Pepper Spray

The right of assembly and peaceful protest is a basic and sacred tenant of our constitution.

What happened at UC Davis is another tear in the fabric of freedoms and rights. Protesting students sitting on the ground arms locked together fits the criteria of assembly and protest. The students were not violent and not threatening in any way.

Two UC police officers in riot gear trying to break up the demonstration walked along the sitting students and sprayed them with pepper spray. Some students were able to keep their heads down to keep the stinging and caustic spray from their eyes; some did not and they were taken to the hospital. All of this was captured in photos and videos.

The spraying sequence has been seen by millions on the Internet and has energized the spreading the OWS protest movement around the country. It has also angered many and generated calls for the policemen to be fired and the University chancellor to resign.

The action by the campus police was cruel, uncalled for and a flagrant abuse of authorities’ power. The two officers have been placed on administrative leave.

Fortunately this was not a Kent State, but it is a usurping of constitutional freedoms and individual rights and the video sends the wrong message and image of what America is like to the rest of the world.