Courtesy of LA Times:
"I am here to apologize," Katehi told hundreds of students and faculty who gathered for a rally on the campus quad. "I feel horrible for what happened on Friday."
Campus police sprayed a group of students who were sitting down and protesting peacefully as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Eleven students were treated for the effects of pepper spray, including two who were taken to an area hospital, where they were treated and released.
"I don't want to be chancellor of the university we had on Friday," Katehi told the crowd. "Our university has to be better than it is. And we need all of the community to come together to do that. We need to work together. ... I know you may not believe anything that I'm telling you today, and you don't have to. It is my responsibility to earn your trust."
Katehi left the podium to chants of "Resign, Resign!" and "Not Enough!"
Wow, THAT was awkward!
I don't believe the students are in a very forgiving mood, and I seriously doubt that the Chancellor will be able to hold onto her job much longer. When she said "I don't want to be the Chancellor of the University we had on Friday," I think she just might be about to get that wish.
Some are already comparing this pepper spraying incident to the Kent State shootings in 1970. Personally I don think they are really all that comparable, yet they might be comparable in the fact that they provide a touchstone that unifies a movement and helps them to find their voice, which this incident at UC Davis might just do for the OWS protests.
Wait, I'm confused. The "entire community" sanctioned the use of pepperspray on peaceful protesters?
ReplyDeleteWhat is this "entire community" shit? The responsibility is directly on HER and the asshole with the spray can, not "the entire community".
Is this idiot bitch prepping for a run at the Republican nomination or something?
She needs to go. If I were those students I can't say I would trust her again.
ReplyDeleteSo, she claims she was "there" for the Athens Polytechnic Uprising and she STILL authorized use of force on protesting students?
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens_Polytechnic_Uprising
The only thing she is "sorry" about is that she might lose her cushy job over this.
Three interesting and timely articles on this subject.
ReplyDeleteandrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/11/police-abuse-on-parade-ctd.html
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Busted-by-John-Reed-111120-700.html
http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-LIES-ABOUT-by-John-Reed-110809-507.html
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/11/21/ows-meets-police-state-the-revolution-has-begun/
At 2:21 PM, Anonymous said,
ReplyDeleteIs this idiot bitch prepping for a run at the Republican nomination or something?
No, but she was appointed by G. W. Bush...
A University Chancellor's ultimate responsibility is to see to the education and well being of the students who attend. They are the "clients" to whom all concern should be directed.
ReplyDeleteIt is not to see that the University makes a profit.
It is not to see that the University's professor's bring in X amount of grant research $ every year.
It is not to that students attending the University only learn one philosophy of thought, be it political, societal or religious.
This Chancellor failed because she put the status quo as more important that the issues the students were demonstrating about. She allowed what happened because it was more important to her that the "sidewalk not be blocked" so that the rest of the University world could go about their daily business as usual.
What she should have been concerned about was ensuring that these students were able to undertake their right to protest as safely as possible. She should have instructed her officers to be sure that there were no confrontations between the protestors and others in the area. She should have NEVER created a situation where the campus officers were directly intervening in these student's actions unless there was a REAL threat to someone's health.
That is why she should resign.
I just signed the MoveOn.org petition to prosecute the out-of-control, jack-booted, Imperial Storm Troopers at UC Davis. And, nice try, Ms. Katehi. I'd say "close, but no cigar," but this isn't even close. Linda Katehi is a child abuser and needs to be treated accordingly.
ReplyDeletePeace, All. And OCCUPY!!!
SHE NEEDS TO GO. I say that as a UC alum.
ReplyDeleteNO comparison to Kent State, but it is coming I think.
ReplyDeleteThis may pale in comparison to Kent State but let's not forget there were many acts of cop abuse before Kent State and that's what makes me wonder if this is the prelude to the "lock and load" order that's certain to come down sooner than later. When the shooting starts let's not forget this and the other incidents at OWS
ReplyDeleteThe comparison to Kent State could be accurate in that the Ohio National Guard was poorly trained. The officers here also appear to be poorly trained. I mean, where did this guy get the idea to pepper spray non-violent protesters who were doing nothing wrong? It is unacceptable. The officer needs to get into another line of work.
ReplyDeleteDon't these goons in authority realize that the more brutal they are in their responses, the more they make the case for the protesters???
