Police officer pepper-sprays seated, non-violent students at UC Davis

reply to post by juleol


Yeah.. some people will make themselves look ridiculous rather than concede something positive about a anything they disagree with. I'm sure that poster only thinks Occupy doesn't deserve rights. If it was for something he supported he'd be flipping out.

It's strange, I see a lot of conservatives saying the media treats the Occupy protesters so well, but you can clearly see with this that the media has smeared them to the point that people are swallowing this. Any other group and the media and it's followers would be raising hell over it.

At some point, these tactics are going to backfire on the police. There will be a tipping point, in which these CIVILIANS will have had enough. If these cops continue to attempt to incite a riot (make no mistake, that was the intent) They sure as hell are going to get one.

Any CIVILIAN has a right to self defence. This cop was clearly the antagonist and those peaceful protestors had a right to defend themselves. Period. The cops are outnumbered and to be blunt, out gunned.

If your position is "hey, what did those people expect? They didn't follow orders, so they were sprayed"
My response is "hey, that cop sprayed us and were weren't threatening him in anyway, so we got up and beat the hell out of him"

If you poke a lion you're going to get mauled.

The ignorance of one cop, is going to get him and his buddys hurt very bad. I haven't seen much exessive force at the Dallas protests and the only reason I could think of, as to why the cops have been so tame....civilians carry guns in Texas. You may think twice about using excessive force, if you're surrounded by pissed off armed civilians.

Originally posted by PinkAndBlack
Time for us to start carrying pepper spray as well.

I possess a CCW permit, but seldom carry. But Pepper Gel, I never leave home without it.

I know that a lot of people aren't going to like this, but that cop deserves to be brought into a secluded area and get the snot kicked out of him within an inch of his life.

Even his posture and body language fits the stereotype of what you would call a "pig".

To all the ignorant people who supported his actions in this thread...I hope this happens to you or someone you love (pepper sprayed by a pig).

Originally posted by mileysubet
They where blocking a through fair, The policeman had every right to remove the people blocking the common path, (as I am sure he and several (verbally) others did multiple times). peaceful protest does not include interfering with the passage rights of the people commuting.

These individuals where attempting to make maryters of them selves. They where doing these actions to get attention, although they where breaking the very laws the supposedly protect.

edit on 19-11-2011 by mileysubet because: (no reason given)

Firstly that isn't some important road, it's a sidewalk for god's sake.. secondly.. to get around them you have to walk 4 strides to the right or left of them.. big deal.

I bet that made him feel really big.Idiot.

sorry if this has been asked, but why does that policeman near the end have a paintball gun??!?!?!?

reply to post by Biigs


It's likely that it has paintballs filled with pepper spray. This is relatively common.

The worst thing is these stupid police are being paid to do this sorta stuff.

And I bet he feels like a hard man in front of his fellow police officers, and will brag to them about it afterwards.

reply to post by CharterZZ


What i cant understand is that a police officer is just a normal, everyday human like everyone else.

How does a decision to use pepper spray on people in that situation get made?

ask once, ask twice, third time pepper spray?

reply to post by Biigs


Yea only thing i can think of is that little bit of power they have goes to there heads.

They really do not seem to be the same as the rest of humans.

Originally posted by g146541
reply to post by mileysubet

 

I simply abhor the use of wikipedia as a source but some need an easy broadstroke type of explaination.

Use of force continuum
It is the basic rule and guide to threat escalation.
Tear gas is a defensive tool.
From what I saw the officer was in no physical danger.
But I sure hope he will be in legal danger for his misuse of his tools.
Hope it helps

edit on 19-11-2011 by g146541 because: purdy it up

The Use Of Force Continium applies to civillians as well. A citizen using the tear gas would be charged with assault. The officer was way out of bounds using pepper spray.

This aborhent use of force reminds me of the civil rights protests in the sixties when attack dogs were used at sit-ins.

For those of you simpletons sitting in the comfort of your heated homes arguing in favor of the police, please think of this. There may come a time that you get off your ass to protest injustice. You may feel
A little different when it is your constitutional rights being ignored when a jackboot thug sprays military grade pepper spray up your nose as another boot is placed firmly on your neck.

Lol at how the highest rated comment on that youtube is currently

"im #ing glad i dont live in america. everything is bull# there. the country is falling apart at the seams."

These protests are not going to stop, now every college kid has a laptop. The revolution won't be televised, it will broadcasted on YouTube. I would LOVE to see the gov actually use that new internet bill to take down YT and facebook.. Everybody, from twilight fans to gamers would flood the streets.

One of the most emotional and powerful protest videos I have ever seen.
Empathy required on so many levels.

