Officers in pepper spray incident put on leave

(CBS/AP) 

SAN FRANCISCO - Two University of California, Davis police officers involved in pepper-spraying seated protesters are being placed on administrative leave as the chancellor of the school accelerates the investigation into the incident.

UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi on Sunday said she has been inundated with reaction over the incident, in which an officer dispassionately fires pepper spray on a line of sitting demonstrators.

Video of the incident was circulated widely on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter on Saturday, in which protesters flinch and cover their faces but remain passive with their arms interlocked, as onlookers shriek and scream out for the officer to stop.

The university's faculty association called on Katehi to resign, saying in a letter there had been a "gross failure of leadership."

Katehi said she takes "full responsibility for the incident" but has resisted calls for her resignation, instead pledging to take actions to make sure "that this does not happen again."

At a news conference Saturday, Katehi said what the video shows is, "sad and really very inappropriate."

"I do not think that I have violated the policies of the institution," she said. "I have worked personally very hard to make this campus a safe campus for all."

Outrage over police pepper-spraying students
Video: Police pepper-spray passive students

However, a law enforcement official who watched the clip called the use of force "fairly standard police procedure."

Katehi remained in a media room for more than two hours after the news conference Saturday, eventually walking to an SUV past a group of students nearly three blocks long who, in a coordinated effort, remained completely silent. The Sacramento Bee said.

Below is video from CBS Station KOVR of Katehi leaving the building

The protest was held in support of the overall Occupy Wall Street movement and in solidarity with protesters at the University of California, Berkeley who were jabbed by police with batons on Nov. 9.

Charles J. Kelly, a former Baltimore Police Department lieutenant who wrote the department's use of force guidelines, said pepper spray is a "compliance tool" that can be used on subjects who do not resist, and is preferable to simply lifting protesters.

"When you start picking up human bodies, you risk hurting them," Kelly said. "Bodies don't have handles on them."

After reviewing the video, Kelly said he observed at least two cases of "active resistance" from protesters. In one instance, a woman pulls her arm back from an officer. In the second instance, a protester curls into a ball. Each of those actions could have warranted more force, including baton strikes and pressure-point techniques.

"What I'm looking at is fairly standard police procedure," Kelly said.

Images of police actions have served to galvanize support during the Occupy Wall Street movement, from the clash between protesters and police in Oakland last month that left an Iraq War veteran with serious injuries to more recent skirmishes in New York City, San Diego, Denver and Portland, Ore.

Some of the most notorious instances went viral online, including the use of pepper spray on an 84-year-old activist in Seattle and a group of women in New York. Seattle's mayor apologized to the activist, and the New York Police Department official shown using pepper spray on the group of women lost 10 vacation days after an internal review.

In the video of the UC Davis protest, the officer, a member of the university police force, displays a bottle before spraying its contents on the seated protesters in a sweeping motion while walking back and forth. Most of the protesters have their heads down, but several were hit directly in the face.

Some members of a crowd gathered at the scene scream and cry out. The crowd then chants, "Shame on You," as the protesters on the ground are led away. The officers retreat minutes later with helmets on and batons drawn.

Ten people were arrested.

Nine students hit by pepper spray were treated at the scene, two were taken to hospitals and later released, university officials said.

UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza said the decision to use pepper spray was made at the scene.

"The students had encircled the officers," she said Saturday. "They needed to exit. They were looking to leave but were unable to get out."

Many Twitter and Facebook comments supported the students and criticized the response.

"Stomach churning video of police using pepper spray on seated anti-Wall Street protesters in Davis, Calif.," actress Mia Farrow wrote in a retweet of the video.

[RegisteredVoter1984]

Bankers / Politicians / Police Chiefs: IF YOU continue to hire Aggressive Retards - then WE WILL continue prominently featuring their & your criminal activities in the media. (ps ~ you can NOT destroy ALL the cameras!!!)

[gruven13777]

How many mortgage-backed securities swindlers were pepper-sprayed for bringing our economy to the verge of total collapse back in '08?

[taks4]

None.

[Fatesrider]

None were even charged, let alone prosecuted.

[I_Killed_Christ]

Why is everybody so shocked.... the protesters broke the law. OWS is out of control and need to respect others. They want the government to pay for their schooling, free healthcare and anything else they can get without working.

