Police officer pepper-sprays students at UC Davis

[Stonelesscutter]

http://boingboing.net/2011/11/18/police-pepper-spraying-arrest.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WmJmmnMkuEM

 

[Illiterati]

A cop did the same thing to a young woman in Portland Oregon the other day, as well.

I can see that those UC Davis students were really rowdy and all that. Weapons out and everything. Pepper spray must have been the the cops' only option, I guess.

Glad they made sure they were safe, first.

 

[Stonelesscutter]

A cop did the same thing to a young woman in Portland Oregon the other day, as well.

I can see that those UC Davis students were really rowdy and all that. Weapons out and everything. Pepper spray must have been the the cops' only option, I guess.

Glad they made sure they were safe, first.

Yeah that crowd was wild yo! Did you see the video to the end? In the end you get to see the cops slowly backing away and getting out of there. That was so cool. It felt like a victory for the students.

 

[Rac80]

Take your pick...pepper spray or bullets? I take non-lethal everytime! I just want to know what was going on in the five minutes BEFORE the video was shot?


Edit: here's more info:

The demonstrators had been there to participate in the "Occupy UC Davis" campus on Friday . The video -- first released by NBC's KCRA-TV - was shot by a witness and shows numerous observers watching in horror as a campus police officer douses the students in yellow mist.
"Police came and brutalized them and tore their tents down and all that stuff. It was really scary. It felt like there was anarchy everywhere," student Hisham Alihbob told KCRA.
Police told the TV station students had had until 3 p.m. on Friday to dismantle their tents from the university's quad.
University officials told the Sacramento Bee that protesters had also received written warnings to remove their tents.
As with many Occupy protests around the country, the demonstrators refused to cede to the cops' demands and defied officials' orders.
A little more than an hour after the deadline, police arrived and were met with approximately 50 protesters who linked arms and surrounded their tent city, a university spokeswoman told the newspaper.
After a crowd of about 200 people gathered to watch the standoff, cops decided to pepper spray to keep the protesters at bay, the spokeswoman added.
But from the video, which has gone viral, it doesn't appear that police were threatened at all. The protesters were sitting down on the ground with their heads bowed when a single cop raised a pepper spray can in the air and then walked down the line drenching them in it.
At least 10 demonstrators were arrested on Friday and 11 people were treated for injuries on campus. Two had to be taken to the hospital, Fox 40 News reported.
On Friday, the university's chancellor Linda Katehi released a statement saying the police had no option.
"Following our requests, several of the group chose to dismantle their tents this afternoon and we are grateful for their actions. However a number of protestors refused our warning, offering us no option but to ask the police to assist in their removal. We are saddened to report that during this activity, 10 protestors were arrested and pepper spray was used. We will be reviewing the details of the incident," she wrote.
She added the university lacked the resources to keep the protest site from becoming a public health hazard.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...sters-uc-davis-article-1.980110#ixzz1eBY3PUac​

sounds like they were refusing to follow lawful orders.

 

[Stonelesscutter]

Take your pick...pepper spray or bullets? I take non-lethal everytime! I just want to know what was going on in the five minutes BEFORE the video was shot?


Edit: here's more info:


sounds like they were refusing to follow lawful orders.

How about people's right to protest?

Oh it's okay to protest. You can protest whatever you want. As long as it's okay by us.

 

[Rac80]

How about people's right to protest?

Oh it's okay to protest. You can protest whatever you want. As long as it's okay by us.

In every aspect of life there are rules and regulations...the property wasn't theirs to camp on. A protest is waving a sign, not squatting!

 

[Illiterati]

"I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protesters. The people of Egypt have rights that are universal. That includes the right to peaceful assembly and association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny. These are human rights. And the United States will stand up for them everywhere." ~~ President Barack Obama

Apparently this only applies to demonstrations in other countries.

RAC80, a sit-in isn't violent. Also, that cop went down that row nice and slowly and then went back again for seconds the same way.

The same scenario occurred here in Los Angeles on Thursday morning, with people blocking the street. However, the Los Angeles Police Department's officers did NOT resort to the use of pepper spray to arrest people, and were surprisingly gentle as they pulled them upright after zipcuffing them. In neither situation was violence offered to the police, but only in Los Angeles did the police NOT use pepper spray.

I watched the entire thing on tv that morning, so I know there wasn't anything "hidden" from view.

 

[Overmind One]

How about people's right to protest?

Oh it's okay to protest. You can protest whatever you want. As long as it's okay by us.

People's right to protest should be protected, but pitching a tent and organizing a protest camp on private or public property where squatting like that is illegal is not protected. Protesting, like Rac80 said, is holding signs, holding legal rallies which can be approved by the City. A few years ago here in Los Angeles, the illegal aliens had a "Day Without (illegal) Immigrants". They blocked streets and even a freeway. Needless to say this was not tolerated nor should it be.

