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UC Davis pepper spray incident

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File:OccupyUCD3.jpg
UC Davis Police officer Lieutenant John Pike uses pepper spray on Occupy demonstrators

Occupy UC Davis is an ongoing series of Occupy Movement demonstrations at UC Davis. It is distinguished from the off-campus but allied Occupy Davis. Occupy UC Davis gained international attention on November 18, when University police were filmed pepper-spraying a group of peaceful demonstrators as they were seated on a sidewalk.[1] Police officers claimed that demonstrators had surrounded them and that they used the pepper-spray in self-defense, however captured video of the event does not show any threat to the officers. In the wake of this response, at least one officer has been suspended and placed on administrative leave and a call to remove Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi has been initiated.

Background

Occupy UC Davis draws upon non-violent civil disobedience of the kind American Civil Rights Movement and the Arab Spring. It is a part of the Occupy Movement and closely tied to Occupy Cal.

Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is an ongoing series of demonstrations beginning September 17, 2011, in New York City's Zuccotti Park in the Wall Street financial district. The protests have focused on social and economic inequality, high unemployment, greed, as well as corruption, and the undue influence of corporations—particularly that of the financial services sector—on government. The protesters' slogan We are the 99% refers to the growing difference in wealth in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. The protest since grew into a world-wide movement known as the Occupy Movement.

Occupy Davis (as opposed to Occupy UC Davis) is the on-going protest held in the city itself. Occupy Davis protestors occupied the city's Central Park in mid-October. [2] While Occupy Davis was directly inspired by Occupy Wall Street in October, Occupy UC Davis was formed only later, largely in response to police violence at Occupy Cal and other protests.

Occupy Cal

Main article: Occupy Cal

Occupy Cal is an on-going series of protests at UC Berkeley. A major theme of the Occupy demonstrations at California public universities is the role of education in creating jobs and improving the quality of life of society as a whole, and the contrasting failure of the UC Regents and the State of California to honor commitments made in the California Master Plan for Higher Education. Recent 81% tuition increases for students, mandatory furloughs (including for professors), firings of lower-ranking workers (especially those working directly with students), and well-publicized raises for the highest paid administrators link here have further fueled discontent both within the University of California system (of which UC Davis is a part) and within the California State University system, which has also seen large tuition raises and consequent protests.

Police violence at Occupy Cal, protests in response at UC Davis

External videos
video icon Police beat and arrest students at UC Berkeley, Nov 9

On November 9, students and professors at UC Berkeley began with a series of "teach-ins" around campus, a noon rally and march. Approximately 1,500 demonstrators attended the days' events. [3] Midday, protestors set up seven tents to symbolize their support for Occupy Movement. In response, law enforcement officials from UC Berkeley Police, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and other UC Police officers in riot gear arrived to remove the seven tents from the protest site. [4] [5]

Video footage of the afternoon confrontation showed police beating protesters with batons and dragging two protesters by the hair, one of whom was UC Berkeley English professor Celeste Langan. [6] 39 protesters including Professor Langan were arrested for charges including "resisting and delaying a police officer in the performance of their duties, and failure to disperse when given a dispersal order."[7]

Response to Occupy Cal beatings

The ACLU expressed "grave concerns" about the use of batons on protesters. The UC Student Association a statement saying "UC Students are outraged by the brutal tactics used by the UCPD against students." [8]

In response to the police brutality and other perceived failings of Birgeneau and the UC Regents, the Occupy Cal General Assembly called for a general UC strike on November 15th, 2011. Other student groups from around the state announced plans to join in the protest. On November 11, the UC Davis Faculty Association also voted to endorse the November 15 systemwide strike. [9]

Police violence at Occupy UC Davis

External videos
video icon UC Davis Protestors Pepper Sprayed, Nov 18
video icon Police pepper spraying and arresting students at UC Davis, Nov 18, longer video shows spraying, crowd reaction, and police departure.
video icon Linda Katehi's "silent walk of shame"

On Friday November 18, police on the University of California at Davis deployed pepper spray on a group of student protestors as they sat quietly on the ground.[10]

According to Nathan Brown, assistant professor at UC Davis:

"When students covered their eyes with their clothing, police forced open their mouths and pepper-sprayed down their throats. Several of these students were hospitalized. Others are seriously injured. One of them, forty-five minutes after being pepper-sprayed down his throat, was still coughing up blood." [11]

