Viewing the UC Davis Pepper Spraying from Multiple Angles

Posted by Andy Baio

I was stunned and appalled by the UC Davis Police spraying protestors, but struck by how many brave, curious people recorded the events. I took the four clearest videos and synchronized them. Citizen journalism FTW. Sources below.

Best viewed in HD fullscreen.

Top

briocloud, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8Uj1cV97XQ

jamiehall1615, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuWEx6Cfn-I

Bottom

OperationLeakS, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjnR7xET7Uo

asucd, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AdDLhPwpp4

Comments

    Fascinating. I found it very interesting that the Aggie TV one is so short, and that only two of the videos really show any of the preface to the spraying itself. When a video is cut short like that, or starts late, I find it very difficult to believe it hasn’t been edited to further the creator’s position.

    I wonder why police always think their job is to be Praetorian guards out to protect the rulers.

    Shameful.

    Are those guys dressed as policemen professionals?

    Shameful.

    They should loose their jobs for acting like cowardly thugs.

    Looks to me like they pretty much deserved what they got. We do have laws in this land. As much as they have a right to protest, the rest of us have a right to be able to live our lives and move about freely. Last time I checked resisting arrest is not ok. So, go ahead and propose another method of getting these yahoos to move. Maybe they should zap em or maybe they could just talk to them and ask them nicely. Oh wait, they already tried that. This is not shameful. This is our justice system at work. If I was resisting arrest and in the way of people trying to be about their free business I would expect to be dealt with severely. The fact that these whiney bitches don’t expect that is exactly what is wrong with America.

    @Kalvin Smith:

    I have another proposal for getting them to move: What happened after the pepper spray was used, when the police walked up to the protesters and physically moved them. You’ll notice that none of the protesters struck back at the police or did anything but hold on to each other.

    The particular, stark reality of this situation is that the pepper spray did not do anything to advance the police’s efforts here. No protesters got up and walked away; they all stayed where they were (and probably some of them weren’t really capable of moving for a few seconds). So, the police ended up just where they would have been absent using the spray. As another commentator has suggested, that means that the pepper spray just ended up being punishment for annoying the police. In our justice system, the punishments for crimes are set by the law, and give by judges, not by the police.

    And, for the record, “resisting arrest” does not include failing to help the police arrest you.

    Excellent idea to sync all the video.

    Kalvin, everyone in this country has a right to protest and assemble. May I remind you:

    Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

    However, college and university campuses can institute their own rules. The problem is that pepper spray was not needed here. These students were peacefully protesting. The police could have easily separated and cuffed them.

    The students were not resisting arrest as they had not been placed in police custody yet. They were failing to disperse. They were not charged with resisting arrest, they were charged with trespassing according to news reports.

    @Kalvin Smith

    I do not think that word means what you think it means.

    ”

    Resisting arrest is a term used to describe a criminal charge against an individual who has committed, depending on the jurisdiction, at least one of the following acts:

    * threatening a police officer with physical violence while being arrested

    * physically struggling to get out from being restrained (handcuffed or put into the police vehicle)

    * attacking a police officer while being arrested

    * providing an officer with false identification (either verbally or by presentation of a false official document, i.e. a fake ID)

    ”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resisting_arrest

    Kalvin –

    I find it very interesting that you seem ok with this when even the Chancellor of UC Davis has referred to it as “Horrifying.”

    (http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/11/21/142586964/uc-davis-pepper-spraying-police-chief-put-on-leave-chancellor-to-speak)

    These people are also not “resisting arrest.” While you might thing otherwise, resisting arrest has a very specific meaning.

    To be charged with resisting arrest, you must have done one of the following:

    – Threatened an officer of the law with real physical harm by word or action while being arrested.

    – Struggled to escape from restraint

    – Physically harmed an officer of the law

    – Provided an officer of the law with false identification (Lied about name, reason at location, or gave fake ID)

    NONE of these things happened at UC Davis.

    – They were not under arrest. To be under arrest, you must have been told that you are under arrest and restrained.

    – They were not struggling against the officer while the officer was restraining them. No attempt was made to restrain anyone.

