UC Davis Police Indiscriminately Deploy Pepper Spray Against OWS Protesters

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[Post New]11/19/2011 09:33
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jsteele
Site Admin Online
This is an amazing video. A small group of protesters at UC Davis is sitting down in a row. They are possibly blocking a road of some sort. But, they are just sitting there doing absolutely nothing. A policeman simply walks down the line spraying them directly in the face with pepper spray. This is reminiscent of the fire hoses used to spray civil rights demonstrators. There is absolutely no excuse to use pepper spray in this instance. But, even more amazing is the aftermath. The crowd is understandably enraged. But, they remain peaceful, if intimidating, and manage to chase the entire police contingent (which is armed with some weird-looking guns in addition to pepper spray) out of the park. It is a great demonstration of how peaceful protest can defeat armed force.

[Post New]11/21/2011 05:28
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Anonymous
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/us/police-officers-involved-in-pepper-spraying-placed-on-leave.html
update
[Post New]11/21/2011 07:24
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Anonymous
The protesters were outside the UC Davis Chancellors office for hours chanting until she came out. When she did finally leave, there was complete silence. Incredible.
[Post New]11/21/2011 08:08
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Anonymous
Unbelievable. I have to hand it to the students. They kept peaceful, which is hard to do in a situation like that. Very brave.

I guess now that sidewalk is safe for students to walk on now, huh? Because before they had to go around on the grass, and you never know what will happen when students leave the pedestrian path.
[Post New]11/21/2011 09:29
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Anonymous
And we dare to claim moral authority in situations where the police violently disband peaceful protesters in other countries.
[Post New]11/23/2011 08:27
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Anonymous
Hey, it's just a food-derived product. And after all it IS a liberal university so.... anything can and should be used. Just ask Fox:

http://gawker.com/5861688/its-a-food-product-essentially-fox-news-starts-spinning-pepper-spray-cops
[Post New]11/23/2011 08:29
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Anonymous
I watched that segment, and the woman (don't know her name) seemed very uncomfortable with that position. O'Reilly, on the other hand...
[Post New]11/23/2011 08:35
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Anonymous
Should ve used gasoline and a match, sanitize these nasties
[Post New]11/23/2011 09:37
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Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Should ve used gasoline and a match, sanitize these nasties
Yes we can't ave protest on college campuses. What is the world coming to? They blocked a WHOLE SIDEWALK! What's next, showing up late for class? Not wearing school colors at the football game?
[Post New]11/23/2011 09:58
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Anonymous
Yes, I think the UC Davis students deserve a great deal of credit. I've seen videos before where people claimed the police were beating protesters but the video can be interpreted as the police feeling threatened by protesters and defending themselves. The UC Davis students made it absolutely clear that they were no threat whatsoever to the police or (later) the Chancellor.
[Post New]11/23/2011 10:37
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Anonymous
ok, how do you want the police to move protesters out of the way? Do you want them to physically pick them up and throw them in a police car? I honestly am curious. You cannot allow people to block public spaces illegally - so you need some non-lethal way to move them. What is the preferred method?
[Post New]11/23/2011 11:04
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jsteele
Site Admin Online
Anonymous wrote:ok, how do you want the police to move protesters out of the way? Do you want them to physically pick them up and throw them in a police car? I honestly am curious. You cannot allow people to block public spaces illegally - so you need some non-lethal way to move them. What is the preferred method?


They were blocking a walking path in the middle of a park. The police could have just ignored them. The police were not trying to make the path passible. Rather, the University administration wanted to prevent a camp from being set up in the park.

Have you even watched the video, though? I can't believe that you are actually condoning that sort of use of pepper spray. The police were eventually chased out of the park. Even if you think the use of pepper spray was justified -- and you really have to be pretty sadistic to think so -- you have to admit that it was self-defeating.
[Post New]11/23/2011 11:45
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Anonymous
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:ok, how do you want the police to move protesters out of the way? Do you want them to physically pick them up and throw them in a police car? I honestly am curious. You cannot allow people to block public spaces illegally - so you need some non-lethal way to move them. What is the preferred method?


They were blocking a walking path in the middle of a park. The police could have just ignored them. The police were not trying to make the path passible. Rather, the University administration wanted to prevent a camp from being set up in the park.

Have you even watched the video, though? I can't believe that you are actually condoning that sort of use of pepper spray. The police were eventually chased out of the park. Even if you think the use of pepper spray was justified -- and you really have to be pretty sadistic to think so -- you have to admit that it was self-defeating.


agreed it certainly wasnt effective in this instance, thanks to the reaction from the protesters. Great example of non-violent effective civil disobedience.

But I am asking there are times when police rightfully need to clear protesters out of a public space, and what is the best method to do so? pepper spray works and is non-lethal.
[Post New]11/23/2011 12:20
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jsteele
Site Admin Online
Anonymous wrote:
But I am asking there are times when police rightfully need to clear protesters out of a public space, and what is the best method to do so? pepper spray works and is non-lethal.


Is the goal of authorities simply a matter of clearing a public space or is there a larger effort to bring an end to protests?

As in this case, non-violent protest is most effective when it provokes an unjust response. When you think about the civil rights marches, you think about fire hoses, police dogs, and police beating marchers. If there were peaceful marches that were ignored by authorities, I certainly don't know about them. So, assuming that the authorities don't want to strengthen the movement, they would want to clear the public space in the least confrontational manner possible. When Mayor Gray and most Council members sat down in the middle of the street, police handcuffed them and then led them away. Pepper spray was not used. If protesters refused to walk on their own means, I think most of them would be pretty easy to pick up (it might take four officers, but probably only two in most cases).

One thing I note about the protests in DC is how the police have generally taken the view that it is the protesters' right to protest and the police are basically protecting them. So, when they march in the street, the police block traffic. In turn, the protesters alert the police ahead of time of their marches. This has created trust between the protesters and the police. Most of the large marches are actually led by a police officer. Even when the protesters cross the line -- such as taking over the vacant Franklin school building -- the trust between the two sides allows it to be resolved peacefully. So, if the DC protesters ever blocked a public street, I imagine the police would leave them alone for quite a while and negotiate a reasonable ending. Things would really have to get out of hand before pepper spray was used.
[Post New]11/23/2011 12:29
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Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:ok, how do you want the police to move protesters out of the way? Do you want them to physically pick them up and throw them in a police car? I honestly am curious. You cannot allow people to block public spaces illegally - so you need some non-lethal way to move them. What is the preferred method?


They were blocking a walking path in the middle of a park. The police could have just ignored them. The police were not trying to make the path passible. Rather, the University administration wanted to prevent a camp from being set up in the park.

Have you even watched the video, though? I can't believe that you are actually condoning that sort of use of pepper spray. The police were eventually chased out of the park. Even if you think the use of pepper spray was justified -- and you really have to be pretty sadistic to think so -- you have to admit that it was self-defeating.


agreed it certainly wasnt effective in this instance, thanks to the reaction from the protesters. Great example of non-violent effective civil disobedience.

But I am asking there are times when police rightfully need to clear protesters out of a public space, and what is the best method to do so? pepper spray works and is non-lethal.
It's a time-honored tradition to arrest people. If they don't get up on their own, they have to be carried. Really, this is not news. This approach has been used for years. I committed civil disobedience in the 70s and chose to walk to the bus but others in my group had to be carried. We were only doing what people had already been doing for decades.
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