Students Pepper Sprayed & Arrested at Occupy UC Davis Camp (VIDEOS)
10 people were arrested and many others were hit with pepper spray. Add your video.
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The Occupy protest in the UC Davis quad swelled rapidly after the group was quietly removed from Mrak Hall this week. The Chancellor warned on Friday that police would remove the camp if it was not cleared out by 3pm.
Safe to say, it was not.
So dozens of police in riot gear descended on the scene. They gave several verbal warnings as they closed in on the protesters at the camp.
Many of the occupiers grabbed the tents and left the scene so that the tents could not be confiscated. Other occupiers remained there with their arms locked, forming a circle around some of the police. Live video was streamed for most of the time.
Ten people were arrested, according to a Davis Enterprise article by Cory Golden. The received misdemeanor citations and were released. Many others were hit with pepper spray.
The Occupiers held a general assembly in the quad after police left, but have since cleared out. They said that they intend to return on Monday, tents and all. They even discussed the possiblity of bringing a dome.
Lt. John Pike, who gave several orders for the crowd to disperse, has been pointed out specifically in several YouTube videos as the officer who discharged the pepper spray.
Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi wrote this open letter following the events, which have now gained national media attention. UC Davis began trending on Twitter in San Francisco Friday night.
One faculty member wrote a letter calling for her resignation.
We'll continue to update this story with details. If you have YouTube footage, you can (easily) add it to the story by clicking the button above the video. (It's just a matter of copying and pasting the link). Or share your perspective in the comments below.
Todd Kaiser
3:27 am on Saturday, November 19, 2011
AggieTV's Report
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12XdQXvrdCo&hd=1
Mitchasaurus Rex
4:14 am on Saturday, November 19, 2011
These officers can and should be sued, according to HEADWATERS FOREST DEFENSE v. COUNTY OF HUMBOLDT.
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1332957.html
"...regional and state-wide police practice and protocol clearly suggest that using pepper spray against nonviolent protestors is excessive. The law regarding a police officer's use of force against a passive individual was sufficiently clear at the time of the events at issue in this case that the defendants cannot claim qualified immunity on the ground that they made a reasonable mistake of law...
We concluded in our prior opinion that, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the protestors, a rational juror could conclude that the use of pepper spray against the protestors constituted excessive force and that Lewis and Philip were liable for the protestors' unconstitutional injury. 240 F.3d at 1199-1209. "
Sara Sexna
11:27 am on Saturday, November 19, 2011
This incident recalls the earlier infamous pepper spraying by a New York Police Department official of several women who were seated and penned in. The UC Davis images are further proof that police continue to resort to brutal tactics when confronting Occupy activists. One woman was transported to a hospital to be treated for chemical burns http://goo.gl/zziaB
Sue Orchid
6:38 am on Sunday, November 20, 2011
the chabcellor and the police work for us. they should be fired by us.
they have gotten so powerful they refuse to leave when told"youre fired"
Tonto
2:11 pm on Sunday, November 20, 2011
Should have sent the dogs and water canons in :)
joe
5:52 pm on Sunday, November 20, 2011
The school needs a good house-cleaning starting with the Chancellor's office and working the way down to the sorry excuse for a police department.
Jj Hill
1:21 pm on Monday, November 21, 2011
This Lt. Dickweed who sprayed the students with pepper spray needs to be fired for his cowardly act. As someone else posted ... Tear Gas is for dispersing crowds and not Pepper Spray and he needs to pay dearly for his actions. I would fire the coward . If the Chancellor does not fired this obvious brutality under the color of law then the Chancellor should step down.