    – They were not asked for identification and did not provide false reasons for their presence at the location.

    – No officer was threatened by the people pepper sprayed. While they might have said they felt threatened, people with linked arms is not a real threat.

    The simple fact is, you are allowed in this nation to peacefully assemble and protest. There should be nothing that violates that right, even the fact if it means that Kalvin Smith is slightly inconvenienced. You are severely misinformed about the situation, the ramifications, personal rights, and American law.

    Of course, you will most simply will lump me (and anyone else who realizes that this is a gross abuse of power) in as another “whiny bitch”. And if being correct makes me a whiny bitch, well then…

    WAH!

    This is the volatility of power at work. The cops here are no different than elected officials Who can hide behind glass and forcefully silence those who are speaking (through silence or otherwise). Power isn’t evil, but evil becomes more tempting to those with power.

    The only two people I spoke with today who thought the students committed a crime were both secure in union jobs, one a nurse and the other a stage hand. Neither understands why students would protest. My impression is that if you have the “good life” now during this prolonged recession you may lack empathy for others not so fortunate.

    Douglas: I used the amazing youtube-dl to download the source videos, and ffmpeg to transcode the two .flv files to .mp4.

    Then I imported the four videos into Screenflow on four layers, resized them, and synced the video to the point where the Lt. Pike’s pepper spray started. Exported at the highest quality. Never touched the audio at all!

    It’s interesting to me that what I did isn’t even possible in iMovie, but a simple screencasting app makes it dead simple. Screenflow rocks. Highly recommended.

    Somebody should have punched that cop in the nuts when he stepped over the human barricade.

    To the idiot who said these people were resisting arrest, they were not. to those wondering about why some of the videos are short, police were also threatening people taping the incident with batons and paintball guns.

    This appeared to be the decision of a few power drunk cops. They should be fired, and maybe so should their superior depending on the situation, but this is hardly a Kent State moment or anything. It is always unsettling to see state power though in non-threatening situations.

    The police had a mandate to clear the path so that students could circulate freely.

    The yahoos wouldn’t move.

    They got what they deserved. Pepper spraying, an arrest record plus a night in jail is the smallest possible penance. Hopefully they’ll get suspended from school, too.

    Yes, Xavior. You are absolutely right. I mean, they were blocking a side walk surrounded with lava and it was so obvious the other students where struggling to get by so they wouldn’t miss their class.

    THINK! before you spout your mouth. Expelled for what? Breaking the law? What law?! Because Daddy Anonymous told his minion fake police to move the students does not make it law. The students obviously love their university. Did you not hear them?

    Start thinking, watching and listening. Stop being so obedient because you are told to be

    Xavier Itzmann and Kalvin Smith do a fine impression of Captain Renault and they have about as much moral integrity. I guess these two clowns always have their Casablanca.

    Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?

    Captain Renault: I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!

    [a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]

    Croupier: Your winnings, sir.

    Captain Renault: Oh, thank you very much.

    If you watch the videos Xavier you might notice that students were circulating quite freely.

    What a thug.

    This was fantastic, and by that I mean what the authorities did. Anyone who has children, and have raised them to respect authority at all understand this completely. When kids are young, you discipline them hard once to teach them what is wrong so they don’t do it again.

    By them using the pepper spray (after they’ve been asked to move the public access way) they showed everyone else around there what happens if you decide you want to plop down in that spot and ignore what you are asked to do by the authorities. Plain and simple.

    For those protesting, you do have the right to free speech, but you don’t have the right to be heard. You also have the right to assembly, but you don’t have the right to assemble where it is going to cause menace to society as a whole (blocking streets, public places, etc.) When the fight against injustice (or perceived injustice) crosses the line into anti-social (i.e., anti-society in this context) behavior, there has to be some way for the law to react in a country governed by the rule of law, not by the rule of the mob.

    The girls screaming in pain from the pepper spray is the whole point of the pepper spray. It told everyone else standing around that if you block this public road, you will be punished.

    If you tell a four-year-old that they will get a spanking if they lie to you, when you catch them lying to you, spank them. It amazes me how people are so sympathetic toward the mob…until the mob gets out of control, then what, we have no authority whatsoever.

