Dittos

The video only shows very last part it does not show them being asked to move off the side walk several times. When you stop other people from using public property that is breaking the law you get what you get when you refuse to follow the law.

Hague v. C.I.O., 307 U.S. 496 (1939), the high court ruled that peaceful demonstrators may not be prosecuted for "disorderly conduct." This case also secured streets and sidewalks as public forums.

Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229 (1963), in an 8-to-1 decision, the high court overturned the breach of peace convictions of 180 black students who had peacefully marched to the state capitol to protest discrimination. The police stopped the demonstration and arrested the students because they were afraid that the 200-300 who gathered to watch the demonstration might cause a riot. The court held the state law unconstitutionally over-broad because it penalized the exercise of free speech, peaceable assembly, and the right of petition for a redress of grievances. A disorderly crowd, or the fear of one, cannot be used to stop a peaceful demonstration or cancel the right of peaceable assembly.

The protesters should sue the university. This is an outrage! If that was done in Iran the American media would have been screaming foul at the top of their lungs - but when it happens here in US the response of the US media is muted.

If the protesters were warned before being sprayed, then I do not fault the police for their actions. I am sure however that this incident would support the protesters cause...wait...forgot, they do not have one!

this is the cause, for the ill-informed...

h t tp://articles.cnn.com/2009-11-19/us/california.tuition.protests_1_tuition-increase-angry-students-ucla-building?_s=PM:US

h t tp://www.theaggie.org/2011/05/23/uc-regents-discuss-possible-32-percent-tuition-increase/

h t tp://facts.ucdavis.edu/images/annual_fees_and_tuition.jpg

The police are not supposed to use pepper spray at point blank range like this guy did! His actions were completely sadistic. He even raised their shirts to spray pepper spray directly on their skin! These were students who were sitting peacefully and not threatening anyone!

FIRE THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR SPRAYING THE STUDENTS.

Molly,

"The police are not supposed to use pepper spray at point blank range like this guy did! His actions were completely sadistic."

That's exactly what I was thinking. He appeared to be enjoying his work too much. I think this police officer should be given a psychological test for sadism. Many sadists end up in jobs that require inflicting pain on others. There's no point in encouraging such a perversion. It's a good thing this was caught on video and broadcast all over the Internet. Otherwise, I don't think anything at all would have been done about it.

Here is a quote from Margaret Perry of the Daily Californian - the UC Berkeley campus newspaper.

I have emailed Lt. John Pike, the now infamous cop who begins to pepper-spray students at UC Davis to express my outrage. It’s not enough, but I urge you to do the same at japikeiii@ucdavis.edu. The whole world is watching our campus police, and what it sees is disgusting.

http://www.dailycal.org/2011/11/20/the-whole-world-is-watching-and-were-getting-angry/

It's interesting that the police and the media can't tell the difference between control and torture. What those policemen did on Friday was torture, pure and simple. They were under no threat. They were not boxed in in a way they couldn't get out and they weren't trying to get the students to move.

What they were doing was inflicting physical pain on unarmed passive civilians in an attempt to inflict as much pain as necessary in the hopes that the victims would comply with their will. This is the biggest threat out there that day, that the students would not submit to authority, so the police chose to torture them until they did.

Does anyone think it strange that the police have developed no control mechanism that does not involv pain? Guns, batons, tazors, pepper spray, all induce various amounts of pain, all of which are essentually unbearable. Yet the police seem to get away with it every time.

The two officers involved were placed on administrative leave, per standard policy. In English, that means they get a paid vacation with full benefits until they are quietly returned to work. We are supposed to believe that this is to protect their rights while an investigation is conducted. But what about the victims rights? They will be swept under the carpet too and no doubt some 'authority' will go on record pointing out that the victims weren't victims at all, they could have left before the incident started.

In reality, the police created the situation, as they often do, then 'took charge' when things broke down like they hoped it would.

