Video spreads of UC Davis cops pepper spraying Occupy students

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45364967/ns/us_news-life/#.TsfWYHLpg9W

msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 11/19/2011 12:28:07 AM ET

DAVIS, Calif. — A video of police in riot gear pepper spraying demonstrators is spreading after 10 Occupy protesters were arrested on the University of California, Davis campus Friday, Sacramento NBC station KCRA reported.

The demonstrators were protesting the dismantling of the "Occupy UC Davis" encampment that was set up in the school's quad area.

"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," said student Hisham Alihbob.

Police told Sacramento's KTXL TV station that the students were given until 3 p.m. Friday to remove their tents from the campus. When students refused, police arrived at the given time. Students sat down cross-legged and locked arms when cops showed up and the pepper spraying began.

must make amends for a post I made a few days ago when I said, show me the water cannons (regarding the civil rights movement).... This is every bit as bad and as unnecessary. Shame on them. They are asking for trouble if they continue in this manner.

....is America!"

Yep, this is America....2012.....welcome to the reality of what is America.....

I felt sick watching and i feel sick knowing this is even able to happen and will continue to be done. The Lt. That was spraying that canister looks like a sadistic Mofo enjoying himself way too much.

As more people see what is happening in this country, the movement and opposition to the system, the machine will only grow. I am amazed and proud at the bravery of those students that still held together and their arms locked as that sadistic little cowardly Lt. on the UC Davis force sprayed them in their faces. I picture behind that riot gear & weapons a short fat balding man with a small pecker that gets off doing this because if he didnt have any of the weapons and a badge, even a little woman like me would emasculate him verbally and take care of him very quickly. But then i remind myself that discipline & controlling that rage one would feel against a coward like that must be controlled, because ultimately, the violent coward loses and is exposed for what he truly is and for the system & machine he is defending.

This is America. I cried uncontrollably as I watched the '68 attack at the convention in Chicago. I cried as I watched the dogs attack the kids in Alabama.

Yes, this is the reality of America. Little has changed.

We can hope that the OWS movement can stop this train-wreck in its tracks.

The UC Berkeley cops beating with batons students, including a little 5ft asian girl at the front of the line who couldnt go anywhere with the crowd around her. She was not raising her hand against them, only her voice. Her voice and all the other voices on the very same steps and plaza named after Mario Savio who in the early 60's gave voice to the protests then for free speech. If you did a split screen of those protests or the ones in Alabama, Chicago '68 etc....what has changed?

The system is the same, the stage is the same just different actors and stage scenery. But the words are the same, the ideas and the need. I just am so sickened about it right now. I want to know what i can and should do to help. Im sure others are feeling the same. This has to stop. Things have to change. The system is broken.

a young person realizes that the country isn't the bastion of freedom and liberty that it is portrayed to be is really quite painful. I remember my own moment so many years ago.

Think of how much more militarized the police are today than they were back in the 60s and 70s and I think it's amazing we haven't had a bigger tragedy at one of these protests. I hope my fears are ungrounded but I fear for the protestors.

And you are correct about the weapons they have now....even the device that emits sound that hurts people or the one that makes people physically ill.... Between tasers and unmanned drones coming to aneighborhood near you....

11 years old and I'm so sorry. It's painful enough for teenagers and adults. I remember my sister calling me when she realized Bush was lying and she was so upset and asked why I wasn't....I was angry but I got my disillusionment in the 60s and 70s and she was just enough younger than I to have escaped that. But, it was really hard for her....I can't imagine an 11 year old trying to understand and cope.

"But this is America" ....haunting words.

Exactly! It horrifies me that this is happening. And lots of my fellow Americans are defending it, on the youtube page anyway. I am horrified of all humanity.

And the media manipulates the authoritarian followers into a whipped-up frenzy of hate against those who question them.

Let's hope we gain more this time than we did then. (Does Kent State ring a bell)?

This is going to spread, there will be lawsuits, and rightly so.

The chemical response was disproportionate to the conditions, it was ridiculously so.

They all need to be punished.

:patriot:

I always said the only thing I'd ever fight for would be the animals/environment. But if my fellow Americans stand back letting this happen then I will not sit back and watch anymore.

:patriot:

the students perform a near-miracle of non-violent confrontation with the cops that ends in the cops actually retreating. I've never seen anything like it. A totally non-violent victory for the students.

It's especially stunning after that demonstration of brutality by the police.