ReplyDeleteThat WAS a rhetorical
question,you understand.
Just like Newt wanting kids
to mop the school house floor,
for peanuts. Give me a M.F'in
break, will you please!?!?
Wow! Those police officers must be proud of themselves for what they did!
ReplyDeleteLinda needs to be condemning the use of such brutality against her students and calling for retraining of the police force, and for Wall Street and those in power to change their ways, but condemning her students for making the university being a bad place on Friday.
Do you want me to rub salt in your wounds and a little pepper spray with that?
ReplyDeleteFail.
ReplyDelete"We need to work together."
See wasn't that easy? The whole University is at fault.
I live in Kent and believe me, this is not the same . . .
ReplyDeleteBut pepper spraying peaceful kids is still reprehensible. It speaks to a university's true belief systems. Where will the lines be drawn?
The Chancellor should resign.
She was appointed by George W Bush.That explains ALOT!
ReplyDeleteWhat I can't figure is why the university has riot police. After all if there were real criminal activity or real riot there are real cops that could be called in.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it helps anybody to have campus cops who dress like the military and who are student unfriendly.
A lot of money was spent on their training and weaponry that could have been better spend of training them on how to handle these situations peacefully.
It's important to remember that this was NOT an isolated incident, these crackdowns using increasingly harsh and violent methods are coordinated by Homeland Security and FBI at the federal level - and possibly even international - as we see OccupyToronto under siege tonight, likely to be evicted from the same extreme tactics by the police who are in the employ of the 1%.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the intimidation is working, last night the drummers at OWS quit under threat of arrest:
http://witsendnj.blogspot.com/2011/11/ive-got-blisters-on-my-fingers.html
I hope this will just make the movement grow, but people are getting tired of going to jail.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteThe "entire community" sanctioned the use of pepper spray on peaceful protesters?
What is this "entire community" shit?
2:21 PM
And who exactly is this community made up of?
That part of her point of view is hugely important.
Probably the university students or the faulty is what she should be thinking.
As they are the totality of the University community.
I saw this in the 60's at UT in Austin. There is an emnity/amity dynamic that was ignored.
The campus is the "home" of the students. The student body and faculty are their family.
Attack a family member in their home......
The Austin cops chased a group of UT students from the Capitol to the south side of the campus where several hundred students turned line of cops armed with rifles.
The student body president walked into the space between the lines that had faced off and persuaded the cops that chasing the students any further could lead to a fulfilled riot. Fortunately the cops turned away.
A very scary moment when you have 40K+ students who are seeing their home land being invaded by the hated and disrespected local cops.
I'm a UC Davis alum ('70) and so is my son ('97).
ReplyDeleteI couldn't bring myself to watch the whole pepper spray video until today when my son said that it's inspirational at the end. It is. I'm very proud of the students at my alma mater.
What shocked me too though were the DRAWN RIFLES toward the end of the video. (WTF???)
THAT (along with the amazingly cavalier pepper spraying at point blank range) is what makes it like Kent State.
I wanted to add that the sidewalk they were blocking is in the middle of the Quad--a big grassy area in the middle of campus.
ReplyDeleteBlocking that sidewalk bothers and stops no one.
It's surrounded by grass. It's easy to walk around.
And it's surrounded on all 4 sides with wide walkways.
Raw Story alleges Katehi is a Bush appointee; she certainly had a disdain for free expression until she became the focus of a national story. Aside from what the students think, what parent would want to send their son or daughter to a campus where this behavior by the police was sanctioned in the first place by the chancellor? The officer looked so casual pepper spraying the students, it was as though he was using Roundup on the weeds in his garden.
ReplyDeleteFor years UC Davis has had a reputation for diversity. The campus has many foreign students and the surrounding community has a liberal bent. Davis even constructed a special tunnel for toads to cross underneath the freeway as an example of their commitment to the environment. It's a bicycle friendly community and has one of the best farmers markets on the West Coast. The Whole Earth Festival is a big event on campus every spring and many well-known liberal celebrities make their homes there.
Katehi has made it obvious that her political bent is not in alignment with the community's progressive values. It's only a matter of time before she gets her pink slip.
