"A news account captured the officer on camera spraying the students. The account names the officer as UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike. He did not return a voice mail message nor an email left Friday night. His voice-mail box eventually filled up to capacity as his name and phone number were posted on Twitter.
"The UC Davis Police Department did not return calls from The Huffington Post seeking comment.
"The UC Davis chancellor, Linda P.B. Katehi, released a statement Friday. It states, "We deeply regret that many of the protestors today chose not to work with our campus staff and police to remove the encampment as requested. We are even more saddened by the events that subsequently transpired to facilitate their removal."
and,
" UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza defended her officers' actions to KCRA. She argued that it just wasn't safe for students to camp on the quad. "It's not safe for multiple reasons," Spicuzza said. "
I call for Governor Jerry Brown and the board of directors for UC Davis to immediately fire Katehi, Spicuzza and Pike, and the local district attorney should investigate criminal charges against Pike and the chain of command for inappropriate, dangerous, potentially life-threatening use of pepper spray.
Parents of UC Davis students and UC Davis Alumni should also weigh in, contacting the governor and UC Davis, with a message that the complaint should go to the board.
The cop who used the pepper spray, reported to be Lt. John Pike, earns $110,000 a year. Twitter reports that his cell phone number is (530) 752-3989 . A call to the number confirmed it is John Pike's. But the message box is full. Twitter tweets report his email is japikeiii@ucdavis.edu. You might want to tell him what you think, but please, no threats, no violent language even. And here's the number for his police department. 530-752-1727. Anon_Central on twitter gives his address as 4005 Cowell Blvd, Apt 616 Davis, CA 95618-6017.
I include his contact info because he treated innocent students like enemy combatants. He is their neighbor, and worse, a policeman who is supposed to be protecting their safety. if police know that their actions will have consequences, perhaps they will think twice before acting. And if they choose to operate without badges, perhaps the people of the towns and cities and counties and states that employ them will demand accountability from the authorities who allow them to go out, without identification. I invite comments on this inclusion of the officer's contact info.
The UC Davis Chancellor, police chief and Lt. Pike deserve contempt, possibly prosecution and probably civil litigation. But it seems that they are simply carrying through on the meme and attack strategy that seems to have been generated from some central group or authority. Some of the 18 mayors on the call that Oakland Mayor Jean Quan let slip ( she said, " "I was recently on a conference call with 18 cities across the country who had the same situation,") have denied making any eviction strategies.
But I consider that single conference call to be the tip of a massive iceberg that, beneath the surface is all about orchestration by some central authorities-- maybe FBI, maybe DOJ, maybe Homeland security. I'd bet that local "Fusion center s" are getting updates, probably including hyped warnings about "dangerous" potential terrorist activities by quakers and local peace groups, as we've seen before.
This specious "safety" meme synergizes with the right wing media echo chamber's (wall street journal, Drudge Report, etc.) attempt to paint the Occupy Wall Street movement as dangerous, dirt, lazy, druggy and small. We know that major mainstream media are colluding, routinely under-reporting-- not underestimating, that would suggest error, not intentional deception-- numbers of occupiers, numbers of protesters, only accurately reporting numbers arrested.
It is clear that the Occupy Movement is strengthened by violent police attacks. Bystanders who see the unjust, disproportionate police actions feel the outrage, sense the broken system.
Police, in America, at UC Davis, Pointing Guns at Students by from youtube video in this article
Police, in America, at UC Davis, Pointing Guns at Students
In Syria, the government is killing scores of protesters daily. Is it hyperbola to suggest that the police violence in the US is building, that it is only a matter of time until a protester or an occupier engaging in civil resistance or civil disobedience will be killed?
Some Occupy protesters are making mistakes. Blocking other ninety-nine percenter workers from driving to work is a bad idea. Blocking people who work for Bank of America-- maybe not as bad, but still, that punishes people who are among the ninety-nine percent.
The mainstream media are failing to do their job when they fail to challenge claims that "safety" is reason for police to engage in growing levels of violence. Where are the journalists making the big bucks?
This "safety" meme must not stand. It must be challenged-- in the media and the courts.
The truth will out. This is 2011. Everyone has a camera. We are watching you. Shame on you. Shame on You.
We are watching by from youtube video in this article
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