Opposing groups of the species;
some determined to follow orders,
some determined to follow their hearts,
some (on both sides) knowing they are caught up in a system
that no longer works but don't know how to get out of.

I can only imagine what is going through the minds of the some of the police.
You can bet there are those present that would rather be on the other side of this
experience. Damaged humans frequently cause damage to others - but don't
always know how to get free of the choices they make. A video like this may help them
to see who they have become.

This video screams of a whole species desperate to make sense of their own
personal existence, choices and purpose on this planet.

A positive step and a powerful video for so many reasons.

This letter was emailed to me by a UC Davis Grad:



November 18, 2011

To UC Davis Campus Community,

I am writing to tell you about events that occurred Friday afternoon at UC Davis relating to a group of protestors who chose to set up an encampment on the quad Thursday as part of a week of peaceful demonstrations on our campus that coincided with many other occupy movements at universities throughout the country.

The group did not respond to requests from administration and campus police to comply with campus rules that exist to protect the health and safety of our campus community. The group was informed in writing this morning that the encampment violated regulations designed to protect the health and safety of students, staff and faculty. The group was further informed that if they did not dismantle the encampment, it would have to be removed.

Following our requests, several of the group chose to dismantle their tents this afternoon and we are grateful for their actions. However a number of protestors refused our warning, offering us no option but to ask the police to assist in their removal. We are saddened to report that during this activity, 10 protestors were arrested and pepper spray was used. We will be reviewing the details of the incident.

We appreciate and strongly defend the rights of all our students, faculty and staff to robust and respectful dialogue as a fundamental tenet of our great academic institution. At the same time, we have a responsibility to our entire campus community, including the parents who have entrusted their students to us, to ensure that all can live, learn and work in a safe and secure environment. We were aware that some of those involved in the recent demonstrations on campus were not members of the UC Davis community and this required us to be even more vigilant about the safety of our students, faculty and staff. We take this responsibility very seriously.

While we have appreciated the peaceful and respectful tone of the demonstrations during the week, the encampment raised serious health and safety concerns, and the resources required to supervise this encampment could not be sustained, especially in these very tight economic times when our resources must support our core academic mission.
We deeply regret that many of the protestors today chose not to work with our campus staff and police to remove the encampment as requested. We are even more saddened by the events that subsequently transpired to facilitate their removal.

We appreciate the substantive dialogue the students have begun here on campus as part of this week’s activities, and we want to offer appropriate opportunities to express opinions, advance the discussion and suggest solutions as part of the time-honored university tradition. We invite our entire campus community to consider the topics related to the occupy movement you would like to discuss and we pledge to work with you to develop a series of discussion forums throughout our campus.

I ask all members of the campus community for their support in ensuring a safe environment for all members of our campus community. We hope you will actively support us in accomplishing this objective.


Linda P.B. Katehi
Chancellor

Regardless if the arrests were legal, pepper spray is ONLY supposed to be used if an officer is threatened. So there isn't really in lawful excuse for what he did. I sometimes think officers like these secretly want to incite protesters to protest more, because that is exactly what they are doing. Like all cycles in nature, this one is sure interesting, and leading up to one thing...

reply to post by mileysubet


I really hope that you wouldn't support this kind of tactic on innocent people, regardless if you agree with their stance or not.
I know I wouldn't let someone pepper spray you like that, especially if you were being peaceful, regardless if I agree with you.

Please find a heart.
Please find your soul.
Please think for yourself.

Sadly some people here on ATS will see this and still find a way to slam the protesters.

reply to post by GogoVicMorrow


Indeed! They maintain an ordered peaceful protest, they are weak. They fight back and are arrested, having those images plastered over every news piece in the country. At least they are out there doing something, making a stand and being heard. Passive resistance is the only way to go. Make the bullies look like the twats they are.

What i don't understand, is why people have no courage anymore. There were obviously more people the police officers. Someone could have easily tackled the officer with the pepper spray and the rest could have jumped all the cops. I think its time for the police to realize who there supposed to protect. Not punish the innocent for having an opinion. The only thing coming out of these protests are lawsuits and and assaults from police force. None of these OWS protests are ever going to change anything. We voted for all of this to happen, allowed it willingly and we dug ourselves so deep of a hole that the only way to take back what is rightfully ours is sadly by violence..I say our next war is a civil war. Pretty lame people were so easily brainwashed.

reply to post by GogoVicMorrow


The restraint of these kids is amazing.

I'd most likely freak out.

WE AREN'T ALLOWED TO PROTEST PEOPLE!

GET THIS THROUGH YOUR THICK HEADS.

it's wrong!

I don't wanna hear anyone political bable BS either. We should be allowed to peacefully protest! NO IF'S ANDS or BUT'S About it!