Comments

1
i agree that this was awesome, but the protesters need to remember what they tell the cops about how the world is watching applies to them too and choose their words wisely. they way they phrased their request for the police to leave makes it sound like before that there was violence being initiated by the protesters. 'we are giving you peace' could be interpreted as 'we were giving violence before, now we're giving you peace'.
2
@1: I think the occupier who initiated the human mic clearly sensed the growing tension on both sides of the line, and wisely and responsibly defused it. My take is that the offer of peace was intended as a contrast to the unprovoked police violence of a few minutes before.
3
Peaceful will win the day for OWS. Civil disobedience combined with nonviolence tests the system and demonstrates to the world that the people will be heard. Now Wall Street lobbying firms are collecting hundreds of millions to start a propaganda campaign against OWS. It is now more important than ever to stay true to the cause and it's peaceful message of economic justice.
4
Those police officers did EVERYTHING wrong up until they made the decision to start backing away as a group. Would have helped if they hadn't royally pissed off the crowd first, but baby steps.

SPD, Diaz, I hope you're taking notes. McGinn, too, since he's the one authorizing this bullshit.
5
Goldy, this is what a global transformation looks like.
6
This is exactly the sort of civil disobedience occupy should be doing.

7
Considering how quickly police resort to using pepper spray, it seems foolish to go to a rally or demonstration without a gallon of milk to wash your eyes.
8
Thanks for the description and transcription. Past descriptions of use of the human mic in OWS encampments left me a bit baffled, but this proves what an amazing and necessary tool it is. Verbally offered peace, the bully stood down.
9
Frankly, I'm surprised this tactic hasn't been employed more often, considering groups of protesters generally greatly outnumber LEO's in these types of confrontations. I suppose the fear of being seriously injured has heretofore discouraged it, but a couple more successful actions similar to this one, and people will start to get the idea that, if you contain them in exactly the same manner they've been trained to contain large crowds, that is, using their own tactics against them (while simultaneously remaining non-violent), there's very little they're going to be able to do, short of beating or shooting their way out - which would of course initiate a veritable firestorm, that would be the absolutely LAST thing TPTB would want to have happen.
10
Years ago, when the Kent State University tragedy occurred, much of the student body at my small private university met on the campus lawn and voted to close the school for a day and to march in protest. The sick feeling of students being abused rose again as I watched this UC Davis video.
I am amazed the police actually responded to the Davis protesters by leaving. They were idiots to use a chemical weapon against those kids, who are being priced out of education by a profiteering system, in this case UC. They are facing an 81% tuition hike at Davis.
When so many of our kids face an increasingly bleak future,
something's got to change.
12
Except that polling is showing growing opposition to the Occupy movement.

This isn't working.
13
Those who refuse to obey a lawful police order deserve whatever they get.

The majority of Real Americans support the police, and see Goldy's 'brutality' as exactly what the punks deserve.

The whole world IS watching and as they do support for OWS falls.....
14
Why are the yippies engaging in civil disobedience anyway?

That is a tactic for those who have no voice- Indian subjects of the British Empire, blacks who can not vote in the Democratic Jim Crow South.

These punks have a President, the Senate, they had the House; these punks don't vote.

What is their justification for breaking the law when they are unwilling to exercise the massive levers of power they control?

Is it possible that they do not in fact represent the 99%?

That in fact the represent a fringe position that does not have support among Real America?
15
Why should the police feel ashamed for doing their jobs? I'm all for freedom of speech but dirty hippies that shout rudely and create obstructions for the rest of us without proper permits deserve what they get. Don't you people know about the rapes and killings that have been going on at occupy camps? Think about how much of many taxpayer dollars are wasted cleaning up their mess and providing police protection. No wonder America is going down the toilet.
16
"This is what democracy looks like....."

No.
You ignorant arrogant piece of shit.
This is what anarchy and mob rule looks like.

Voting.
That is what democracy looks like.

17
Eat shit Goldstein
18
How America's college students suffer. 4% unemployment (half the average), 30% higher incomes. Must be tough being in the only 28% of Americans who are privileged with college degrees. America feels your pain. How can we help?
19
Internet math: If one right-wing troll leaves six individual unregistered comments in a row, he must be six times as relevant, right? (Or, at least, I'm assuming the unregistered comments are that one racist right wing troll; I never read unregistered comments.)