If the authorities had their way, we would all stay at home and the world would appear to be a happy peaceful place and more crap can be dropped on everyone because there would be no news coverage at all and no reason for the police to go out torturing unarmed civilians.

Civilized! indeed.

Rodi Carsone Ask any police officer that you like. Pepper spray is be to used by law enforcement to repel an attack by another person or animal. These people were just sitting, and refused to move. They were attacking no one. I just wonder how long it is going to be, before we have another Kent State?

this is not s

Should not the police be brought up on charges of assult?

Ken McCoy

CAROL, -----You had better take a long look in the mirror.

You want to protest and you don't want to ask permission..

What exactly do you think is going to happen?

The people in Egypt and Syria are putting their life and liberty on the line, and the whining losers in CA, are yelling police brutality for pepper spray.

Your post says every thing about you and the losers

KEN -- Foremost, the protest was faculty sponsored; the students were not only within their legal rights, but it was a SANCTIONED demonstration. Additionally, there was evidence of brutality. For example, one of the hospitalized individuals was given medical treatment because he had pepper spray forcibly aerosoled down his throat.

It shouldn't take a f*cking gunshot to incite revulsion at the actions of the police.

Your lack of any credible grasp on the facts and willingness to advocate fascist actions is indicative of just how far our society has slipped ... "loser."

Rodi Carsone

If the protesters were warned before being sprayed, then I do not fault the police for their actions. I am sure however that this incident would support the protesters cause...wait...forgot, they do not have one!

i'm going to punch you in the face and because i told you beforehand it's ok with you right? that's the line of thinking that you seem to have. it is not legal to pepper spray these kids who are participating in a non violent protest. whether or not they were told they would be does not change the legality.

With unemployment what it is these days it's going to be difficult for a couple guys with sub-normal intelligence and zero judgement to find a job. I wouldn't hire them for my pest control business; they'd put me out of business in 6 weeks with their lousy dose control.

I'd like to see the officers and their chief fired. But I doubt if that'll happen. Instead, there will be at least a dozen successful civil rights violations lawsuits. Successful because Katahi will settle before trial, and the taxpayers will be saddled with the bill to pay for her lack of leadership. This time next year the same buffoons will still be employed by UC Davis.

Who wouldn't have liked to grab that can of spray out of that fat a$$ed cops hand and use it on him? Here's to hoping he loses his job, gets sued by the students, loses him house, wife and kids leave, and he ends up homeless. Would love to see how fast he changes his mind about his actions.

For all the people saying the kids got what they deserved, that's nuts.

You cannot pepper spray people on their own public university property - yes, it is public space, not private. It belongs to the students. The police went beyond their authority. The kids broke no laws whatsoever. Not moving, is not breaking the law.

I could hardly believe my eyes when I watched this video. Even if they were asked to move, it doesn't matter. Did you guys see how the cop was spraying them?? It would have taken all of my willpower to resist the urge to step in and try to stop such a heinous act. He didn't just give them a touch of the stuff, HE WAS LAYING IT ON LIKE IT WAS A GARDEN HOSE WASHING OFF HIS CAR.

I find it very hard to believe that a few strong, trained police officers couldn't physically pick up the non-violent protestors and move them (even if into a paddy wagon).

I like to give the benefit of the doubt and give my respect to the boys in blue, but lately it seems like there are just too many "bad apples" for that kind of thinking. Another officer could have stopped this. Where are the good cops?

Universities are rife with corruption. They are old boy's clubs where clout rules. Do not expect any results.

When you stop other people from using public property that is breaking the law you get what you get when you refuse to follow the law.

WIlliam, I wonder how you would feel if it were your child being pepper-sprayed in the face at close range as he or she sat there peacefully? There are ways to disperse protesters without hurting them.

My son is a college student and a good kid, but he has a very negative view of law enforcement. An incident like this only serves to cement that perspective among young adults. Wouldn't it be better for everyone concerned if the police behaved in such a way as to win the respect and obedience of the students, rather than turn them into protesters who might not be so peaceful the next time around?