    Xavier and Kalvin,

    when the people are no longer represented by their elected officials, when the elected officials have been bought by the interests of of the few who hold 99% of the nations wealth, then Americans who care about their country are going to take action. This is America. This is our birthright. For every student who protested and suffered the consequence there are 1000’s of people who are grateful for their efforts and stand with them. This is not about demonizing particular people, or the police though you will hear that talk. I’m sure the police have children too and were conflicted about what was happening. More deeply it’s about correcting the destructive imbalance of power and restoring democracy. Protest is legal in this country and it is how things have gotten done, especially when politicians fail. It is scary to see the upheaval and we want it to go away as quick as possible. Some of us want to go back to sleep, but if you can’t publicly assemble and speak freely, then this would not be the United States. Compared to the abuses of huge corporations and the banking industry blocking a sidewalk on a college campus is only “inconvenient”. Let’s make a better world.

    The protesters were sitting in the middle of the quad on campus. They were not blocking anyone’s way. They were not keeping anyone from getting anywhere. They were a part of the peaceful protests that were going on all week. The police were told to go there to remove the tents and other camp equipment which were not permitted on campus, not to remove the protesters.

    After watching this and the silent walk from the building to her car, I still don’t know what the students want.

    Okay, the more I see things like this – and actually, the more I read ignorant comments – I feel compelled to speak up regarding the role of the officers in situations like these.

    I am a former USCG federal officer and trainer. I was a Boarding Officer, and the Lead for my last unit I was assigned to (Lead means the BO in charge of law enforcement operations, as commanded by the Captain of the Port). I give you that background info mostly so that a)you realize I’m not just another troll and b)anyone who knows the weight that carries, knows the weight of the following words.

    The officers in the video above should be arrested for unlawful use of force. I’ll explain why.

    Every officer, from the rural town cop to deputies to FBI, are all trained on what is known as the “Use of Force Continuum”. Levels 1 and 2 are officer presence and verbal commands. Level 3 is Control Techniques (joint manipulation, pressure points, normal application of handcuffs, etc). Level 3 is the HIGHEST used for passive protesters. The use of pepper spray is known as Level 4 – an aggressive RESPONSE technique. Also in level 4 are kicks, punches, takedowns, and other methods that may cause bodily harm, lacerations, and broken bones.

    For those that are curious, level 5 is batons or weapons of opportunity (level 5 means you WILL break something, possibly can cause death). Level 6 is deadly force.

    The point is that these officers – and in my opinion the Berkeley incident and several other standalone incidents I’ve seen – used a level of force that was far beyond that which was required or needed. It was police brutality, plain and simple.

    Those of you in these comments cheering for the cops and saying that the students got what they deserved – you should be ashamed of yourself, and I hope your mother never knows what a pig you are.

    Had these officers been in my charge, any using the OC spray would have been placed under arrest. I would have been lucky not to be arrested alongside them as their commanding officer. I’m surprised the protesters did not turn violent. I know I would have if I had been sprayed. Kudos to you kids.

    @Ridley Scott

    Except that we police isn’t there to punish, we have the justice system for that.

    I guess you’re in favor of some kind of judge dredd, the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner combined into one person?

    And what if your holy law changes? What if the law says that people of a certain religion should be deported? Did the jews in WW2 also need a good spanking?

    How will we ever integrate all these policemen ,who have had the humanity trained out of them, into a peaceful America? It’s a frightening problem as America becomes a police state.

    praying for pebbles in jackboots,

    britepathos

    I personally witnessed an Occupy Houston demonstration last week where the Houston Police were faced with similar numbers of peaceful, seated protesters as those at UC-Davis. In marked contrast to the events in California, HPD acted very properly, removing and arresting those involved without resorting to pepper spray, violence or riot gear.

    The police actions at UC-Davis were clearly unnecessary and were meant purely to punish and intimidate anyone who would dare to disobey.

    Some of us are old enough to remember Kent State. And while the cops didn’t use guns this time, their actions were still over the top. The students were peacefully assembling. The cops were power mongers looking for trouble. They looked like a gang from the hood, trying to egg-on the students.

