Video Spreads of UC Davis Cops Pepper Spraying Occupy Students
Demonstrators were protesting dismantling of encampment
University of California, Davis, student Mike Fetterman, receives a treatment for pepper spray by UC Davis firefighter Nate Potter, after campus police dismantled an Occupy Wall Street encampment on the campus quad in Davis, Calif., Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. UC Davis officials say eight men and two women were taken into custody. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)DAVIS, California -- 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 stationthat 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.
UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza said it would not be safe or sustainable for demonstrators to camp in the quad.
"It's not safe for multiple reasons," Spicuzza said.
At least one woman left by ambulance for treatment of chemical burns.
"We just successfully booted the police off campus in a non-violent way," Chris Wong, a student protester who said he was speaking for himself, not the Occupy group, told the Sacramento Bee.
Wong said he was one of the students sprayed, but he looked down and didn't get a full dose. He said students then circled the police and tried to hold their ground. The police eventually left.
© 2011 NBC News
2 comments:
Annette Spicuzza Should Be Fired For Ordering The Pepper Spray. Definitely Overboard On The Exertion Of Authority.Her And Her Bullies Are A Poor Excuse For Authority. NO EXCUSES FOR THAT ACTION AT ALL. FIRE SPICUZZA NOW !!!!!
I think they were justified in their harsh assessment of law enforcement as embodied in that particular epithet.
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