All that political posturing with the top administrators, you'd think they'd need to fill out a requisition form just to use the bathroom.

Are you a stranger to this country Ken, peaceful protests are allowed and have been sanctioned by the courts many times over. And these were peaceful protests regardless of what the co-called police prefer you to think.

Ken McCoy, you are a pathetic cop-kisser that most likely bows to authority 24/7. Probably a brown-noser and rat at work, too. Go back to Faux News and get your jollies.

Ken McCoy, get off this site. Nobody gave you permission to express your ideas here, so get out, and go ask your mamma for permission to go outside and play.

This Ken McCoy is certainty have no education at all. If he ever spend one hour at college level, maybe he will understand a little bit.

wow ken, you don't know anything about your rights to protest obviously.

Ken apparently wants to live in a country where disagreeing with the authorities about anything is a crime. May I suggest lovely North Korea?

C'mon guys. Give Ken a break. He found out how to vote himself up.

maybe someone should pepper spray Ken. Let's see how he responds to that.

So, Ken, you find this enjoyable? Based on your logic they should have just shot them. At least that way they wouldn't be coming back to protest again.

Well Severed Head, you do have a point about not protesting again................

Ken probably enjoys watching videos of the firehoses being turned on protesters in Birmingham, or the baton wielding thugs in Chicago.

OH, but there has to be a thorough investigation. What's to investigate. Cop calmly walks along spraying students sitting on the ground. IF they were acting in anyway violent, then there may be some justification. But that's not what happened here. No matter what the orders were, the cops violated these students civil rights and need to be fully punished by more than just losing their jobs.

Because it is a violation of your constitutional rights?

Ya think

Funny, sitting with your arms crossed in peacefull protest is now looking for a fight. Peaceful prtests are allowed and have been used many times to facilitate change, but I suppose you would prefer to just sit back and let people do what they want regardless of hw it effects your fellow americans as long as you are ok.

Ken Mc:

Perhaps you need to expand your sources of information

Hague v. C.I.O., 307 U.S. 496 (1939), the high court ruled that peaceful demonstrators may not be prosecuted for "disorderly conduct." This case also secured streets and sidewalks as public forums.

That police officer was a SADIST! He even raised the student's shirts to spray pepper spray directly on their skin! HE SHOULD BE FIRED AND NOT PLACED ON PAID ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE!!!!!

Sandwitch is right people, IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE!

Use of the pepper spray was completely unwarranted, as would be any sort of violence. As with all sorts of past protests where people lock arms, chain themselves to objects, the police should simply use force only to unlock the arms or chains and then carry the people involved away to be arrested. The protestors simply go passively limp as they are carried away making their arrest more difficult for the police as part of their protest. Everyone recognizes this protest procedure as typical, it's how it's supposed to be done.

The use of pepper spray and/or other violence against non-aggressive protesting citizens is nothing more than lazy and cruel and serves no public interest. Both police members in this case acted unprofessionally and require either education and reassignment or, more preferably, dismissal.

Worse? One of the protesters had his mouth forced open, and the pepper spray was sprayed down his throat. He in particular was still coughing up blood for 45 minutes.

sandwitch

well to be honest- pepper spray was used properly- pepper spray is to get a person to stop doing what they are doing- the other option would be to go in clubing and such- better pepper spray than a club to the side of a head. The kids were wanting a confrontation - they got it. I do not feel sorry for them- a face full of pepper spray is part of the process. why coddle them

You have a warped attitude about the right we as American citizens have to protest peacefully. This is the U.S. we're talking about, not North Korea or Burma. Americans have fought and died for our freedom to peacefully stand up for our beliefs. Where did you get the idea those students were wanting a confrontation with the police?