Anyway: Thanks for helping rocket this post up to Most Commented where it belongs, guy!
20
I also think there's a difference between students sitting in the quad of their own college campus and a bunch of people blocking a city intersection. I don't agree with pepper spraying in either case, but there's a difference. The OWS movement needs to stay focused on economic equality and not become about antagonizing the police. The police are working class people too. That being said, I don't agree with how the cops acted here. It was shameful.
21
There should be procedures in place.
We support the use of pepper spray in situations like this ONLY if it is the prelude to a general kickass beatdown....
22
I’d love to see someone choreograph a ballet of occupy vs. pepper spraying cops.
25
@12, cite some polls?

Most of what I've seen suggests a near even split, with a certain amount of ambivalence. That seems a pretty good result for a social justice movement using direct action tactics after only a few months. More importantly, there is a visible shift in the political discourse; and if you can shift the discourse, you are gaining ground even without 51% public support.
26
@24, sorry, but if the Davis police have a policy which justifies what is in the video, whoever wrote the Davis police policy made a *huge* mistake.
27
There's something really disturbing about the acceptance(?) and pageantry in the first few minutes of this video. The cop brandishes the pepper spray above his head with a flourish before spraying down the students. The students kneel waiting for their punishment without attempting to run. Watching it with the sound off it almost looks like some terrifying form of communion. The police are "just doing their jobs," and the students are performing civil disobedience. Someone on another blog said the officer looked like he was spraying crops. The LEOs lack of engagement in their actions is chilling.

Feelings about Occupy Seattle aside, these images are troubling and hopefully will make America contemplate what's driving both police and protestors to these actions.
28
@24 No. Arresting them is appropriate, chemical attack is not.
29
@24, So this is campus police? Couldn't figure it out from the video.
30
@19 re: right-wing trolls

Would it surprise you to know what some of the anti-ows folks are actually Democrats?
31
@24: No, refusing to comply with a lawful order is not justification for assault. These students peacefully offered themselves up for arrest, and instead were brutalized, apparently for the hell of it.

Think about it. Had they been convicted of whatever offense they are committing, would the punishment include having a chemical weapon sprayed in their face? If the police pepper sprayed them in custody, for zero provocation, would the police not be subject to discipline, prosecution and/or a civil suit? Did we pepper spray the prisoners at Gitmo as an interrogation technique?

This is torture, pure and simple.
32
Goldy, I agree with your first point. Pepper spraying a nonviolent crowd is completely unjustified. And in this case we can see it as a tactically stupid move too. The police action nearly caused a riot, the opposite of what they should be attempting to do.

Not so sure about your second point. I don't dismiss civil disobedience. But in order for it to have an effect, the reason for the disobedience needs to be the primary message. If the message becomes anarchist hooligans blocking intersections, then you lose. If all we are talking about is tactics, then the message gets drowned out. In order for OWS to be successful, they need to keep their argument in front of the tactics. The purpose is to call attention to economic inequality, and financial corruption in corporations and government. Fighting over tents becomes a distraction if the primary message gets lost.
33
Pepper spray all naive white libtards!! Especially Goldy!
35
It's not "You may take your weapons, and your friends"
It's "You may take your weapons, and OUR friends"

And the peace thing? Very CA. It is offered as contrast to the violent behavior of the police. And kudos to the mic man - he did a damn good job of controlling that situation. It's not so much that the students were likely to get out of control, but the cops were clearly afraid, couching weapons, etc. and that cop who was shaking and brandishing the pepper spray after they were clearly in retreat may have been doing that the whole time. A bit sour grapes to only do that at the end. The mic guy was doing more to control the cops level of agitation than the students, and correctly so.
36
@31: Torture? Are you serious? Our beloved little Maria Dorli Von Rainey Von Trapp got sprayed and the next day (with only minor residual respiratory irritation) was basking in a slew of television interviews.
37
@34, thanks. I've seen similar numbers, ranging from low-30s to low-50's, with a variety of questions asked. It doesn't read like a failure to me.
39
@36 Yes, torture.

Administering a burning chemical to someones eyes to cause them intense pain is torture.
40
@32 At this point, if OWS accomplishes nothing more than widespread reform among the nation's police departments, it will have accomplished something great. Not only that, but it will lay the groundwork for future success in direct actions like protests. If the default police culture truly refuses to attack and suppress protests (for instance, once the minor inconvenience of driving around them becomes too urgent for the big people), then that will be a fundamental change which expands the practice of democracy.

