DRAFTED BY: Ashly Bloxon
DAVIS.— A peaceful protest at UC Davis today ended with the arrest of 10 students after police officers used pepper spray to force protesters from an encampment in the campus quad.
The students were protesting the dismantling of the “Occupy UC Davis” encampment that had been set up in the UC Davis quad.
Authorities had ordered demonstrators to remove the camp between the Memorial Union and Shields Library and disperse.
UC Davis spokeswoman, Karen Nikos said the campers were given a written warning to remove the tents by 3 p.m. or police would remove them.
The “Occupy UC Davis” protesters refused, shortly afterwards police officers moved into the encampment.
Reportedly, police used pepper spray on a group of students who had sat on the ground and linked arms in an attempt to block officers who were arresting other students.
“Police came and brutalized them and tore their tents down and all that stuff. It was really scary. It felt like there was anarchy everywhere,” said student Hisham Alihbob.
The protest initially involved 50 students and grew to over 200 when police began to attempt to expel the demonstrators.
Chris Wong, a student involved in the protest, said he was one of those sprayed but he looked down and didn’t get a full dose of the pepper spray as many other students did.
The students who have been arrested are accused of failure to disperse and lodging without permission of the owner, both are misdemeanor charges.
UC Davis officials were not available to comment.
November 19, 2011
Davis, Local, Southern California