Maybe someday you will have a civil rights issue that makes you feel strongly enough to stand up for your ideals (if you have any) and protest the status quo. Maybe on that day you too will get a faceful of pepper spray, but I doubt you will think it is 'part of the process'.

OK, Ken, it's obvious now you're just trolling.

Ken McCoy you are a disgusting piece.

Hey Ken....you think the cops were completely in the right by using pepper spray on peaceful protesters? What are they going to do when the real revolution starts? The congressional super-committee didn't do its job (well, I guess it did, if you are a Koch brother or Grover Norquist), so unless the law is repealed before the end of 2012, there will be severe cuts made to Social Security and Medicare. The defense cuts were sorely needed, so they were a good thing. You'll soon have the elderly joining the ranks of the OWS. But I digress.....we are being held hostage by a small minority (Tea Party) in the House, and because this is so, we as a nation cannot stand idly by and allow a minuscule number of uber-wealthy aristocrats to dictate what is right and wrong. The majority rules in America, Ken, and you will soon see what that majority is capable of if the extreme rightwingnuts are allowed to take control of things.

We are many....you are few! The police want to take this to a more violent plateau, so be it! You all have fired the first shots, and you're fooling yourselves if you think this police violence will calm things down. I'm convinced the right is scared....scared enough that they need to use the SS....I mean the police force, to "quell the violence". Well, you ain't seen nothin', yet!

Devil's Advocate, I look forward to it. Been awhile, but I can hit the center-mass easily, anytime will do, start in the South first, please.

dave, not all of the south is with you. not all military is republican.

...we are being held hostage by a small minority (Tea Party) in the House, and because this is so, we as a nation cannot stand idly by and allow a minuscule number of uber-wealthy aristocrats to dictate what is right and wrong. The majority rules in America.

Exactly. The strength of this nation lies in a strong, educated, economically viable middle class. Those who believe otherwise are directly responsible for the downward spiral of America. We, the majority, must take back our nation. We have the votes. We have the power. Those students are fighting not only for their own futures but for the future of this country. They deserve our support.

End the Tea Party's grip on the throat of our democracy. VOTE THEM OUT!

I've got a great idea!

Go protest that

but all of these occuppy protests are starting to annoy

What do you think they are supposed to do? So, if you are annoyed at the pain in your shoulder from overwork do you stab at it with a knife or smash it with a hammer to get it to stop? No, you bother to figure out what's causing the pain and then take actions to remedy the situation...or at least that what adults do.

The whole point of protests and nonviolent civil disobedience is to cause inconvenience and expense. You don't get noticed if you are not causing any disruption. We never would have seen civil rights laws passed without causing inconvenience to the status quo. Unless you're a millionaire, you have no voice in government anymore, without protesting.

The rights to free speech and peaceably assemble, although not entirely unrestricted, is nevertheless guaranteed by the Constitution.

I concur.

It doesn't matter. If they were asked to leave and they aren't (by law) allowed to be there then arrest them. Pepper spray isn't need either way. These rent-a-cops were just looking for a reason to be heavy handed and that's it. We aren't blind.

It doesn't matter if they were asked to leave or not.

They have a right to protest, and it has been being resolved peacefully for years.

#Occupy reasoning simply gave the cops an excuse to blast them.

FAIL

h t t p://articles.cnn.com/2009-11-19/us/california.tuition.protests_1_tuition-increase-angry-students-ucla-building?_s=PM:US

De Jonge v. Oregon, 299 U.S 353 (1937), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the right to peaceably assemble "for lawful discussion, however unpopular the sponsorship, cannot be made a crime." The decision applied the First Amendment right of peaceful assembly to the states through the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Tax payer money is paying their education?! Really?! Have you checked the price of tuition lately?

@ Steve: I'm 100 percent behind these protestors. I come from a relatively poor, working-class family but I didn't get handouts to attend college. I logged during the summer, held multiple jobs during the school year and "earned" scholarships to pay for school. Oh, and I also served in the military. Reading our comment convinces me you've "earned" nothing but the contempt of 99 percent of our citizens.