And, for any non-trolls who may be wondering: if you think that the voting process is too bound up in corruption and business as usual, it makes sense not to vote. I personally do NOT agree with this, but at least that is where a lot of these protesters are coming from. And considering what bullshit goes down no matter who is in office, I honestly think their position has more empirical evidence than mine does. "Your vote matters!" is a hopeful position rather than a convincing one.
41
@36, and you can watch video of Chris Hitchens getting water-boarded. There's an interview right after of him saying he's changed his mind, it's definitely torture. I'm not sure what interviews have to do with it.

That said, I wouldn't call this torture, either. The fact that they aren't captive makes it seem not quite right. Better to stick to claims which are obviously true: that it's an unnecessary and counterproductive use of force, that it is a deplorable use of intimidation and physical violence against docile protesters, etc... These things are hard to dispute without sounding like the anon-troll.
42
@36 So, if some "positive" result occurs (like media attention, as you seem to think) as a result of torture, then it isn't torture? If someone breaks a bone, but it gives medical interns a chance to practice setting bones, it isn't an injury. Same logic.
43
@32, exactly!

Goldy, I don't dismiss civil disobedience of "this sort." From your post, Occupiers seem to be engaging in the very "sort" of civil disobedience that I support.

Unfortunately, civil disobedience for the sake of civil disobedience as a strategy will only muddle your message and hurt your cause.

Strategies I support:

1) Camping in public spaces
2) Forgoing permits to protest
3) Daily sit-ins at corporate banks
4) Storming the Sheraton during some speech by some one-percenter asshole (love it, actually)

Suggesting that obstructing those of us who support the above strategies of civil disobedience on our commute home to our families is somehow productive is frankly short-sighted.

Suggesting that no one can support the underlying underlying values of the Occupy Movement (addressing wealth disparities in America) and yet oppose forms of civil disobedience that will ultimately hurt the movement is ridiculous.

And, suggesting that such individuals are some closeted supporters of the 1% is simply theocratic bigotry! You're no better than Bush and his "you're either with us or against us" mentality!

Stop the hate, learn from your mistake, and move forward!

Trying to excuse this temporary lapse in judgement by unjustly criticizing others is not becoming of you.
44
Well done, Goldy. Thank you.
45
The Sacramento Bee article regarding this incident is bizarre. If I just read the article without seeing the video, I'd have a whole different perspective.

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/19/4066159…
47
I find it sort of funny when the idiots here talk about getting a 'majority' on their side when the whole point is to expose the 1% and its ability to impose itself and ride on society. One percent being far from a majority.
48
According to this open letter (http://bicyclebarricade.wordpress.com/20…) from a junior faculty member at UC Davis calling for the resignation of Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, a number of students attempting to shield themselves from pepper spray had their mouths forced open by police, who subsequently sprayed chemicals down their throats, resulting in hospitalizations.

I can't find any other sources to corroborate this having happened, but if it's true, it is absolutely egregious. There is no justification for using chemical weapons in any capacity on peaceful protesters, let alone so viciously as this.
49
@36: you missed the longest post in the world about the most civil protest in the world. Dorli Rainey still had pain in her lungs and a sore throat, complete with raspy sounding voice, three days after it happened. She is quite possibly still in some pain.

Try to be a human for once.
50
Police in Northern California used these types of tactics against peaceful environmentalist protestors. I remember seeing footage of police using cotton swabs soaked in pepper spray on the eyes of protestors who had chained themselves up inside a logging companies headquarters. The screams and whimpering of those protestors sticks with me to this day. My rule of thumb is would you do that to a dog if it disobeyed a command to sit? It was obviously an overreaction on the police's part. @27 I had the same thoughts watching this. You can do things the expedient way or the right way. Taking the time to pull out a protestor and cuff them may take longer, but you probably won't have footage of your actions become a meme.
51
To see how city police officials of different cities are coordinating their efforts (with or without the knowledge, consent or blessing of their respective Mayors), take a look at #PERF. Much will become clear
52
It doesn't matter if you agree with those people who were pepper sprayed. It wouldn't be right if the same thing happened to you for something you believe in. The99% believe in many things, Wall Street Crimes, Media Bias, Governement Insider Trading, Politicians Profiting From Governemnt Contracts (Haliburton etc.) Surely there is something everyone is willing to exercise thier free speech for while knowing that being pepper sprayed is oppression of that very same speech.

