Here's a video posted earlier this week regarding the pepper spray incident at UC Davis. The 15 minute long video (I encourage you to watch it in its entirety) shows in chronological order the events leading up to the moment where police sprayed students.
In the video, officers give the students warnings before making any arrests. Once arrests had been made, protesters gathered around them and demanded that the detained be released. Again police warn students that they must move when the squad car comes or they will have to "use force." Students refuse to budge and continue their chanting, at one point the phrase "from Davis to Greece, fuck the police." The standoff resulted in the use of pepper spray.
I found this video to be helpful in showing the events leading up to the incident to help provide a different side of the story. However, I disagree with some of the biased commentary that the author of the video put over the footage.
The comment section on this video has erupted with controversy. It seems to be narrowed down to two groups:
1. Supporters of the policemen for having warned the students. Some posts say that officers were patient and properly warned protesters of what would happen if they did not clear a path. Others say that the students antagonized the police by not allowing them to leave and chanting disrespectful "fuck you's."
2. Supporters of the students for occupying peacefully and for their rights to free speech. Posts claim that there was not just cause for the use of pepper spray and that it was an attack on the student body, and that police should not have harmed students when it wasn't necessary.
Comments? Opinions?
-John Prichard
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