Darrel B...so very well put. Thank you.

This isexactly why people like you still ahve these opinions, becasue you don't understand. Sure there are some there that are protesting for selfish reasons, but the majority are protesting becasue of the inequity in the country. When 1% controls the majority of the countries wealth, there is a problem and I find it amazing that people use bull$3it reason to go against the 'movement' when they live in the same country, the same reason why i don;t understand how logical americans can think the republicans are looking out for the good of the poeple and not just themselves and the wealthy, just remember, anyone can get sick, we were all kids at one time and we will all get old eventually, if the republicans have their way then these poeple in these categories will suffer.

Let us take a look at our jobs market. I do not have specific statistics but I can see trends. The amount of jobs that offer good pay and benefits are disappearing as we see corporation rising in power. Corporations monopolize the job market by pushing out competition and using regulations against smaller, less funded businesses. We see this when big box stores come to smaller cities. The local businesses cannot compete and are pushed out. Once those businesses are closed and there is little hope for any new start-up to compete well against such well-funded corporation, that corporation monopolizes the job market. The type of position and pay a corporation offers to their employees compared to a small business is noticeable. While a corporation is solely interested in the bottom line, they make every attempt to minimize the cost their employees are. They will not offer full-time positions, they will not pay well, and they will not offer benefits. Now if we see that there is a rising trend in the jobs market towards positions that are ill-paid and without benefits, while the providers of those jobs make billions of dollars and are backed by politicians to continue to steam-roll the population into menial jobs, don’t you think we should be concerned about the power and clout wielded by those corporation. Now, to suggest that we take a corporation to task and close them down would be unfair. What would make sense though is if our elected officials stopped cow-towing to their campaign donors (corporations) and started to look at what will benefit their constituents best. Closing down the corporations is not the answer. The answer is reforming the system, that benefits the corporation, and implement a system that works for the general population. If our politicians worked on behalf of their constituents rather than their donors the rise of corporation would not be so ominous and likely they would be hampered by the growth of local business. The real concern is not disparity of wealth or lack of a “fairer” tax code but that our jobs market would benefit the America population not the “job creators” who exploit the population.

They aren't protesting their lack of money . Thy are protesting the inequality of economic opportunity in our society . When government policy favors a minority ( the wealthy ) unrest will occur . These people are going to be the death of the republican party if they can organize . And the Reps. know it . That's why there is so much biased media coverage . The rabid right media knows what's about to happen . They are doing all in their power to stop it. Let's hope it's not enough .

Please mike, in all honesty, please do not co-opt this movement for the left. This isn't about party talking points against the other party. Republicans offer some good solutions and so do Democrats, but both parties offer more bad decisions than they do good solutions. By talking smack against the Republican party then following up with your support for OWS you proceed to alienate a large and important segment of the 99%.

That is a really excellent point, No Alias. Both sides are at fault and both sides earn huge payoffs from corporate lobbyists. It is hard not to notice, though, how much more often our society is sold down the river by legislators with R's after their names. I think it is just part of the fundamental differences in ideology...and I truly do not mean that to be a snarky comment, though I know it sounds like an indictment. However, we cannot ignore the differences among the 99% if we are to truly work together. We need to focus on bridging the gaps in our viewpoints, I guess. After all, there really is something intrinsically different in the way one sees the world when concern for one's self includes concern for others versus when concern for one's self overrides concern for others. But to your main point, and the one I hope others emphasize, we should not be squabbling with each other over party lines (something completely manufactured) when real work needs to be done to shore up the impending catastrophe that is the American economy. We can't get anything accomplished if we all just shrivel into our separate, but comfortable niches.

wingding-2325757

What's to investigate? I'm more interested in the police explanation as to why it was necessary to spray these people?

You answered your own question...

