Posted on 11/19/2011 2:52:50 PM PST by NetLiberty
A non-violent protest at UC Davis turned chaotic Friday afternoon as police pepper-sprayed a group of students sitting on the ground. Videos shot at the scene show a policeman walking up to the protesters, pulling out his can of pepper spray to display to the crowd, and liberally sweeping the protesters with the stinging substance. Many students had their heads down, but at least one demonstrator was hit in the face. Other officers then followed suit, spraying many of the Occupiers who appeared to be sitting in a circle with their arms linked. By midday Saturday, videos of the showdown were circulating the Internet.
SOURCE VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmJmmnMkuEM&feature=player_embedded
(Excerpt) Read more at newsfeed.time.com ...
"You signed up last year. Are you seriously claiming some “seniority”. You can get your sugar rush cheering some doofus kids getting peppered sprayed, carry on. I’ve contributed for years and I’ll post when I wish whether you like it or not."
It has nothing to do with "seniority", troll. It has nothing to do with a supposed "sugar rush". It has everything to do with context.
(As for the last sentence of your comment- prove it, and then I'll believe it...).
You move in to arrest. If the crowd moves in, you spray them to protect your life. You don’t spray people sitting on the sidewalk in anticipation of something maybe happening.
When I punish my children they I give them a choice. Either you behave or this will happen. Ultimately the decision is theirs. They have two choices and THEY choose which path to follow. I believe the police advised them that if they do not move they will be pepper-sprayed (they must have been blocking passage to traffic or pedestirans who were also within their rights to expect use of the road or sidewalk). They chose not to move and what the police said would happen, did happen. Why is the police being made out to be anything but keepers of the law..not just for the loudest ones, but for everyone.
They were trying to prevent cops from leaving with someone arrested. Notice how they were blocking the road? Notice how nobody else was pepper sprayed?
If you stop a cop in the middle of doing his job, don’t be surprised when you get the pepper spray.
Its also important to note that when police use pepper spray, they get a pretty healthy dose too. They aren’t doing it for kicks.
Maybe next time I can make up ridiculous comparisons to prove an illogical point - just so we can chat longer.
I smell retread, noob.
If not, I still suspect your stay will be short.
You are right -- it is very wrong.
You have no right to interfere
with another's right of Freedom
except as established by law!
You have a right to speak.
You have no right to force me to listen!
This video proved pepper spray does not work that well for what they are saying was the intended purpose.
You are right. They should have gone in with handcuffs and truncheons and just started dragging them off.
A bulldozer would have been even better.
So you obviously have a better way to move people who decline to move after ordered to do so. Let’s hear it.
So true,, those things happened. And as someone else pointed out, the only disturbances were from 20 somethings driving by shouting obscenities.
Where are the teasers bro?
Okay - you made me watch the video. 20 or so protestors on the sidewalk, facing to the left. (Presumably the direction that the cops were coming from that they wanted to block). The cop with the spray comes from the right (so the cops had the disaggreable types surrounded - not the other way around).
I can see your point on the spray helping to break up the chain with the “weakest links” leaving. However, the last group of folks where the spray did not seem to have much affect were still pryed apart and arrested. I think they should have started with that, and if things got unruly THEN hit them with the spray.
And from the looks of the video, it seems that the use of the spray right off the bat is what got the rest of the crowd (mainly lookie-loos with their cameras) riled up. And it seems it HURT their objective.
Instead of having 20 kids blocking the sidewalk, they ended up with hundreds of kids pushing them back from the way they came. I was hoping to see what happened to the cop car parked on the sidewalk facing the protestors and whether it was able to proceed to the right, but it didn’t show.
Yep, I’m sure the enemedia would have made any problems between police and the Tea Party a huge event. Thanks!
Billy clubs would have been far more effective.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.