Before you guys continue to bicker, please watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhPdH3wE0_Y
Disclaimer: Clearly someone is supporting the police in this video and the captions describe this. So just let the video do the talking.
Summary:
This video is a compilation of other videos of what happened leading up to the pepper spray incident. It's easy to show a video of the pepper spray go down and to bitch and moan about it. Just like if you saw someone getting shot. But without context and seeing what happened before/after, how can you judge? Here's the footage.
First we see the cops giving 3 sets of warnings to protestors to get out and clear out tents. People are arrested peacefully for the most part. But as most cops do, they give clear warnings.
Next we see the students confronting the cops. To be fair, I don't think they initially wanted to surround the cops and not let them go. But it ends up being surrounding the cops, who are processing those who were arrested earlier.
At 7:00, we hear Lt John Pike going to the students telling them that force will be used if they don't clear this area.
At 8:00 we hear
"If you let them go, we will let you leave. If you let them go, we will continue to protest peacefully."
So the students admit they are not letting the cops leave. Now, you can't really do that. That's pushing it. Expect to get hurt. The second part of the statement implies they AREN'T protesting peacefully. That's certainly up to debate. Some people think that non peaceful protest = fighting and riots. But either way they're placing peaceful protest on the condition that the cops release the students. I really disagree with threatening here. The minute you start holding cops hostage (even if it's not using violence, but using a human wall), then this is ridiculous. EXPECT to get hurt.
The police repeatedly warn the students. Lt. John Pike warns them a 2nd time, and then a 3rd time by going to individual students sitting on the ground at this point.
At 11:00
Someone shouts "don't shoot students." Honestly, do riot police carry guns? Did the cops go threaten then saying we're going to shoot you? I can't tell. I doubt it, but we can't hear. It's clear some cops have paintball markers. I'm guessing they're filled with peppers or tear gas-like stuff. Maybe they did tell the students they might get shot by non lethal weapons like that. Of course if you heard "don't shoot students" being chanted you'd think about firearms and bullets. Clearly this could be misleading.
At 12:00
Lt John Pike brings out the pepper spray, shakes it for a longass time. Students are preparing for this. They tell each other to close their eyes, don't breathe it in.
At 13:00
Cops come in from the outside and clear a small path. They try to get the ones sitting to clear, but they refuse. I'm pretty sure the cops here are ready to spray already, and the additional cops on the outside are to protect Lt. John Pike as he goes and does the dirty work. They know there's gonna be outrage and they're here to crowd control. At this point it's pretty much THE LAST CHANCE to GTFO for the sitting guys.
13:10
Cops back up. Lots of people discuss this, but it's obvious the pepper spray is going down. They back out of the way of the fumes because it's going down.
13:25
All hell breaks loose and students are telling the cops not to do it. Then why did you all chant to cover your eyes and to not breathe it in? If you think you can fight the pepper spray then MAN UP like FPSRussia and take it like a bitch.
13:45
AFtermath. Students say they will give the cops PEACE and let them leave. Oh, so after getting sprayed, you now allow the cops to leave? Smart.
Personal take:
The cops were surrounded. Were they surrounded by an angry mob with sticks ready to beat them? Nah. But they were surrounded. They also chanted they would NOT let the cops leave unless their demands are met. Last time I checked the cops don't just yield to these things, and nor do you have the right to demand anything. Sure the demands aren't like "give me a million bucks," but it's still threatening and demanding something OUT of their control.
The cops weren't in a seriously threatening situation. They could've stepped out if they wanted, but then there are those that are arrested that they need to escort out. Do you expect the students to sit there peacefully in a 1-2 person deep circle and let the cops step over them single file line and also carry out those arrested along with them? Honestly no. Even if we didn't use pepper spray, SOME SORT of crowd clearing/barrier opening tool needs to be used. This means man handling them or whatever.
I'm pretty sure if they took that squad car and drove it at 1mph at the students, people would be just as stupid and sit there and get run over and then cry "police brutality." The point is they weren't going to leave until someone got hurt.
Students are stupid. When you think about this thoroughly, they were clearly in the wrong. You can still argue pepper spray is inappropriate and that, but it's pretty darn clear from this video that they shouldn't have been surrounding the police.
The captions make a good point. Students were originally protesting like OWS about jobs and the 1% rich and tuition hikes. This is no longer about those things. This is about forcing cops to let people go when the whole thing is in the hands of the law already.
I'm willing to accept that pepper spray is inappropriate. I listened to the whole 1 hr segment on our local NPR station about this and they brought in experts who said that NYPD is specifically trained NOT TO USE PEPPER SPRAY when dealing with passive protestors who refuse to move. Of course they never detailed HOW ELSE to remove the protestors, but that's probably why NPR is biased. They never addressed the cops being surrounded and did not interview anyone who would address how else the students could be moved.
I do think however that pepper spray is fine. The students were warned. This is no Oakland. They didn't shoot rubber bullets and tear gas. There's plenty of military training around the world where you're taught to put up with tear gas and pepper spray.
FPSRussia can take pepper spray. Granted he admits its bad, I say to the students "don't be beech"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8IGDIujijQ
Regarding Mainstream Media & Idiotic Youtube/Facebook/Twitter reactions
It's easy to show a video of the pepper spraying going down, but how about do some research and find out about WHAT happened? Everyone loves to take "non violent protest" and put pepper spray on the other side. Sure the students weren't being outright "violent" but this isn't the same as someone sitting on the sidewalk at say a bus stop and getting pepper sprayed for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON. People are far too easy to manipulate.
I went to a UC school and I can bet there are thousands of people on my Facebook who are like "omg the cops are stupid." I wish people did some research. I can see how SOME of their points are correct, but I can bet 99.9% of their points are based on no research and just the clip of the spray going down. Most of the knee jerk reactions are just based on senseless accusations and idiocy.
I remember when students got beat at Berkeley, people said that the chancellor's email said the students were violently protesting. People overreacted thinking that the chancellor believed the students were attacking the cops. They kept saying that chanting is non violent. But when you read the actual email which I just pulled up, it says:
It is unfortunate that some protesters chose to obstruct the police by linking arms and forming a human chain to prevent the police from gaining access to the tents. This is not non-violent civil disobedience. By contrast, some of the protesters chose to be arrested peacefully; they were told to leave their tents, informed that they would be arrested if they did not, and indicated their intention to be arrested. They did not resist arrest or try physically to obstruct the police officers' efforts to remove the tent. These protesters were acting in the tradition of peaceful civil disobedience, and we honor them.
When you read this paragraph in detail it makes more sense. You can't prevent the cops from doing their work, and the fact that people chose to be arrested peacefully where others decided to oppose the cops and get beat... well, that tells you something. Nonviolent civil disobedience means you refuse orders by the cops, but it doesn't mean you engage in disruptive behavior. I agree with the chancellor, but I can see how students can interpret this as thinking he's calling them out for assault, but the email doesn't imply that at all. Just because he crossed out non-violent, doesn't mean he's comparing them to a violent Oakland riot. Sigh, knee jerk reactions of hippie students.