[Fatesrider]

The essence of the right to protest and bring grievances to the attention of the government is to inconvenience people. And you don't have a god damned clue what they want. All you know is what Fox News has been feeding you.

[jade84116]

Two things. It's good to see that those officers are on leave. It's unfortunate that liberals refuse to listen to common sense. If the Communists couldn't stop greed, they had wealthy politicians whose lifestyles were far higher than the average Russian as well as organized crime people too boot, so you're not going to end greed. Greed may not be good, but it can be redirected to the common good as it employs the maximum number of people possible where it's allowed to flourish. The least greed employs the least people and the most greed employs the most people and don't you ever forget it.

[Fatesrider]

In a capitalistic society, if you think greed employes ANYONE, you have no concept of economic theory whatsoever. If money is all tied up in investments and not actually flowing, the economy stagnates, contracts and implodes. In a capitalistic society it's not the accumulation of wealth that makes the money flow. It's the divestiture of wealth that makes the money flow. There3 aren't enough rich people spending enough to keep the money flowing to create demand which will generate jobs.

You seem to have fallen for the utterly discredited and disgraced concept that if the rich have more money, they'll spend it. (the "trickle-down" theory used to justify tax cuts for the rich and businesses). That doesn't generate demand. They INVEST it, or pay that to share-holders which overwhelmingly favor the top 20%. That doesn't get the money flowing to generate demand. Without that demand, there's no point to hiring anyone since even if you could pay for the people, there's no one out there buying anything to generate enough demand to justify hiring anyone.

GREED ALWAYS tells you to fire people in order to maintain a profit. The only time it ever tells you to hire anyone is to meet increased demand.

And since the overwhelming majority of the country's wealth (93%) is held by only 20% of Americans, there isn't enough money flowing to generate any demand.

THAT'S why the economy sucks. And THAT'S why OWS is out there protesting the fact so few have so much and are screwing so many because of it.

[bajajohn1]

Many of the mindless right-wing extremist posters are here spewing their undemocratic vileness. Most of them belong in Hitler's Germany or in a jail cell for ripping off the nation.

[taks4]

The word NAZI means, National Socialist German Worker's Party. It sounds like a Liberal, Progressive, Socialist, Democrat party. You should know that. It means Hitler has more in common with your FleaParty.

[bajajohn1]

Charge with criminal acts such as assault and battery and then charge them with civil rights violations. After that sue them for civil rights violation for excessive use of force. The actions of those cops brings shame to the nation on a worldwide basis.

[taks4]

I'm sick of the mindless OWS mentallity. The liberal "Fleaparty". They need to occupy a shower stall.

[bajajohn1]

We are sick of your mindless rip-off of the American public. Please occupy a jail cell.

[nanc12]

The video of the silent students is very powerful. Without words, they are voicing their disapproval, just as their fellow students were peacefully protesting and just as they silently took the outrageous assault by the officers. All the neocons can do is call them names, but these images speak much louder than your ignorant taunts.

[sofarfrome]

""In one instance, a woman pulls her arm back from an officer. In the second instance, a protester curls into a ball. Each of those actions could have warranted more force, including baton strikes and pressure-point techniques.""

So, if one curls up into a fetal position because one is afraid of being assaulted, one will be assualted anyway? I thought police were there to protect the people, not assault them. Using pepper spray as a form of control should be deemed unconstitutional. The constitution is for the PEOPLE not those that work for the government. The constitution is supposed to protect us from the government. Our government supports demonstrations and rebellion when the citizens of countries feel their government is using/abusing them but we are not allowed to do it here? Even when our constitution says we have the right to peaceful assembly:

Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests.[1] The right to freedom of association is recognized as a human right, a political freedom and a civil liberty.

""Freedom of assembly and freedom of association may be used to distinguish between the freedom to assemble in public places and the freedom of joining an association. Freedom of assembly is often used in the context of the right to protest, while freedom of association is used in the context of labor rights and the Constitution of the United States, is interpreted to mean both the freedom to assemble and the freedom to join an association.[2][not in citation given]

The United States constitution explicitly provides for 'the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances'" in the First Amendment.""


Sitting and not moving seems peaceful to me.

[OrangPuteh]

I have made several Internet pleas to Egyptian and Syrian protesters that they display their countries' flags whenever possible so that the world can differentiate between Egyptian, Syrian and American POLICE RIOTS.

The world is watching.