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UC Davis Chancellor: Police Were Told Not To Use Force

The campus of the University of California, Davis continues to roil after the widely-viewed video of campus police pepper-spraying Occupy activists who were peacefully protesting last week.

In an interview with the Sacramento Bee, UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi insists the school’s police department defied her orders last week that police should peacefully remove students from their protest site.

Meanwhile, investigations of what went wrong are piling up and the UC Davis student government voted Tuesday to condemn the use of pepper spray on student protesters. They also called for Chancellor Katehi to resign if reforms aren’t forthcoming. Protestors at Occupy UC Davis have re-established their tent site and they passed a vote of no confidence in Katehi.

SacBee: Katehi: Campus Police Were Told Not To Use Force Against Students

Guest:

Sam Stanton, reporter with the Sacramento Bee

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We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

http://www.facebook.com/paul.ahrens2 Paul Ahrens

As a graduate from UC San Diego, I feel connected to the protesters at UC Davis. The appalling actions of the campus police are incomprehensible. I can’t get over how the officer appears to treat the students like insects and appoints himself the exterminator. Suddenly, I am motivated to protest. To talk truth to power. To withdraw all my alumni support to the UC System. They will need to square their actions before I take anymore calls asking for money. I applaud all those doing the hard work of bringing attention to the issues of the day – income inequality, social injustice, and the war on ignorance (I made that last one up).
T. D. MacLam

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people PEACEABLY to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The police are agents of the State and public servants and have no right or reason to assault passive persons who pose no threat to them.

The police are also part of the 99%, their jobs often threatened by our legislatures and municipalities.

We/You must remain non-violent to prevail. We can prevail. But do not curse the police, do not shove the police, do not make threatening gestures to the police. These violent gestures give them a legal reason to restrain and/or arrest you. You do not have to give ground, but on the occasions you are using non-violent resistance, to an unjust law or “legal” order; in doing so, you must be prepared to be arrested and you must remain non-violent.

If we are not non-violent, we are showing the greedy we are no different that they. The movement loses credibility. And then the radical extremists who pass for legislators will stay bought by the merchants of greed who got them there.

I would like to think like to that some Occupiers might spend some time establishing relationships with police. I am sure there are police who are in agreement with the movement, and following orders, even “legal” ones, must leave a bad taste in their mouths, when the are acting as agents of the State.

Peace,

H.G. Bishop Timothy (MacLam)
Pilgrim Prayer & Healing Ministries
Disappointed in North Carolina

I love NPR – and today’s coverage of the events at UC Davis were no exception. UNTIL, the police officer was identified as a “retired US Marine Sergeant”. If he had worked at NPR as a young man, would that have been mentioned? What was the extent of his entire employment history prior to his service as a police officer? A Marine, who indiscriminately used force (as appears the case here) would be court martialed. The connection of this police officer’s actions with his military service is as biased as Fox News is normally. Is someone how works “4 years” someplace “retired?” NPR is better than this.
Peter

Very annoying how the “Dragon” advertisement forces the broadcast to high volume and hijacks the web page… NPR should not allow this by any advertisement. This method gives me a negative view of the product right away. In addition, I just click out of the page and miss the article.
Loren Million

The cop should be fired and charged with assault.

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