The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Dan Kervick's picture

    Open Mic on UC Davis Events

    I find the events taking place at UC Davis spellbinding.  The writer who contributes as "Lambert Strether" at Naked Capitalism offers a very interesting account of Friday's recorded altercation, and the way the students turned the mic check technique into a moment of empowerment and victory:

    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/11/on-the-narrative-of-pepper-spray-at-uc-davis-or-mike-check-for-president.html

    Those events were followed by this amazingly disciplined silent protest and shaming last night as Chancellor Katehi walked to her car:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=CZ0t9ez_EGI

    As my son said when he saw the latter video, "Now that's just badass."

    What do you all think and feel as you watch this?

     

    Comments

    First, who said the revolution won't be televised?

    Second, I'm wondering if colleges think they can stay in business without students who believe they can find jobs.


    Not sure.  Have watched this video link from Kevin Drum twice now.  

    I am still not sure which frightened me more, the pepper spraying by the cops or watching them back away in fear from the crowd.  

    Here are a couple of links I picked up from interfluidity on twitter.

    Why I Feel Bad for the Pepper-Spraying Policeman, Lt. John Pike - Alexis Madrigal - National - The Atlantic: "If we vilify Pike, we let the institutions off way too easy."

    Securitizing America: Strategic Incapacitation and the Policing of Protest Since the 11 September 2001 Terrorist Attacks - Gillham - 2011 - Sociology Compass - Wiley Online Library -- Have only scanned the abstract on this one but know it should be read more conscientiously than I can manage today.  

     


    A powerful video. Thanks to you and Dan K for bringing this horrific event to my attention. I disagree somewhat with what Madrigal wrote in the Atlantic. It's all fine to consider the environmental factors that led to Pike's decision to pepper spray these protesters, and even to pity someone so lacking in basic humanity. However, whatever it is that led up to Pike committing that act, it demonstrates that he is not fit to be a police officer. He should lose his job, and never be allowed to work for any police system anywhere ever again. Ideally, he'd also lose his right to carry a weapon.


    This is new territory, in my estimation. I'm not sure when I've ever seen this degree of discipline in a non-violent demonstration. The incident at the time of the pepper-spraying by Pike and the follow-through from the protesters is remarkable. The police were inviting a riot, and the students refused to engage on those terms. And in the end, they won! The police ultimately surrendered the quad and - MOST CRITICALLY - also surrendered whatever moral authority they might have claimed upon entering the scene. They end up looking truly pathetic.

    I cannot refrain from taking frequent views of the Chancellor's inglorious exit from campus. This is one of the most moving pieces of video I've seen, remarkable for the way in which it makes shame palpable. Every one of those students will remember forever that they were involved in this community action, and you can bet that the Chancellor will not readily blow it off either. It's a long walk to the car. This is powerful stuff! And I applaud the students and the organizers who maintain the required discipline to make the effective point using non-violence as their "weapon" of choice. Absolutely wonderful!


    Here is another version of the video, showing how one of the students who was pepper sprayed helped lead the organization of the walk of shame.

     

     

     


    From NYT:

    According to California Penal Code Section 12403.7 (a) (8), use of tear gas or a tear gas weapon, EXCEPT in self-defense, can be a felony, the following being possible sanctions for misuse:

    Up to three years in state prison; or
    Up to one year in county jail; or
    Fine up to $1, 000; or
    Both fine and imprisonment."

    There was no threat to the cop as he calmly walked down the line of students and soaked them with the stuff. He was a UC campus cop.

    If you have ever been around pepper spray up close, you can hardly breathe even if it is used in the other direction from you, the strong stuff is used to repel grizzly bear attacks. The cop should be fired and go to jail, and soon, if he isn't UC Davis admin should be fired, who the hell cares if students sit or put up tents on the f--ing campus?


    when one watches the video of the event prior to the spraying, one sees that there were police moving in to deal with the protesters in a non-violent manner.  They were told to back off by the pepper sprayer and they did so. The evidence would indicate that this was on-sight decision by one or two individuals and not a reflection of the police in general who were involved.  Those making the decision should at the very least be fired if not charged with criminal behavior.