The 1% which are the Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas industries do to the world the same thing that Wall Street is doing, and they are destroying the environment while they are at it too.

They claim that they can provide new jobs if we relax EPA regulations and at the same time falsely claim that "new technologies" are cleaner. Job creation is propaganda to get permission to continue to pullute the planet and line their own pockets while they do it. They can't get their story straight about the truth of the pollution they cause because thjey are not telling the whole story.

See TV adds aired especially during cable news by these fossil fuel villians: Conoco Phillips, Chevron, Shell, BP, Coal.org ... etc. These villians should be a primary target of the 99% and a Global Green Energy Economy should be a goal of the 99%
53
After a presentation at @OccupyBoston, Whistle Blowers Anonymous graciously provided us with #WBA11 which I am finding informative
54
Disappointing. Those kids should have torn those piggies limb from limb.
55
If it turns to real violence, then the police always will always have the upper hand. That would be letting your opponent in a duel trick you into their terms and their choice of weapons

Non-violence is what flummoxes them. Non-violence is the one thing the bully doesn't know how to work

As the Movement finds its footing (and it is, I assure you), it will become increasingly difficult for the collusion of banks/lobbyists/fascists to quash
56
as this escalates, and i've no doubt in my mind it will,i can not help but be concerned that it will may result in death by the hands of some policeperson who is utterly confused and aggrieved by the mere presence of these protesters.i can't think of any successful protest in this or any other country where this doesn't happen. reading the response some people in this and other threads, it will have to escalate to that point before people - otherwise right thinking people who should know better, honor the tenor of this disobedience with the proper discourse and action this movement deserves.
57
@36, &c. - I have been pepper sprayed, it is a tool/weapon for subduing unruly & violent people. If applied to passive civil diobedients who would otherwise calmy be arrested, then yes, it is definitely being used to torture them. Significant pain applied with no tactical reason other than simply hurting them.
58
See how hard the bullies try to provoke violence. See the bullies try to fake violent unrest with agents provocateurs. See the bully get mad and stomp his feet. See the bullies in Egypt shoot out the eyes of demonstrators with rubber bullets

Violence is the wank-job of the stooge state

Non-violence stumps them completely
59
This was absolutely righteous.

Goldy, shame on you for using this to defend your one-size-fits-all notion of what civil disobedience should be. This is the opposite of what you were defending yesterday. Leave your ego out of it.
61
Blacks commit at least half of all murders in Seattle every year. Even though blacks make up only 8% of Seattle in total, blacks committed at least 14 of the 28 homicides in Seattle in 2008, at least 12 of the 21 in 2009, and at least 7 of the 17 in 2010.

2011 is going to turn out to be worse.

Occupy black neighborhoods.

Protest black on black violence.
62
#61 is a fucking moron.
63
There's an Occupy UC Davis? That's the most ridiculous thing I gleaned from the posting. And by the posting I mean the title and the first few lines.
64
19

Here's some math for you, Jackass:

"A new Public Policy Polling survey finds 45 percent of Americans now oppose the OWS movement, up from 36 percent who opposed it last month. Only 33 percent of the country now supports the ongoing protests, which have faced evictions from New York City and Oakland, California.
Where the movement begins to lose support most dramatically, is among independent voters. A month ago, independent voters supported the movement (39 percent) but now a majority (42 percent) oppose the protests.
“I don’t think the bad poll numbers for Occupy Wall Street reflect Americans being unconcerned with wealth inequality,” PPP’s tom Jensen said. “What the downturn in Occupy Wall Street’s image suggests is that voters are seeing the movement as more about the ‘Occupy’ than the ‘Wall Street.’ The controversy over the protests is starting to drown out the actual message.”"
65
19

Here's another, Asswipe:

"One thing, however, is clear: Occupy Wall Street can not make a claim to speak for Americans. 56 percent of Americans say Occupy Wall Street does not represents their values.

What's more, one in five Americans say OWS has a negative impact on society, and about four in 10 Americans see it as largely irrelevant.

The poll -- designed to gauge Americans' views about economic hardship and the proper responses to it -- also revealed some striking divides and ambivalences, particularly in the way people view opportunity in America.

A significant majority (71 percent) say poor people have become too dependent on government assistance programs."
66
@61

Yea fax R dum
67
@38, considering that none of the protesters were violent or violently resisting arrest, there is no justification, legal, moral or otherwise for this action. Pepper spray is considered "use of force," like the baton, and the taser, as is to be used only when faced with a resisting suspect or to protect an officer.