    They had absolutely no cause to spray pepper spray into their faces. They should be fired and tried in court for assault and battery!

    If we don’t stand up for our rights, they will be gone. And they have been so eroded over the past 20 years, this country is hardly recognizable anymore.

    What are YOU doing to help maintain (or reinstate) the Constitution of the united States?

    can clearly see why he made his decision. When teaching riot control situation i doubt all instructors keep their own mnemonics of fear from leaking through. i expect a realistic sensory simulation of these sorts of situation would really help decision making. that would take a really good production team. I wonder if the production can be open source at levels?

    People talking about “respecting authority” need to consider- *really* consider- what “authority” is.

    Police aren’t authority, because I haven’t engaged in a consenting relationship. Nobody there did.

    “Respecting Authority” blindly causes things like – in experiments – the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgram Experiment.

    Please, please read about what ‘authority’ does. Just because someone has more “power” doesn’t make them right – or more important. Or more human.

    Brave bystanders don’t impress me; I was appalled at how many people stood by filming and let an unprovoked assault happen.

    Had Pike been beating a child, they would have interceded, wouldn’t you think? Had he been raping a woman, you hope they would have interceded. Here he was assaulting an unarmed citizen of the United States with a chemical weapon, and they stood around and filmed it.

    The Campus Police are big bullys, and the crowd stood by and let the bullies win.

    It’s ridiculous to sympathize with these people. We live under a rule of law, and that means that we have freedom under the rules that society has put in place so that innocent people will not be harmed or hindered by the irresponsible, reckless, or violent actions of others. There are more appropriate ways that these protestors could have made a statement or changed rules that they did not agree with, but resisting police authority does nothing for their cause. The police were orderly, gave plenty of warning, and executed the appropriate consequence humanely and without passion. It’s a perfect example of action and consequence. No protester was permanently harmed or will suffer long-term effects from pepper spray. They are not martyrs- they made a choice and the police did their job.

    Attitude like yours, lockboxed (appropriate moniker, by the way), is how the Nazi party came into power; and cowards, too fearful to protest, allowed a course of history that their nation and its generations will never be able to erase. Is that the history you want your nation to follow?

    I am firmly on the side of the police. The protesters were given ample notice to remove themselves from the property as they were only given permission to camp for one night. They received written notice of their order to leave from the chancellor with HOURS of notice before the police were called to remove the trespassers. The university didn’t need a reason to want them to leave any more than I need a reason to tell you to get off my lawn. You don’t have the right to protest on my lawn regardless of your constitutional right to protest.

    The police warned them to move and then warned them of the consequences of continuing to trespass. They announced that they would be spraying OC on anyone who chose to stay. Those protesters CHOSE the consequences and the police used the lowest level of force aside from asking nicely.

    For law enforcement to come into physical contact to move an offender is a greater risk to both parties than spraying from a distance. OC spray typically stings the mucosal membranes for about 45 minutes. Those with Asthma had plenty of time to get away from it.

    I am willing to bet that the OWS protesters won’t be satisfied without achieving total anarchy. Their demands are irrational. You cannot get the government to simply erase all debt. You cannot make universities run for half the cost or free without lowering the quality of the education.

    Should the teachers, janitors, people who run the cafeterias, guys who fill the soda machines and landscapers all work for free so you can have a discount education? Who will pay them so they can buy groceries?

    I cannot stand how people are dehumanizing the police. They have signed over their lives to serve the very community of which the protesters and the university and the mega corporations are all part of. They are taught that when dealing with a trespasser you follow certain procedures and rule of engagement. Who decides what a trespasser is? Not the police. The Chancellor determined that and asked the police to enforce the law regarding trespassing.

    I think if you don’t like the way your country is being run you should try moving to a country without laws and order like Somalia. Living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world with the opportunities afforded those willing to work for them and still feeling like you are being so abused by your government is appalling to me.

    @ Joe,

    Of course the police is there to punish, have you not ever received a speeding ticket? You break the law, or disobey it and they punish you for it. They tell you to move, you disobey them, and they punish you for it.

