THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Footage of protesters being blasted with pepper spray by a police officer while demonstrating on the UC Davis campus, has prompted international outrage and calls for the chancellor's resignation.
The video shows a member of the university police force, displaying 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.
Nine students hit by pepper spray were treated at the scene, two were taken to hospitals and later released, university officials said.
The protest was held in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement and in solidarity with protesters at the University of California, Berkeley who were jabbed by police with batons on November 9.
As the video images circulated on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter over the weekend, the university's faculty association called on University's Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi to resign, saying in a letter there had been a "gross failure of leadership."
"The Chancellor's role is to enable open and free enquiry, not to suppress it," the faculty association said in its letter.
It called Ms Katehi's authorisation of police force a "gross failure of leadership." Read on and comment » | Josie Ensor | Sunday, November 20, 2011