Sarah Palin Got Scolded by Roger Ailes for Not Announcing Her Non-Candidacy on Fox News
ReplyDeletehttp://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/11/sarah-palin-scolded-furious-roger-ailes-foxnews.html
Anon (UC Davis 1970 alum) @4 pm
ReplyDeleteHow did UC Davis react after Kent State, May 1970?
Commenters don't need to be reminded, but 4 young people were MURDERED at Kent State. There is no equivalence between Kent State and UC Davis.
It's true that at least one UC Davis police officer misbehaved in a sadistic way, to "punish" the students for their non-violent protest. (See Andrew Sullivan's post that Anon @2:37 pm referenced).
At UCLA in the Spring of 1972, I left class one afternoon in the middle LAPD SWAT officers swinging their batons and cracking male students' heads open. They were enormous and outfitted like storm troopers. I don't recall why they were there, but there was no demonstration. The LAPD were grabbing random male student for attack, for no reason.
One of the differences between now and then is the rise of the University police state. While I was at UCLA, I was unaware of any police force; there probably was one, but they likely handled misdemeanor offenses. They weren't visible and weren't decked out like storm troopers. @MarcAmbinder (National Journal) tweeted last week that he was glad to see Penn State police under scruntity (he attended Harvard, and he said that the Cambridge police department have NO jurisdiction on matters related to Harvard). This shadow police state has been able to operate with impunity and no accountability. Hopefully the Penn State scandal and UC Davis incident will prompt journalists to expose the unabated power of these under-the-radar "law" enforcement agencies.
I doubt that George W. Bush had anything to do with her appointment, despite claims by commenters here.
OT. Palin was almost fired from Fox for not quitting on the presidency on Fox. Apparently Ailes was infuriated. Palin's contract with Fox expires in 2013.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/11/sarah-palin-scolded-furious-roger-ailes-foxnews.html
Does not the constitution guanintee the right to free speach and the right to assemble? To listen to the scrotom baggers and the repug-u-thugs screech that this is unlawful? Amazing how they'll wave the constitution when it's a situation that they agree with...when not....well...you're seeing it. They are scared. Really scared.
ReplyDeleteToo bad winter is upon us...It get's awfully cold in NY City. I sure wish they (we) had a spokesman and a tangible list of demands.
This could be the beginning of the third party we've been waiting for.
This just in from an occupier:
ReplyDeleteHi, friends. I just got home from a demonstration at Baruch at which CUNY police pushed students who were sitting on the ground peacefully and hit them with batons during a demonstration against increasing student tuition. This is an outrageous violation of rights to peaceful protest. Abundant video will be uploaded to the web in the coming hours...
That Chancellor was responsible for sicking those goons in that manner; even if she had not asked those police to pepper spray under those circumstances. Doesn't matter that a couple went rogue, she should have taken control at the beginning and instructed them on the students' safety above all else. She should resign. She'll never earn these students' trust as she chose to allow her staff to intimidate, bully with non-violent protesters.
ReplyDeleteShe gave the cops the orders, she needs to go and I believe she will. She will be forced out and should just resign while she can.
ReplyDeleteOf course no one was murdered like at Kent State.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't want the same police who so casually pepper spray students at point blank range also carry around drawn lethal weapons at the same time.
That's a scary combination that brings up the spectre of Kent State possibilities.
I haven't used this words in decades. Pigs!
ReplyDeleteY'know, back in the late 60s there was a bumper sticker that read "Don't like cops? Next time you're in trouble call a hippie!"
ReplyDeleteWell, by God, I'm starting to think it might not be a bad idea! At least the hippie wouldn't crack your skull or rummage through your possessions while "protecting" you.
Tom, FL
The chancellor believes the pepper spray is a vegetable - that's why she ok'd it being forced down student's throats. It was a healthy benefit.
ReplyDeleteNo. No deal. THis women should go back to whatever European county that she came from...
ReplyDeleteOkay, that was a really tacky thing to say.
But the truth remains, she should be removed from her position because she did not act in the interest of the EDUCATIONAL interests of the students of UC Davis.
