There is simply no excuse for pepper-spraying peaceful demonstrators like this. The University of California Davis police were clearly incapable of handling a nonviolent demonstration, and so in lieu of proper use of authority they behaved like sadistic power-drunk thugs.
WASHINGTON -- On Friday, a group of University of California, Davis students, part of the Occupy Wall Street movement on campus, became the latest victims of alleged police brutality to be captured on video. The videos show the students seated on the ground as a UC Davis police officer brandishes a red canister of pepper spray, showing it off for the crowd before dousing the seated students in a heavy, thick mist.
This incident recalls the earlier infamous pepper spraying by a New York Police Department official of several women who were seated and penned in. The UC Davis images are further proof that police continue to resort to brutal tactics when confronting Occupy activists. One woman was transported to a hospital to be treated for chemical burns.
The UC Davis goons responsible for this need to be immediately suspended and a the department should take full responsibility for any physical damage caused be being pepper-sprayed at point-blank range.
Adding... As Ashby noted on Twitter last night, almost everyone has a video camera or handheld device in the crowed. Obviously the police didn't give a shit who witnessed their brutality and went ahead with it anyway. Welcome to YouTube, assholes.