November 21, 2011

Page 1

serving the uc davis campus and community since 1915

www.theaggie.org

volume 130, number 118

monday, november 21, 2011

Police pepper spray student protesters, community outraged

Jasna Hodzic / Aggie

Protesters surround Chancellor’s press conference on Saturday evening

Faculty members call for Katehi’s resignation following week of protests By UYEN CAO Arts Editor

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on Friday, police officers marched to the UC Davis Quad to confront student protesters who had set up tents the previous afternoon. After protesters refused to leave, police arrested 10 individuals, nine of which were UC Davis students. Between arrests, a line of protesters linking arms was sprayed in the face with a thick mist of pepper spray. Videos quickly emerged after the incident happened revealing UC Davis Police Lieutenant John Pike pepper spraying the line of non-violent protesters. Many students not linking arms used laptops and cellphones to film police action. California Aggie photographers were threatened with batons while being pushed and shoved by police officers. According to Fatima Sbeih, a senior international relations major who attended the protest, students had been sitting peacefully and were not warned about the actions police enforcement used to

break apart a circle formed around the encampment. “We were sitting there peacefully,” Sbeih said. “I didn’t even hear a warning for the spraying, just by the students telling us all to turn around, and then we turned and we were sprayed, just like that. One of the cops was yelling at a guy saying he’s going to spray him in the face and then grabs him in the face and sprays him. They grabbed one of the protesters and sprayed it directly in his mouth. We were there peacefully, the tents were down, they had no reason to spray us.” The protesters had received an order from Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi to leave the premise by 3 p.m. Shortly after, a general assembly meeting took place among protesters to decide what actions should be taken. Muneeza Rizvi, junior sociology and international relations double major, witnessed students standing in solidarity when police enforcements arrived on site. “Our general assembly meeting didn’t

See KATEHI, page 5

By HANNAH STRUMWASSER Campus News Editor

Two unnamed UC Davis Police officers have been placed on administrative leave, according to a statement issued by the UC Davis News Service on Sunday morning. This followed a press conference on Saturday, where UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi addressed police activity during a protest that took place on the UC Davis Quad on Friday. The press conference was slated to last until 4:30 p.m., however it ended early due to protesters chanting outside and flooding the hallways of the building. Protesters were there in response to police action on Friday, when officers arrested 10 individuals and pepper sprayed student protesters who were sitting on the Quad linking arms. During the press conference, which took place on campus in Surge II, Katehi and UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza fielded questions from the press. “Our hope was that the camp would go away and the students would remain to

continue their rally and to continue with their expression of the issues. The intent was not to disperse the rally, because that is allowed. The intent was just to remove the equipment,” Katehi said. During the press conference the chancellor said that she would be attending the rally that protesters are holding today at noon on the Quad. Katehi also announced that the university would be forming a task force to look into the events that took place on Friday. The task force will consist of faculty, students and staff, and it will review the events and report on them within 90 days. Katehi acknowledged that some university policies may need to be reconsidered after this task force completes its investigation. The press conference took place among calls for the chancellor’s resignation, specifically by UC Davis assistant professor Nathan Brown and the UC Davis Faculty Association Board. When asked if she plans to resign, Katehi said no. Approximately seven minutes before

See PRESS, page 5

News iN Brief

UC Regents meeting rescheduled for Nov. 28 The University of California Board of Regents meeting that was postponed last week due to “public safety concerns” has been rescheduled for Nov. 28.

Today’s weather Sunny High 57 Low 42

Public comment has been extended from its usual 20 minutes to an hour with UC Regents, UC staff and members of the public through a teleconference with four

UC campuses: UCSF, UCLA, UC Davis and UC Merced, as well as the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott in Palm Beach, Fla. Regents will call in from each of these campus-

Forecast Except for some stormy activity around the quad tomorrow afternoon, it looks like it is going to be a nice day today and tomorrow! For those of you driving home for Thanksgiving, prepare for some wet weather and slick roads. Kenneth Doss, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team

es. A live stream of the meeting will be posted on the internet for other members of the public. Public comment will begin at 9 a.m. Regents will discuss sources of

Tuesday

Wednesday

Mosty sunny

Chance of rain

High 61 Low 44

High 60 Low 45

private funding and vote on the 2012-13 budget and state funding request. They will not vote on tuition this month. –– Angela Swartz

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he had three missed calls from Chuck Norris. Amanda Nguyen


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