The fact that the government is abusing these protestors is a good indication that they are actually trying to affect positive change. Government fears these brave people. The 1% does not want to give up their wealth and power. Conversely, the lack of effort by the government to end the Tea Party "protests" shows that they were just a part of the Republican government and preserving the status quo.

Flash1....who's threatening whom??!! Now, if one of these protesters ever laid a hand on me while I am trying to get to my place of business, I'd call the cops. Of course I would! But, from what I'm seeing on the news (before you say it, righties...I've seen it on Fox News), all that these people are doing is standing in the way.....hands down or otherwise non-threatening. Chanting. Beating drums. I haven't once seen where these people are physically threatening anyone! Verbal threats bother you? REALLY??!! You can say all you want to anyone you please....as long as you don't follow through with physical violence, it's totally harmless. Stick and stones, ya know!

Yes, I know....there are some bad eggs who vandalize and such...these people need to be taken care of in a lawful manner. They don't represent the movement (though some fascists on here seem to think they do).

And if it continues to go unchecked, Americans will eventually be subject to mass executions. How do you call yourself a Proud American Veteran and condone these actions? It flies in the face of the very freedoms our veterans have died defending for more than 200 years. I'm a veteran and you're a disgrace to the uniform.

The only pending mass executions will be carried out by communist firing squads during the next US civil war. OWS's goal is for the violent overthow of the US government, no more and no less.

Is that the latest FOX talking point LOL! OWS wants the violent overthrow of the government? What a hoot!

Go compare the Communist Party USA platforms with OWS. There is very little daylight in between. I don't care what anyone says about them. I can read and understand the english language.

Here is the Communist Party USA full endorsement and co-opting of OWS.

http://www.cpusa.org/solidarity-with-occupy-wall-street

@ tkapo, read post #9.4, from the DevilsAdvocate. Without out a doubt, there is a faction of this so called "movement" that desire an armed insurrection. They will lose and many will suffer.

It is scary that we see some Americans who actually support the U.S. becoming a police state, just because they disagree with some of the free speech they hear.

david....this movement doesn't "desire" anything of the sort. But, since the right wants to bring in the violence, the movement can move in that direction with a vengeance. I think there is a common misconception among people on here, you included, who are sluffing this off as just a lot of hot air being blown around, and that nothing will come of it. What is actually beginning to happen with this police over-reaction (at the behest of the right-wingers) is that some of the people "on the fence" on whether to support the OWS movement or to support the extremist TP views are being drawn towards the OWS movement to protest the power of the elite, wealthy few over the majority. The more police action being shown on the many news channels against these peaceful protesters, the worse it looks for you TP'ers. Bring it on!

And, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the Tea Party that publicly advocates, albeit through insinuation, the violent overthrow of the government as part of their platform of taking back America by any means necessary? Friggin' political talking points confuse the hell out of me. Isn't there something about a goose and gander that applies here?

There isa right to0 peaceful protest which has been upheld by the courts, maybe that right?

@ Mr McCoy, I have a couple of questions for you: are you a loving father of your children? or do you even have any? I would assume by your remark that the answers to those two questions is No!!

McCoy, I told you to get off this site. Get the hell out of my way. This is a public area, and you have no permission to be here. If you don't get out of my way, you'll have to suffer the consequences.

Pepper spray - no way. The chancellor IS backpeddling and needs to be fired. She protested so much on an initial interview with the press (as it is correctly called) that she wouldn't answer questions and chattered her excuses so no one could get a word in. She made a fool out of herself. She said she wanted the students to go, but they wouldn't. What to do. What to do...She didn't oversee the use of campus cops or speak to an ongoing negotiation in any certain terms. She dropped the ball and people were abused. Now she's blaming employees of the university (security). There's an equal amount of shame and blame to go around. Incompetent chancellor. Incompetent actions against nonviolent protest. Blame game. Bye bye to both she and the officers who pepper sprayed.