"I understand how a circle works. But I don’t considered it “surround” and a “safety” issue when one can step over some folks sitting on the ground like the cop with the pepper spray did."
How do you know for a fact that they could simply "step over some folks" without one of the protestors doing something (grabbing a leg, attacking, etc.)? There was a cop who was slashed at yesterday, and another one whose eye was "flushed out" at a supposedly "peaceful" protest.
Here's a video from another angle (long and boring). And I was mistaken - the cops were surrounded by the folks sitting in a circle (not just a line). And the group of kids blocking the cops are facing away from the cops. However, it seems the cops were able to move out of the circle easily. At 13:30 one cop takes a handcuffed girl off amidst fairly modest boos by the crowd.
In the guy's third video it shows the cops still surrounded, and one cop gives a couple of tugs on one of the guys on the sidewalk. Seems to me he didn't try too hard, and then the cop with the spray “steps over some folks” - then he sprays them. That is when the real ruckus starts.
In this guy's set of three videos there is a guy in tan pants and a white shirt that is roaming around and seems to be directing the kids. I think he was the one that directed the kids to get up and face away from the cops when they first set-up the circle. I suppose to show “non-violent resistance” and also to avoid a face full of spray. I hope he was one of those that got arrested and they find out what he is about. I imagine it is the typical small group of diehards that foment this stuff and use the students as cannon fodder.