You can see the video on this DU thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2342366

I also looked at the looks on the UC Davis Cops faces - many were scared, but it wasnt the kind of fear that theybwere going to be hurt, it was the look in their eyes that they were wrong, they were cowards, they had done wrong. Not of course the smug facoe of the Lt. With the mustache who did the spraying. That sadistic bastard had fun yesterday. But there was such power in what happened in the end. My guess is in the future anytime these UC davis cops are seen on campus they will have such disdain shown towards them & they will know they have no respect.

sadly the cowardly acts of police forces are becoming more commonplace, but the way the students responded in this case is awe-inspiring.

disgusting act, maybe at LEAST it will convince people that most of the violence that
is being perpetrated is by authorities against OWS protesters. Maybe.


:cry:

My guess is they didn't air it, but one never knows ...

punishment of that or any other police officer took part in that kind of action.

It could be argued the city of Davis is more progressive then the university; it's more Berkeley then Berkeley in recent years.

An occupation of the Chancellor's office would be more appropriate. That, and maybe a visit to some of the Regent's places of business, too.


On edit
HOT OF THE INTERNET - copyright doesn't apply

UC Davis Chancellor responds

11.19.11
Dear Member of the UC Davis Community:

Yesterday was not a day that would make anyone on our campus proud; indeed the events of the day need to guide us forward as we try to make our campus a better place of inquiry, debate, and even dissent. As I described in my previous letter to the community, this past week our campus was a site of week-long peaceful demonstrations during which students were able to express their concerns about many issues facing higher education, the University of California, our campus, our nation, and the world as a whole. Those events involved multiple rallies in the Quad and an occupation of Mrak Hall which ended peacefully a day later.

However, the events on Friday were a major deviation from that trend. In the aftermath of the troubling events we experienced, I will attempt to provide a summary of the incident with the information now available to me.

After a week of peaceful exchange and debate, on Thursday a group of protestors including UC Davis students and other non-UC Davis affiliated individuals established an encampment of about 25 tents on the Quad. The group was reminded that while the university provides an environment for students to participate in rallies and express their concerns and frustrations through different forums, university policy does not allow such encampments on university grounds.

On Thursday, the group stayed overnight despite repeated reminders by university staff that their encampment violated university policies and they were requested to disperse. On Friday morning, the protestors were provided with a letter explaining university policies and reminding them of the opportunities the university provides for expression. Driven by our concern for the safety and health of the students involved in the protest, as well as other students on our campus, I made the decision not to allow encampments on the Quad during the weekend, when the general campus facilities are locked and the university staff is not widely available to provide support.

During the early afternoon hours and because of the request to take down the tents, many students decided to dismantle their tents, a decision for which we are very thankful. However, a group of students and non-campus affiliates decided to stay. The university police then came to dismantle the encampment. The events of this intervention have been videotaped and widely distributed. As indicated in various videos, the police used pepper spray against the students who were blocking the way. The use of pepper spray as shown on the video is chilling to us all and raises many questions about how best to handle situations like this.

To this effect, I am forming a task force made of faculty, students and staff to review the events and provide to me a thorough report within 90 days. As part of this, a process will be designed that allows members of the community to express their views on this matter. This report will help inform our policies and processes within the university administration and the Police Department to help us avoid similar outcomes in the future. While the university is trying to ensure the safety and health of all members of our community, we must ensure our strategies to gain compliance are fair and reasonable and do not lead to mistreatment.

Furthermore, I am asking the office of Administrative and Resource Management and the office of Student Affairs to review our policies in relation to encampments of this nature and consider whether our existing policies reflect the needs of the students at this point in time. If our policies do not allow our students enough flexibility to express themselves, then we need to find a way to improve these policies and make them more effective and appropriate.

Our campus is committed to providing a safe environment for all to learn freely and practice their civil rights of freedom of speech and expression. At the same time, our campus has the responsibility to ensure the safety of all others who use the same spaces and rely on the same facilities, tools, environments and processes to practice their freedoms to work and study. While the university has the responsibility to develop the appropriate environments that ensure the practice of these freedoms, by no means should we allow a repeated violation of these rules as an expression of personal freedom.

Through this letter, I express my sadness for the events of past Friday and my commitment to redouble our efforts to improve our campus and the environment for our students.

Sincerely,

Linda P.B. Katehi
Chancellor

http://chancellor.ucdavis.edu/messages/2011/taskforce_111911.html

I wonder how long she'll be working there.

In the name of Jesus Christ, leave Satan!

especially at the end when the cops finally back down.

because the Chancellor is sad.

Is the sarcasm thingy needed?