 

[Illiterati]

People's right to protest should be protected, but pitching a tent and organizing a protest camp on private or public property where squatting like that is illegal is not protected. Protesting, like Rac80 said, is holding signs, holding legal rallies which can be approved by the City. A few years ago here in Los Angeles, the illegal aliens had a "Day Without (illegal) Immigrants". They blocked streets and even a freeway. Needless to say this was not tolerated nor should it be.

While, yes, these people should have been and ultimately were arrested, I didn't see where pepper spray was a necessary step in that process.

These people came EXPECTING to be arrested. The unexpected part was the seasoning that was added beforehand.

 

[Illiterati]

And now UC Davis is looking into the thing...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...yussWg?docId=b72ae00653b24152a26ca5892b08c2a4

 

[Illiterati]

Open Letter From UC Davis Board Member

http://bicyclebarricade.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/open-letter-to-chancellor-linda-p-b-katehi/

Includes a bit more information on what occurred.

 

[SciphonicStranger]

What? Are we living in Syria?

Oh wait, it was not lethal force. Nevermind.

 

[Bluce Ree]

People's right to protest should be protected, but pitching a tent and organizing a protest camp on private or public property where squatting like that is illegal is not protected. Protesting, like Rac80 said, is holding signs, holding legal rallies which can be approved by the City. A few years ago here in Los Angeles, the illegal aliens had a "Day Without (illegal) Immigrants". They blocked streets and even a freeway. Needless to say this was not tolerated nor should it be.

So, illegal aliens were trying to raise sympathy for their cause by pissing people off with illegally blocking major thruways and making life inconvenient for everyone else?

 

[Overmind One]

So, illegal aliens were trying to raise sympathy for their cause by pissing people off with illegally blocking major thruways and making life inconvenient for everyone else?

Yes. And they compounded their problems by protesting their chants in Spanish and marching with Mexican flags. The event lasted about two years until it was abandoned" http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1189899,00.html. I had some sympathy for them in terms of being able to work here with some sort of permit, but at the time in 2006 we were experiencing massive overcrowding in schools and a glut in unskilled labor. What could have been a productive protest turned into a disaster. Marching with Mexican flags in the streets of Los Angeles, demanding rights they did not have and calling themselves immigrants when they were not immigrants (did not follow immigration procedures). The following year (2007), they used rubber bullets at the protest in MacArthur Park and there was no protest the next year.

 

[Stonelesscutter]

UC Davis Chancellor Katehi walks to her car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CZ0t9ez_EGI

 

[Bluce Ree]

Yes. And they compounded their problems by protesting their chants in Spanish and marching with Mexican flags. The event lasted about two years until it was abandoned" http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1189899,00.html. I had some sympathy for them in terms of being able to work here with some sort of permit, but at the time in 2006 we were experiencing massive overcrowding in schools and a glut in unskilled labor. What could have been a productive protest turned into a disaster. Marching with Mexican flags in the streets of Los Angeles, demanding rights they did not have and calling themselves immigrants when they were not immigrants (did not follow immigration procedures). The following year (2007), they used rubber bullets at the protest in MacArthur Park and there was no protest the next year.

You never piss off your host because then you're left wondering why they erected a giant electric fence across your border instead of greeting you with open arms.

 

[Illiterati]

And the ass-covering starts...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/uc-president-appalled-at-uc-davis-pepper-spray-incident.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+%28L.A.+Now%29

But at least they're admitting that something went horribly wrong the other day. We'll sit back and wait to see what resolution they reach here.

 

[Overmind One]

And the ass-covering starts...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/uc-president-appalled-at-uc-davis-pepper-spray-incident.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+(L.A.+Now)

But at least they're admitting that something went horribly wrong the other day. We'll sit back and wait to see what resolution they reach here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BjnR7xET7Uo&noredirect=1#!

This is the video from your link. It is CLEAR that the pepper spray was not necessary. They were peacefully sitting students and they got sprayed...DOUSED with it. These protests across the nation are the first stirrings of an American revolution, make no mistake about that. I suspect that the courts will start out in favor of the police and other law enforcement as these protests escalate.

 

[Illiterati]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BjnR7xET7Uo&noredirect=1#!

This is the video from your link. It is CLEAR that the pepper spray was not necessary. They were peacefully sitting students and they got sprayed...DOUSED with it. These protests across the nation are the first stirrings of an American revolution, make no mistake about that. I suspect that the courts will start out in favor of the police and other law enforcement as these protests escalate.

Of course they will.

The courts have become increasingly conservative (read: more in support of big business and corporations) than in the individual as the years have gone by.

Those in power seem to forget that the last revolution began because government seemed to be terribly out of touch with the common wo/man.

Oh, well.

 

[Overmind One]

Of course they will.

The courts have become increasingly conservative (read: more in support of big business and corporations) than in the individual as the years have gone by.

Those in power seem to forget that the last revolution began because government seemed to be terribly out of touch with the common wo/man.

Oh, well.

Yes, but that is only because the corporations now own all law enforcement by proxy. Corporate money in the form of development fees and property taxes and sales taxes own the LAPD and ths State Supreme Court. But enough individual cops have families and friends here and many have been laid off over the past 10 years. At some point, we will have law enforcement sympathizers like during Civil Rights era.