Of course, cops break the law all all the time and their unions protect them, so there's a good chance this cop will not be charged with assault as he should be, like the Lt. in New York.

Here's Lieutenant John Pike's professional information. Note the salary.

http://anoncentral.tumblr.com/post/13023…
68
Occupy Shitheadedness @ 61, 64, 65 and GOD ONLY KNOWS HOW MANY OTHERS...

...you know, little retarded clownservative fuck, not only are you completely free of compassion, morality, ethics and humanity...you are just dead fucking wrong.

There's a wonderful third world country somewhere where you can take you bile and hate and use it till the successor to the tin-pot dictator you glom onto caps your sorry ass...

...so shoo little fuck! There'll be a little randian pardise for you to fuck up somewhere esle so you don't have to do it here.

You're on the wrong side of history, bub.

69
And let me add that comparing and equating what these protesters did to what the bridge protesters did is no less reflexively unintelligent than suggesting that any of them deserved to be pepper sprayed.
70
Geneva Protocol from Wikipedia:
The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty prohibiting the first use of chemical and biological weapons. It was signed at Geneva on June 17, 1925 and entered into force on February 8, 1928. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on September 7, 1929.[1]
It prohibits the use of chemical weapons and biological weapons, but has nothing to say about production, storage or transfer. Later treaties did cover these aspects—the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.
72
https://bicyclebarricade.wordpress.com/2…

Required reading calling for Katehi's resignation.
73


Should anyone wish to express your thoughts on the attack at UC Davis Lt Pike and Chief Spicuzza can be emailed at:

Lt John Pike

japikeiii@ucdavis.edu

Chief Annette Spicuzza

amspicuzza@ucdavis.edu

A message can be sent to Chancellor Katehi through her page in the UC Davis website.
Linda P.B. Katehi, Chancellor

http://chancellor.ucdavis.edu/...
74
That fact that Davis police are jackasses - and that the sacbee is a shitty newspaper - comes as no surprise to those of us who grew up there. Also, apparently student protesters have trapped UCDavis Chancellor Linda Katehi inside the building where she was giving a press conference responding to this event: http://www.davisenterprise.com/talk/
76
I amazed that there are any people defending the campus police for the actions at UC Davis. The kids are sitting, not threatening porky at all. And he clearly enjoys sticking it to the 19 year olds. Big tough oinker he is.

God this pisses me off. Certainly the pot bellied spraying pig is infuriating, but so is the UC Davis administration. What stunning over response. Maybe their admissions office can use this video to attract new students. "Come to UC Davis. We don't give a shit about you. Hand over your tuition dollars."
77
The pollsters fail to acknowledge that each action the Occupy movement takes grows in numbers. I will believe that the movement is failing when people stop showing up to events.
78
And in other news, the Dean of Students at UC Davis LIED HER ASS OFF in a public statement, saying that the pepper-spraying of the students was IN RESPONSE to students surrounding police - not the other way around.

What is it with these pig-fuckers thinking that they can just blatantly lie about what was captured on video for all to see???
80
77
That is because if the number of people who participated increased 10fold it would still be less than 0.01% of the population.

99%NOT.......
81
Goldy,
whom is politically discomforted if the 'movement' gets any traction?

Not the Republicans.....

Obama, the sitting President.

If the 'protesters' gain any creedence the message will be that Obama is an impotent failure.

Oh, don't forget the mayors of the cities infected by OWS;
good Liberals all-
continuation and increase of OWS puts them in a dilemma-
crush the vermin and be meanies or
let the vermin torment their cities' residents and be pussy pushovers....

Goldy, do you remember LBJ?
82
The fact that the police left, only after the crowd told them they'd be given a chance to do so, implies the police may really have been trying to provoke an incident, hoping to be attacked by the crowd so that the police could start beating people. Once the crowd told the police, and showed them, that the protesters would not attack (not that they planned to do that anyway), the police saw that they no longer had even a shred of pseudo-legal justification by which to attack the crowd. Otherwise, the police would have simply arrested the kids sitting on the sidewalk, and left on their own.