    The police didn’t decide to just show up and do something. They were told to go and do something by whoever owns that property, most likely the public (us). They don’t just randomly show up in riot gear on their own accord.

    Also, don’t get all knee jerk like mhikl did in a later post and go right for the Nazi party killing Jews either. Those parallels and arguments are ridiculous and have no place here. In fact they are down right offensive to be brought up in this context. Jews in Germany didn’t decide to put themselves into a situation, they were hunted by Nazis.

    These protesters put themselves in this position.

    Well I believe in a society where everyone follows rules and obeys authority and live in peace.

    But the few posters who believe that the officer had the right to remove students protesting is fraudulent. As a follower of rules, the constitution clearly entails that right to protest. The 1% that govern this nation and the congressmen they have at their bidding make laws to protect their 1% dominance by polity. Thus the cops have adhered to follow the leader aspect and with disregard enforce the violence upon the 99% to make them go away because it’s an inconvenience.

    Students weren’t being a menace to society, but they were trying to fight in the same way their ancestors fought for their freedom but with non violence.

    I would like to live in equality and where my rights and the rights of the 1% are the same and my congressman protects my rights instead of policing me with batons to obey unwarranted rules beneficial for the 1% in power.

    @ Arun,

    I totally agree with you about being able to have the right to protest. But why won’t you agree that the protesters who were removed, the only ones who were sprayed, could have protested peacefully with all of the others in a non-walkway?

    There are protests everywhere, all over the country, but to follow the law, usually you need to get a permit if you are going to be in a certain public place, especially if you are going to have a large group of people.

    This is why I keep coming back to the claim that this small group, wanted a confrontation, and as you can see, was ready for it. They looked peaceful, because they sat there, but if peaceful was truly, I mean deep down truly their goal, they would have sat on the grass with everyone else. This way, they would have been left alone.

    In this way they would have followed the law, like you and I want, and they would have lived in peace.

    Well the irony of this situation is to ask the oppressor permission and venue to express the harsh reality of their oppression on the oppresse.

    I am a student and I pay exorbitant amount of tuition fees to educate myself to contribute to the society and earn a living. If when I am unable to pay tuition they university expels me without any regard. But if I want to express my dissatisfaction, I have to ask the university permission and then the amount of time given to make my plea but at a venue that doesn’t inconvenience society. But my Plea falls on deaf ears. A non violent protest is for a change in the system. My forefathers did that for me till I got my independence! I am from India and my nations father Gandhi fought till he brought us freedom!

    If you are going to pepper spray my ideals, and baton me to oppress me, then I will sit in the Walkway till the system is changed to serve the people and not an inconvenienced chancellor.

    Forgive me Arun for I guess I have no idea what you are protesting in the first place here.

    From what I can decipher is that you are possibly angry that if you can’t pay your tuition to the university, and they don’t let you attend anymore, you want to protest them?

    First of all, that’s bullcrap. Just the fact that you are saying they “expel” you without any regard is bogus too. The regard is the fact that you cannot pay for a service they are offering. For you to protest that alone is garbage and I kind of want to spray a can of pepper spray in your face. I have a feeling the U.S. founding fathers would too.

    The last thing this country was founded on was trying to get something for nothing.

    Now, if you are referring to something completely different, please share with the rest of us. I believe the loud minority are the ones who are sitting in protest here and that the majority of people don’t think you are being oppressed at all.

    I am not protesting for a free system, I am merely protesting the 22% more fee increase to the system in 3 years. I am not asking for society to provide me with everything, so I can trample on people’s hard working lives to live luxuriously. If you don’t pay your tuition you get expelled, if you think that is outlandish, please refer to any university’s fee policy. The education system is becoming elitist as People with affluence can pay for their child’s tuition whereas people who can barely make the payments are unable to attend due to increasing tuition hikes.

    So when you deem us as the loud minority, I am part of the 99% who suffers because the cost for education keeps skyrocketing and am unable to voice an opinion.

    Thanks for admitting that you don’t see the oppression because it is not affecting you. I am being oppressed due to the mere increase in tuition costs where my future depends on my education.