"The chancellor believes the pepper spray is a vegetable"
ReplyDeleteROFL
Today a co-worker asked me if this incident could be equated to Kent State or the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. I had to struggle for an answer.....I am still not sure....but I can say this . What I saw in the video if UC-Davis was campus police deliberately pepper spraying a peaceful protest. These actions struck me as the actions of extremely misguided if not mentally disturbed men that took pleasure in the physical and mental (the overt use of power) abuse of the students. There is a chance that these guys were "following orders" , but there is an equal chance that the dude seen pepper spraying everybody needs a major Psychological exam. As for the CHancellor???? She seems to assume that she is part of a different social class then the reat of the people living in the USA.
ReplyDeleteI attended UC Berkeley in the 70s. The experience, memory and lessons learned at People's Park in the 60s were fresh in the mind, still discussed, and the Berkeley Police had undergone a miraculous, constructive transformation. They were the best educated, most compassionate, most effective municipal police force int he US, they held to the highest standard of community policing and crowd control.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened? It's not like this came out of nowhere. There were effective protocols already set and practiced for decades at that point that protected the police force as well as citizens. Very balanced. One would assume these lessons and skills would have been adopted and maintained, university and community wide.
These UC police in current times were not inventing the wheel, here. At the least, those elders in higher administration and power already had all of the most effective, most Constitutional, most compassionate means of crowd control at their disposal. Means tested. Not theory, practice.
That, to me, is the most scary of all. They already knew what to do, what had worked effectively in the past with least harm, to preserve human rights, the rights and safety of the police force and also what was necessary to preserve community needs.
Yet, they ignored this. Not out of ignorance, or lack of historical witness, they simply ignored it. A new generation of thugs, ignoring history and protocol.
I am shocked.
MicMac
First video of the night:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnfOFq-SWaQ&feature=youtu.be
No this is not the same as Kent State...this is more Abu Ghraib. The cop in the UC Davis video appeared to be some sort of sicko that was enjoying torturing the students not a scared National Guard kid as in Kent State.
ReplyDeleteYes, Abu Ghraib not Kent State.
ReplyDeleteWakeUpAmerica,
ReplyDeleteI fear that too. I hope it doesn't but this movement isn't going away and CAN'T back down.
Occupy Seattle Update:
ReplyDeleteThe young Pregnant woman Jenifer Fox lost her baby: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/11/21/pregant-woman-blasted-with-pepper-spray-by-spd-reportedly-miscarries
They should play "don't cry for me Argentina" in the background. In what way was that bullshit even close to an apology? She's just trying to keep her job, but she has to go, she's the one who ordered the assault. Sign the petition and pass it on.
ReplyDeletehttp://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/11/sarah-palin-scolded-furious-roger-ailes-foxnews.html
ReplyDeleteAs a UCD MFA grad, 1978, I am appalled. Are these "campus police" applicants for the actual police forces who were rejected because they could not pass the psych exam?
ReplyDeleteFire the chancellor and the campus police- any of 'em, all of 'em.
Wild (Art Major) Tortoise
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteThe chancellor believes the pepper spray is a vegetable - that's why she ok'd it being forced down student's throats. It was a healthy benefit.
5:51 PM
And, gosh, even if we were going to Monday-morning quarterback the police, shouldn't we remember, as Megyn Kelly tells O'Reilly, that pepper spray is "a food product, essentially"? I mean, Kelly and O'Reilly aren't saying the cops did the right thing! God, no! They're just saying, hey, what right do we have to judge a cop for spraying a simple food product on a bunch of liberal college kids' faces?
gawker.com/5861688/its-a-food-product-essentially-fox-news-starts-spinning-pepper-spray-cops
Palin "Scolded" By Ailes For Not Announcing Presidential Aims On Fox
ReplyDeleteOn October 5, Fox News contributor Sarah Palin announced on Mark Levin's radio show that she did not intend to seek the Republican nomination for the presidency. According to a new report from New York magazine, Palin's decision to make that announcement somewhere other than Fox News "infuriated" Fox head Roger Ailes, who insisted that he hired Palin "to make this announcement on [his] network."
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201111210022
...Sarah Palin's announcement that she wouldn't run for president disappointed her legions of admirers — but it infuriated Roger Ailes. The Fox News chief wasn't angry about the decision itself. Rather, he was livid that Palin made the October 5 announcement on Mark Levin's conservative talk-radio program, robbing Fox News of an exclusive and a possible ratings bonanza. Fox was relegated to getting a follow-up interview with Palin on Greta Van Susteren's 10 p.m. show, after the news of Palin's decision had been drowned out by Steve Jobs's death. Ailes was so mad, he considered pulling her off the air entirely until her $1 million annual contract expires in 2013.