The 35 or so officers present said that they had felt surrounded, but there was no evidence that they were. Several hundred demonstrators had gathered. 10 were arrested and two officers have been suspended.[12]

According to participants, one of the officers who used pepper spray was identified as Lieutenant John Pike of Davis, California. [13] He has since been suspended from duty and is on administrative leave. [14]

Response

Laura Flanders described the events as a "Bull Connor Moment", in reference to the Birmingham, Alabama leader who infamously deployed firehoses and attack dogs against peaceful protestors during the American Civil Rights Movement.[15] Viewing footage of the events, Ron Christie described it as "excessive force" saying, "I wouldn't call that pepper-spray, I'd say that was a pepper-hose". University Professor Bob Ostertag echoed these sentiments in public letter, writing:[16]

"Chancellor Robert Birgeneau thus joins the likes of Bull Connor, the notorious segregationist and architect of the violent repression of the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama, as some of the very few people who view the non-violent tactics of Martin Luther King as violent."

On Saturday November 19, after holding a press conference, Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi walked out of the building where she was confronted by hundreds of silent protestors who lined the sidewalks as she made the three block walk to a waiting SUV. [17] Video of Katehi's "walk of shame" immediately went viral. Shortly after getting into the SUV, Katehi appeared on CNN, demonstrating some remorse but ultimately defending her actions. [18]

Calls for new Chancellor

Much of the the response has focused on calls for a new Chancellor to replace the current Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi. Members of the faculty have publicly called for a new chancellor, and signatures are being gathered on petitions for a new chancellor.

On November 19, the board of UC Davis Faculty issued a statement calling for both the immediate resignation of the Chancellor and for an end to police removal of non-violent protestors from the campus:

Given the recent use of excessive force by police against “occupy” protestors at UC Berkeley and elsewhere, the Chancellor must have anticipated that, by authorizing police action, she was effectively authorizing their use of excessive force against peaceful UCD student protestors. The Chancellor’s role is to enable open and free inquiry, not to suppress it.

We also call for a policy that will end the practice of forcibly removing non-violent student, faculty, staff, and community protestors by police on the UC Davis campus. The University of California should be taking a leadership role in encouraging the exercise of free speech, not in suppressing it.[19]

On November 19, Katehi called for creation of a task force to review the incident and report their findings and recommendations within 90 days.[20],[21] That same day, approximately 1000 students and supporters participated in a silent protest against the Chancellor. [22]

References

  1. ^ CS Monitor UC Davis Pepper-Sprays Protestors
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Hollyfield, Amy (10 November 2011). "Occupy Cal calm, but ready for showdown". KGO-TV. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  4. ^ Asimov, Nanette (11 November 2011). "Occupy Cal protesters vote to strike on Tuesday". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  5. ^ Asimov, Nanette (10 November 2011). "UC campus police move in on student protesters". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  6. ^ Gollan, Jennifer (11 November 2011). "UC Berkeley Pledges to Investigate Police Response to Occupy Cal Protest". The Bay Citizen. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  7. ^ Bowe, Rebecca (10 November 2011). "Occupy Cal makes its dramatic entrance". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  8. ^ Applegate, Jamie (13 November 2011). "Reactions to the police response to Occupy Cal on Nov. 9". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  9. ^ Davis Faculty Association Endorses Occupy Cal’s Call for Strike
  10. ^ Kent, Julie (19 November 2011). "UC Davis Police Brutally Pepper Spray OWS Protesters Sitting Peacefully on Campus". The Cleveland Leader. Retrieved 21 Nobember 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  11. ^ "Open Letter to Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi"
  12. ^ Brad Knickerbocker, “UC Davis pepper spray incident goes viral”, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 November 2011
  13. ^ "Video In pepper spray aftermath"
  14. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/20/uc-davis-pepper-spray-video
  15. ^ PBS's Eyes on the Prize segment, including video of Connor.Connor's Tank Returns to Birmingham; Laura Flanders, Nov 19, 2011 "Up with Chris Hayes"
  16. ^ Bob Ostertag. Militarization of Campus Police, Huffington Post
  17. ^ [2]
  18. ^ [3]
  19. ^ DFA Board Calls for Katehi’s Resignation
  20. ^ Pringle, Paul; Quinones, Sam (19 November 2011). "UC Davis chief launches probe into pepper-spraying of Occupy protesters". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 Nobember 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  21. ^ "Task Force Created To Review Pepper Spray Incident". KCRA-TV. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
  22. ^ UC Davis: Speechless
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