    Still my opinion is trivial to the fact that students cannot voice an opinion in peaceful protest and the justification that followed to the violence. When your rights are being infringed and when your livelihood is at stake, maybe you shall see the atrocity us loud minorities face.

    Ridley Scott wrote: Also, don’t get all knee jerk like mhikl did in a later post and go right for the Nazi party killing Jews either.

    Know your history, Ridley. The part of history to which I was referring was inaction by the populous to the atrocities perpetrated upon its citizenry, all its citizenry. When the common wo/man does not stand up to injustice, then we are all diminished. What the world suffered could happen again.

    Think, before your write and don’t put words in other people’s mouths.

    And this point is so wrong: RS says: Of course the police is there to punish, have you not ever received a speeding ticket?

    Know your system. The police do not punish. That is the responsibility of the judiciary.

    @ mhikl,

    I guess you’ve never driven the highways of Montana. No judiciary involved in those tickets. Police only. Some times, its pay on the spot.

    Enforcing the laws the laws means…enforcing.

    I find it troubling that some people here find the actions of the UCD police responsible and those of the students irresponsible. No doubt these same folks were once teary eyed when learning about the peaceful protests of Ghandi or Mandela.

    While our so-called leaders give lip service to peaceful disobedience in foreign lands, they know quite well their militarized police will spray, beat, and otherwise hammer down any such demonstration here that dares to raise its head.

    I’m already seeing how the police are being thrown under the bus to save the chancellor’s hide. Clearly, some people have no honor. Or is it just that some animals are more equal than others?

    Proud of the students for reminding America what we were supposed to learn from studying the Boston Tea Party, The Underground Railroad, the Vietnam protests: might does not make right. My heart goes out to the students and also the parents of these young kids who were senselessly attacked. The offending officers should be jailed, or at minimum, sentenced to a long history lesson.

    The Vietnam protests had a clear goal, to end the war. The chant at the time was “give peace a chance”.

    The only discernible goal of OWS would be best expressed by a chant of “gimme, gimme, gimme”.

    «I am merely protesting the 22% more fee increase to the system in 3 years»

    Ha!

    I remember silly students agitating not too long ago for pay raises to staff, i.e., living wage and other costly measures.

    Idealistic, untethered-to-reality students made their bed, they can sleep it on now.

    – * –

    Some of the posters above complain about having to get a permit to stage a protest in a public place, such as a park. I actually tend to agree. But if they don’t like such overly-nannyst regulations, they can always vote to get right-thinking aldermen or whatever who would lift such absurd restrictions.

    Anyone who says they don’t know what OWS protests are about is either stupid or lying. If you did any digging at all, or if you were halfway in touch with the news for the last two months, you would know. Try using Google or listening even halfway to someone else’s opinion for a change.

    Your professed ignorance is staggering.

    “don’t shoot children”

    Really. I thought this was a university, so they likely be of legal age. I guess all those people in the crowd don’t know the definition of children.

    Maybe they should get back to class, get an education, then try to change the world. Instead of sitting on a sidewalk.

    And it’s ironic they chant shame on you, while surrounding and trying to intimidate the police. It’s the exact same type of behavior they’re condoning.

    But in the end, those who organized it got exactly the publicity stunt they wanted.

    all the boo hoo hooing precious little darlings.. They deliberately chose to sit and lock arms .not on the lawn..but on a public walkway.. there is video with audio of them tellingthe cops to spray them..did you know that part/..if you choose civil disobedience..then don’t whine about the consequences..you wanted the image of police brutality for your anarchist internet argument..you got it..And why the moaning..just a few feet away from thespraying of students and outside agitators..companion animals like dogs, cats, rabbits have EZ off oven cleaner sprayed in their eyes everyday..to support big bucks redundant research grants..the students don’t care at all..the dog in the cage hearing the SHAME SHAMEchants..thought they might be coming to help him..he was wrong.