After the announcement, he called Fox's executive vice-president Bill Shine into a meeting. Shine is the network's principal point of contact with Palin. Ailes told him she had made a big mistake. "I paid her for two years to make this announcement on my network," Ailes pointedly told Shine. Sources described the episode on condition of anonymity, given the sensitivity of the relationships.
Palin is said to have made her announcement on Levin's show because she's been upset that Fox News has given a platform to Karl Rove, one of her principal critics. "She isn't happy with Karl," one Palin adviser told me. "From day one, he hasn't been very nice." Levin had become Palin's biggest booster in the conservative commentariat, and Palin is known for rewarding loyalists, and punishing her detractors.
Shine was deputized to handle the matter. He spoke with Palin's agent, Bob Barnett, and told him that Ailes was furious with Palin's move and that she was at risk of being "benched." Fox still had to pay her, but they didn't have to give her airtime. Barnett spoke with Palin and told her about the problem. After she apologized, he called Shine back and told him that Palin recognized the misstep.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/11/sarah-palin-scolded-furious-roger-ailes-foxnews.html
As an occupying member of the 99%, I am amazed how few people actually understand their rights.
ReplyDeleteWe have the right to peacefully assemble. However, like shouting "fire" in a theatre some things trump our other rights.
If you are in a public place, anywhere at anytime, protesting or not and a police officer asks you to move on, that is considered a lawful order and you are legally required to obey. You can go to court later to argue if the order was given for a legal reason or not.
Not moving on is why most people consider their arrest to be a badge of honor... I do.
The point where our rights are violated is when police use excessive force to remove or intimidate us. The pepper spray and violence on every single person I have seen so far would legally be considered excessive force, and should be investigated the same as any other crime.
That being said, I have seen plenty of police legally taking people into custody in a calm and professional manner.
I want our protest to win out against the 1%, but it won't unless we all understand our rights, and how to use them successfully.
And before you tell my I am wrong, I will tell you DON'T BLAME THE MESSENGER. I didn't write the laws, I don't enforce them. If you want the laws to change, do everything legal you can to help to change them.
Why was that woman ever appointed Chancellor of a major university?
ReplyDeleteIf these goons are getting their training from homeland security, their actions do not surprise me.
ReplyDeleteREcently at my hospital, three homeland security officers in full gear, vests, armes, combat boots, walked right into a peditric unit without announcing themselves to hospital security, where they are required to announce they are armed, and went up to find a patient they knew was getting treastment. They strolled, right in, scaring the shit out of our nurse's aide by declaring "we've come to get you".....just kidding.."we're looking for so and so". They think they have big swinging dicks and can do ehatever the hell they want, whenever the hell they want, regardless of rules and regulations...not to mention simple common sense. Walking fully armed into a pediatric hospital playroom!!!!
Awwww, she is wearing WHITE! She must be so good!
ReplyDeleteI went to Kent State. Back in the day, campus police were pretty much what we think of "mall security" today. Now campus police, like most police forces, have been "militarized." And, in some cases, they are treating protestors like the enemy instead of realizing that the protestors are on their side!
ReplyDeleteThe problem is, a convenient apology after the fact is unlikely to be sincere. She doesn't want to be the chancellor of the university that existed last Friday, well, she WAS chancellor of that university, wasn't she? It was her creation.
ReplyDeleteI go again to the enmity amity issue.
ReplyDeleteTo students the campus is their home and fellow students are their extended family, even if it is a crowd of 40 or 50K strangers.
I go back to my time at the University of Texas in the late 60's. Austin hates UT,and the Austin cops hate UT students,and the students know that if they read the paper of listen to the talk shows.
That just draws the community of students closer. So when students are attacked on their home soil, aswe weethen, solely for being students, it elicits a huge enmity/amity reaction.
To ignore that is to step in a big pile of independent thinkers with the energy and idealism of youth who are, emotionally, protecting their home land.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité.
hedgewytch said...
ReplyDeleteA University Chancellor's ultimate responsibility is to see to the education and well being of the students who attend.
That is why she should resign.
2:39 PM
Spot ON!