranted the police moving in. In fact when they cut the mike it appeared he understood his time was finished sarcastically said thanks and was turning to sit down until the police grabbed him. It's also interesting to see accounts like the one above, about how good a person the officer is and other accounts saying how bad Meyer is. Neither have anything to do with what happened and are just spin to try and turn people away from what really happened on the video tape. When that happens I start to question /any/ "eyewitness accounts" So far there are no videos showing anything that resembles breaking of any law. It's commonplace at an open mike event for people to take more time than allotted, just look at Presidential debates. Being verbally rude is not grounds for arrest. It's also common to have people preface their question with an explanation to give people the understanding of why they ask. How many times have we heard "Ok, so get on with the question" in speaking forums we've seen or been to. The control factor is the mike. If a person carries on after the mike is turned off, I could see police being asked to remove them. But in this case there was no chance for Mr. Meyer to sit, the police moved in at the moment the mike was cut off. The officer's account does not match the video. It's clear that she's describing what happened on the tape when he was speaking. All you have to do is match the comments to certain keywords in what he says. Look at all the different angles to judge how many video camera's were there. You can't tell me if there was a ruckus prior to him speaking that it wouldn't have been captured. Until I see that I'm considering those eyewitness accounts as spin doctors. Posted 09/24/2007 02:20 AMReply

Anonymous says,

@ Anonymous: editing the line "So far there are no videos showing anything that resembles breaking of any law." add "prior to the mike being cut" so it would read, "So far there are no videos showing anything that resembles breaking of any law prior to the mike being cut. " Posted 09/24/2007 02:24 AMReply

Anonymous says,

@ <a href="#c3347">Debbie D.</a>: It seems quite inconceivable that a significant number of eye-witnesses would all fabricate testimony in order to protect the police, don't you think? That is the reason they have witnesses fill out witness reports individually and separate from other witnesses; there can be no collaboration or conspiracies. Even if there were people trying to protect the police, it is extremely unlikely that everyone in the room would agree and commit such an act.

The fact that no one has earlier video can easily be explained. Just because someone is making a scene doesn't mean that everyone whips out their phones and cameras to record. The situation clearly escalates quickly to a level that many people would deem video worthy, but just because I see a drunk guy at a ball game screaming obscenities and making a fool of himself doesn't mean I instantly want to tape it. When he throws a beer bottle at a player and the player enters the stands, I might consider it. No one in the audience would have ever expected the incident to produce such unnerving events. Posted 09/24/2007 6:46 PMReply

Anonymous says,

@ Anonymous: Please don't cite irrelevant evidence. Presidential debates rarely go over in time due to the fact it is televised and the questions are pre-approved by the candidates. And, if they happen do so, it is only because the candidate exceeded his time limit, not that there were other questions asked. The events are meticulously planned out. As such, your evidence does not hold up.

Certainly, no one mentions that he was warned by police before he asked his question. And that, in a university setting, line cutting, obscene language and inappropriate demeanors in front of highly regarded, high-security guests is grounds for removal. He broke the rules of the forum and was to be removed. When he refused to be removed (without arrest by the way), that's when he broke the law and was to be arrested. When he continued to resist, that's when he was tazed, with ample warning. Do I believe that he needed to be tazed? No. Did he break the law? Yes. Could he have avoided being tazed? Yes, simply by complying with multiple warnings. He knew exactly what the repercussions of his actions were and he accepted them when he did not comply. Legally, I think the police were justified. Ethically, I don't believe it was the right thing to do. But legality and ethics are two very different things. Posted 09/24/2007 6:56 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Wow, yes! This guy did what he did to get tazered, and probably deserved it. But what of the questions/rants he asked Mr Kerry? Were they answered? Posted 09/24/2007 7:10 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Hmmm rules are not laws. As far as I have seen not once did anyone ask or tell Mr Meyer to just sit down or leave the auditorium. In the video the mike is cut and within a few seconds he is arrested. There is nothing he did on the video that are grounds for arresting him. Rude language is /not/ against the law. Even in a high security setting. Eyewitness statements can be hand picked by the police. They start by asking, "did you see anything" and after you describe what you saw they ask you if you would provide a statement. Not only that but any number of "witnesses" could have been friends of any of the officers involved, especially if they didn't make their statements on scene, but at the police station? Do you think that the six officers I saw on top of and around Mr Meyer have a few friends amongst them who would corroborate their story? No sorry, I've seen that happen way too many times. If you can show me a video that captured the pre-question scuffling, then I have something other than hand picked statements which I don't trust. The video I saw had no editing, and was non-stop starting when Kerry was finishing his prior question all the way to when Meyer was outside of the auditorium being taken away. I have never seen the rules of the forum stated anywhere? I would like to see those if you have a copy. Posted 09/25/2007 01:48 AMReply

Anonymous says,

You fail to acknowledge the fact that this did happen, there were people there who observed it other than the officer who wrote the report. The only reason why it's not in the video is because it would not be a great story if it shows Meyer being an ass and causing a disturbance. I guess that's OK because you college liberals have to have some sort of imagined oppression to bitch about. Posted 09/26/2007 9:37 PMReply

Debbie D. says,

@ Anonymous: To the above anonymous reader: One more time-- I do acknowledge reports that support Mallo's. Please read the newer post before you make comments. It's called "Some Eye Witness Accounts Support Mallo's Police Report." Posted 09/27/2007 08:30 AMReply