Notice that the crowd had the police surrounded on three sides, and left one side relatively open for the police to retreat. That's the right tactic.
83
Turning the mirror on those profoundly confused police. I'm willing to bet a few of them are home tonight with, "Shame on you," ringing in their ears.
84
@ Ken Mehlman, #79: LJM @ #67 said nothing about the protesters not resisting the officer--LJM said: "none of the protesters were violent or violently resisting arrest". The key word is "violent". As you say, they were passively resisting. Use of pepper spray should not be standard when someone is passively resisting, especially when they're simply sitting and waiting to be arrested. The video doesn't show any officers doing what they should have done, and what the students expected: simply arresting the students by picking them up and handcuffing them.
85
It is obscene to compare these theatrical farces to Civil Disobedience campaigns of the past.

A legitimate Civil Disobedience campaigns requires there to be actual opposition from the governing authority.

A legitimate Civil Disobedience campaigns requires there to be actual risk to the protesters.

In the South people got the hell beat out of them or killed.
They were exposed to real opposition and danger.

There were no gloating 15-minutes-of-'fame' news conferences the day after.

No punkass 'reporters' telling the police what they need to do to make the show run as planned.

These shows are Liberal theatre- Liberal punks dancing with Democratic core supporter police Unions under the careful eye of Liberal Mayors cheered on by Liberal 'reporters' whose union has endorsed OWS.

99%BullShit.1%Theatre....
86
Ken, as John points out @84, it isn't the policy of any police department to use force to arrest a passively resisting suspect, or to use violence against someone who isn't violent. I should say it's isn't a written policy, because it obviously happens all the time, all over the country.
87
When the uprising in Tunisia, Egypt and now Syria is taking place, the Conservatives, Republicans and Fox News say this is great for Democracy, but when members of our society's 99% protest peacefully then this is violence per these COPS & Law Enforcement officials. This is sad. What is good for the gooses is good for the gander! Unfortunately COPS and law Enforcement in USA are ALL TRIGGER HAPPY and ALWAYS HAVING AN ADRENALIN RUSH. This DOES not bode well for our society. Next we may face a situation like Libya. GOD stop these ROGUES (the US COPS & Law Enforcement machinery). I was doing my job did not cut it for the NAZI Brown Shirters/SS/Gestapo and other Criminals at the Nuremberg Trials. Probably many of these law evaders amongst the US Law Enforcement Machinery may end up in the same legal situation as the defendants in the Nuremberg Trials after WW II.
88
What I am wondering is why don't all of the protesters start carrying pepper spray and spraying the cops? Civilians can buy it you know!
89
The 1% has just had a leak of some documents of a doc from Clark Lytle Sat morn.... and MSNBC announced of the 1% outlook on Occupy... and Clark, Lytle suggests ways to diaperse the OWS.
Heres the link to it.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sectio…
91
#85: Whether or not the mayors of each of the cities with an Occupy encampment are "liberal", has often had little or nothing to do with whether the encampments have been raided or not, and how the protesters have been treated. The mayors of Oakland and Portland are generally considered liberal, after a fashion, but those are two cities where the beatdown of protesters has been among the worst. And I don't know how to characterize Republican NYC mayor Bloomberg, though some people may call him a liberal Republican (sometimes)--either way, he doesn't fit your picture of things either, because NYC's Occupy protesters have been treated pretty roughly too, and he has spoken out against them regularly. Can you actually name any particular city which has a "liberal" mayor, who has treated its Occupy encampment well, shepherding them with a "careful eye"? There may be one or more, but I haven't been following that aspect, so I don't know. I don't really know what you expect to gain by making an argument on this particular point, when the facts are so obviously counter to what you're saying about it.

As for civil disobedience "requiring" there to be actual opposition from the governing authority: valid civil disobedience can be practiced against ANY authority, whether it's federal, state, local, a business, a law, etc.--it's never been defined as being legitimate only if it's against a particular authority, and with particular risks involved. In this case, the general authorities being opposed are those responsible for income inequality, both in business and in government; and the specific authorities being directly encountered, who are responsible for the beatdown, are the mayors, city councils, police departments, etc. of many of the cities where an Occupy camp is located. It doesn't matter if the specific authorities actually doing the enforcement are different from the ones who are more generally being opposed, when there are still beatings and chemical attacks involved. Both the economic problems the US is facing, and the on-the-street attacks, which are attacks against one valid form of freedom of speech, are actual risk, and these are being opposed.
93
Any universty who authorizes this sort of treatment of its tuition paying students has lost all credibility. Every administrator of that instituion needs to go. The head of the campus police should be fired. There is zero justifcation of the use of pepper spray on a bunch of kids sitting on the ground. Pigs.
94
The President of this University should be removed from office, forcefully if necessary. The power hungry renta cop that brandished the pepper spray should be prosecuted for attempting to incite a riot.
The students should be handed medals for being as patient as they were. They are Heroes.
95
The Chancellor is an idiot (did other people see the thing on Gawker about her?) and, like every other leader of every school in the UC system, is clearly hostile to the well-being or voices of students. I don't know what it is about the UC system but it seems to have a high proportion of slimebags in it for themselves - prestige or paycheck.
99
United against police brutality, from India. What an inspiring group of future citizens!
100
Hopefully the donut devils' home addresses and phone numbers will get posted online.
101
What the cops did here was very clearly excessive use of force, as defined by a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circui…

