Occupy U.C. Davis Turns Ugly

      The peaceful protests at the University of California, Davis, turned ugly on friday when several students were doused with orange pepper spray by the police. It all began when the students decided to set up tents and camp out in the university quad as apart of their protest. This was against campus policy, and when asked to leave several students refused and locked arms. Below is a video of the incident:

    This incident fits in perfectly with our class discussions on civil liberties and peaceful protest. Like the Chicago DNC(Democratic National Convention) protests in 1968, the acts against the protesters by the police force were unjust and brutal. The police officers shown in the video above seem to be complacent with their actions against the defenseless protesters. This is a clear example of how the police have abused their authorities and have gone way to far with breaking up the protest. Due to the campus policy there was definite reason for why the police needed to clear the quad, but this was far from the most ethical way. Unlike the Chicago DNC protests, the protesters at the University of California, Davis, showed no violent acts against the police force.

      On top of this violent incident another question is posed. Should the right to peacefully protest be banned on college campuses like U.C. Davis? Nathan Brown, a professor in the English Department, states on the issue that,"The fact is: the administration of U.C. campuses systematically uses police brutality to terrorize students and faculty, to crush political dissent on our campuses, and to suppress free speech and peaceful assembly". Mr. Brown accurately discusses how police brutality is used to "terrorize" the students in order to instill a sort of order on campus. This is in fact a clear violation of our right to peacefully assembly and as many agree should not be restricted on college campuses in the United States. It is a difficult topic to set boundaries on given the current circumstances regarding Occupy Wall Street Protests, but one thing is certain, the police force completely abused their authority and had no reason to inflict this kind of pain on the defenseless protesters. Below is a link to the New York Times article I read on the incident:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/video-of-police-pepper-spraying-u-c-davis-students-provokes-outrage/?ref=us