    The one thing common between the police that day and their supporters leaving messages here: they both demonstrate aggression and resentment towards students and the “educated class” in general. This is another manifestation of the “Palinization” of the USA. The UCD administration unwittingly unleashed this resentment by allowing the use of a weapon against peaceful protesters. In this instance this use of the weapon was illegal. Those influenced by Palinization disregard the law as much as they disregard the validity of scientific method; they justify acts of aggression based on their own sense of fair play. Thankfully I believe these people are the minority.

    The police very likely here violated the law. A Ninth Circuit case in 2002 (Google the “Headwaters Forest Defense” case) addressed the subject at hand re: pepper spray use by cops in such non-violent protest situations. Under similar circumstances there, police use of pepper spray was illegal and constituted unreasonable, “excessive” force…

    Kalvin, Crimson, et al: Your responses to the incident, which even the chancellor and the UC president have characterized as inappropriate, horrifying, etc., serve as indications why this country is never very far from falling into an authoritarian or even totalitarian quasi-dictatorship. Your responses show why those of us who have some understanding of Constitutional principles, and some fellow-feeling, must be not only individually vigilant but robust in spreading the message to our fellow citizens, as apathetic as they may wish to remain. I expect that your way of thinking is becoming second nature to many given the saturation of the media by the warped world-view of Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Hannity, and their non-stop venom. It’s likely that a great number of our fellow citizens rarely if ever hear any other voices.

    Ridley:

    You are great director, but your comments here are wrong-headed

    and anti-democratic

    That anyone condones or excuses pepper spray targeted into the faces of college students practicing their Constitutional rights on their campus of higher learning, rights learned about in our education system from the time these kids could read…yeah SHAME ON YOU! Does it really matter What they were sitting there about? If it had been about gay rights, your freedom of speech, freedom of religion, bringing the troups home, better food in the cafeteria, or raises for campus police officers…would you pepper spray condoners still make your pro police-state comments? The elephant in the room is that you condone the pepper spray action because you don’t approve of WHY the students were sitting there. You have failed Constitution 101, these kids still recovering from being unlawfully attacked know more than you may ever hope to comprehend. I am SO PROUD of them. America is still alive, and not numbed-out. I am reassured our country will be in good hands when these kids get power.

    Thank you for the effort to present this telling event from multi angles. The overwhelming evidence points to abuse of power. And UCD took a few days to turn from police defense to a statement completely distancing themselves from the police action. Nice save attempt … but a little late and a little light.

    The question remains … is it just the police … or also Katehi? Yudof? Anybdy else?

    What will the consequences be? How will this affect our militarized police states?

    There needs to be an investigation more expansive than the one led by Yudof, the university’s chief defender.

    The songs remains the same. Folks experienced this same sort of calculated attack defending the Northern California Redwoods in the 90s. Cops used those bean bag guns in the video on small children and pregnant women at a Rainbow Gathering in 2008 in Wyoming.

    Nothing changes but the cops. The same tactics have been going on for years.

    @ Ridley Scot

    I have raised four wonderful, successful, college educated kids with careers and kids of their own, happy decent adults. I never, not once, not ever, hit a child. I never needed to hit them to teach them what was right and wrong. One of the things I taught them was that it is wrong to hit some one a fraction of your size. That is the action of a bully and a thug. “Spanking” is hitting someone a fraction of your size. No one in their right mind hits a four year old for “lying”. That only demonstrates that you are abusive and unimaginative.

    By the way you are wrong. Hitting children does not teach in one go not to do it again. After all if spanking worked why would you need to do it over and over again? Can you really not think of a better way to communicate with your children than by hitting them whenever they do something you don’t like. Was this done to you? If so I am very sorry but now as a n adult YOU need to take responsibility for your behavior and not hit people a fraction of your size.

    Many time an adult who hits his children will tell me “Well my father/mother (whom the speaker rarely likes and is not close to) hit me and I turned out okay.” To which I reply “No you didn’t. You turned out to be someone who thinks it is okay to hit someone a fraction of your size.

    I guess the protestors should not have sat in a public walkway.

    I don’t understand why so many feel they were unfairly abused. They got exactly what they wanted. To think this is not part of the protestors plan is utter ignorance.

    No pity here.

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