The case in question was very similar; it involve nonviolent, non-resisting protesters having pepper spray swabbed in their eyes and sprayed pointblank in their faces. The decision says that this is specifically a violation of their 4th Amendment rights.

And y'know what? Seattle is ALSO part of the 9th Circuit, which means that decision is binding on OUR cops, too.
102
97

exactly.

but the delicious irony is that at the same time that these Mayors are being/have been permissive facilitators they will also be consumed by OWS if they are not careful.

Continue giving in to the scum and the citizens of their cities will revolt in disgust.

Take action against OWS and the spoiled brats will pitch tantrums.

It is a no-win and the victims are Liberal office holders.
104
91

If a two year old gets four cookies but pitches a tantrum when mommy won't give them a fifth cookie is that Civil Disobedience?

If a teenager won't come out of her room because mommy won't raise her allowance from $30 to $50 a week is that Civil Disobedience?

Silly boy- you really must learn the difference between the tantrums of spoiled children and the struggle for justice and liberty....
105
to comment #4.. the bully cowards opted to retreat? shocker.. the scrutiny of too many eyes on them to continue with usual shameless ignorance and brute behavior..oh and on top of it the "napoleon" "lil appendage" complex of being campus cops... shocking these brutes didn't go off!

ughhh...
106
It's hard for me to see how pepper spraying people who are sitting on the ground is justifiable. Don't get me wrong, I think there is a time and place for pepper-spray, in particular if an individual or a crowd is already violent (towards police or others), or is clearly preparing for violence, threatening to destroy property, blocking access to emergency vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances, etc. etc. See "sports riots." Sure, there are probably times when it's hard to be sure. And I don't doubt that there have probably been some pepper spray incidents in the whole OWS sphere that were justified.

This particular episode sure doesn't seem to make the cut, though.

Frankly, I think the police need new, non-painful ideas for handling this sort of thing. The day will come again when some kid is hurt or killed at a protest either through excessive police action or complete INaction. No college chancellor is going to call the police for help if s/he thinks they will completely overreact and cause them to lose their job. That kind of reluctance to call for help when you know you need it is not a good situation either. Yale president Kingman Brewster was able to pull it off with the Panther trial in New Haven in 1970, but it was really, really close and it took a lot of balls to ride that one out.

I remember one of Ozzy Osbourne's kids just set up a lawn sprinkler to keep paparazzi away from their front gate. No painful fire hoses, no chemical irritants, no violence. They just got wet, and that was it. Eventually they got cold and left. I was always kind of impressed with that tactic, because it was neither complete capitulation nor cruel overreaction.

107
If this makes you angry, sign this petition: http://signon.org/sign/petition-the-cong….

Our elected leaders need to be reminded that we know our rights and expect them to be respected.
108
when i watched this, i wanted to cry. it was amazing. as to torture comments above, I'm curious if anyone else saw the officers kneeling before some of the protesters to get under hoods and closer to faces with the pepper spray? it looked very cruel and unusual...
109
Here's a link to a petition calling for the UC Davis chancellor to resign:

http://www.change.org/petitions/police-p…
110
@103: Just because the cops were outnumbered doesn't mean they were under any threat whatsoever. I am a student at UC Davis, and I was walking by the quad on my way to class while this happened. The cops had already broken down the tents and were taking them out of the camp before this happened without any resistance or problems. Also, if it's standard procedure for cops to use pepper spray on people who aren't attacking them, standard procedure needs to be changed.
111
Here is another video link since "copyrights" took itdown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsGog5MD2…

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