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January 23, 2012

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Pepper-sprayed UC Davis protesters won't be charged

The protest propelled the little-known Occupy movement at UC Davis into a rallying symbol with images of campus police Lt. using pepper spray widely circulated

By Henry K. Lee and Kevin Fagan
The San Francisco Chronicle

Yolo County prosecutors said Friday that they will not file charges against demonstrators at UC Davis who were pepper-sprayed by campus police during a Nov. 18 protest.

District Attorney Jeff Reisig said there was insufficient information in UC Davis police reports to charge 10 protesters who were arrested in the demonstration. Of the eight men and two women who could have faced misdemeanor charges of unlawful assembly and failure to disperse, seven were students, authorities said.

The protest drew widespread attention after two UC Davis police officers were videotaped using large canisters of pepper spray to douse seated, nonviolent demonstrators.

Police were seeking to remove tents that the protesters had pitched on the campus quad. Officers said protesters had surrounded them, locked arms and blocked them from leaving.

The protest propelled the little-known Occupy movement at UC Davis into a rallying symbol, with satirical T-shirts and Internet parodies portraying campus police Lt. John Pike pepper-spraying objects, animals and historical figures.

A week after the spraying, thousands of students held a protest on campus and heard Chancellor Linda Katehi issue an apology.

Pike, campus Police Chief Annette Spicuzza and another officer remain on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of investigations, including one by prosecutors.

One student who was pepper-sprayed, David Buscho, a 22-year-old studying mechanical engineering, said it would have been "outrageous" if those arrested had been charged.

"There's still a collective outrage," he said. "Most people on campus are waiting for meaningful policy change, and we still haven't heard any findings on the police investigation into what went on that day when we were pepper-sprayed. Just the fact that they sent riot police into that situation was pretty ridiculous and egregious."

In a statement, UC Davis officials said, "We welcome this development. It is an important step in helping our community heal following the regrettable events of Nov. 18."