This video, showing police calmly pepper-spraying a row of peaceful protesters at close-range, has caused outrage. The incident took place on Friday at the University of California, Davis, where students were protesting in solidarity with the Occupy movement. The video was subsequently uploaded to YouTube and has prompted outrage across the US.
The university’s faculty association, which represents academic staff, has called on the chancellor, Linda Katehi, to resign:
This week, we have seen excessive force used against non-violent protesters. Student, faculty and staff protesters have been pepper-sprayed directly in the eyes and mouth, beaten and shoved by batons, dragged by the arms while handcuffed, and submitted to other forms of excessive force.
She refused to resign, saying that she had not violated the rules of the institution. She said:
The use of pepper spray as shown on the video is chilling to us all and raises many questions about how best to handle situations like this.
The Occupy Wall Street protest began two months ago in New York and other protest have sprung up across the US and the world. Images of police action against protesters have galvanised support in the last few weeks, with skirmishes in Oakland last month leaving an Iraq war veteran seriously injured.
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