    Just to be clear, Lt. Pike is not just "an individual". He's one of two people (the other being Captain Joyce Souza) listed on this page:

    http://police.ucdavis.edu/campus-services/support-services-division

     


    Just to be clear, he is an individual, one who had certain levels of decision-making authority granted by the institution which employed him, but just an individual all the same.


    A better rebuttal might be that none of us are "just" individuals. This man certainly is not. He appears to be in a position of authority over other officers there. It is to their credit that they showed more self control than he.


    I agree.  Well said.  Not to bring the whole can of worms that is the Penn St scandal into this, but this is part of what has created such a focus on Paterno.  We all find in our lives those moments where we have control and need to make moral decisions.  There are no just individuals.  Paterno reflected for many (rightly or wrongly) that failure in the same way as Mr Pepper Spray did.  Now, do we fault those other officers for not stepping up against the hierarchy of power and saying "no"? 


    SAN FRANCISCO -- A California university placed two of its police officers on administrative leave Sunday because of their involvement in the pepper spraying of passively sitting protesters, while the school's chancellor accelerated a task force's investigation into the incident amid calls for her resignation.

    The president of the 10-campus University of California system also weighed in on the growing fallout from Friday's incident at UC Davis, saying that he is "appalled" at images of students being doused with pepper spray and plans a far-reaching, urgent assessment of law enforcement procedures on all campuses.

    "I implore students who wish to demonstrate to do so in a peaceful and lawful fashion. I expect campus authorities to honor that right," UC President Mark G. Yudof said. All 10 chancellors would convene soon for a discussion "about how to ensure proportional law enforcement response to non-violent protest," he said.


    These videos recorded two extraordinary moments in the history of protest. The shaming of campus police resulting in their retreat from the quad, and the shaming of Chancellor Katehi.

    Some of the bloggers here hold the opinion that OWS is weak, ineffective and misdirected.

    Videos like this demonstrate precisely why that is not the case.

    Elite ownership of our institutions and our government is not affected by elections that replace corporate Repbulicans with corporate Democrats, or vice versa. Change takes place on the ground.

    These UC Davis students show remarkable intelligence and discipline. My heart is with them.



    When there are more and more great fortunes being created and the government is in larger and larger deficit, it is hardly a time for the estate tax to be eviscerated. With smaller families and ever more bifurcation in the investment opportunities open to those with wealth, there is a real risk that the old notion of “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations” will become obsolete, and those with wealth will endow dynasties

    The congenitally wealthy are less a problem financially or politically than the minions and myrmidons who manage dynasty trusts using innocuous sounding names like private foundations and family offices who have quietly eviscerated the Rule Against Perpetuities over the last three decades.


    I appreciate your emphasis upon the corrosive effect of those instruments but in my mind it tends to reinforce the point that was being made rather than somehow mitigate the culpability of the owners of the funds.


    Hmmm, I thought I was reinforcing the paragraph, not disputing it.  

     


    Whoops.

    I do math in my sleep and think dogs are talking to me so I often get what people are actually saying wrong. My apologies.


    It's okay.  I notice that I tend to leave things out when I add links.   Maybe multitasking while writing is not a good thing.


    There isn't any question that Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi should resign or be removed. She should have recognized the chance for trouble and herself gone out to meet the students, or sent a representative of high rank in the administration, both to control the campus cops, and to recognize the students protest.

    On most university campuses, the cops are kept under tight control when dealing with young students who are protesting. The UC administration failed badly and the responsibility goes to the top.

    Nathan Brown, a faculty member, UK Daily Mail:

    'The Chancellor’s role is to enable open and free inquiry, not to suppress it.'

    Nathan Brown, an assistant professor in the Department of English, also called for Ms Katehi to step down. He wrote in an open letter to Katehi. 'You are responsible for it because this is what happens when UC Chancellors order police onto our campuses to disperse peaceful protesters through the use of force: students get hurt. Faculty get hurt.'

    From Prof. Brown's letter:

    ....Police used batons to try to push the students apart. Those they could separate, they arrested, kneeling on their bodies and pushing their heads into the ground. Those they could not separate, they pepper-sprayed directly in the face, holding these students as they did so. When students covered their eyes with their clothing, police forced open their mouths and pepper-sprayed down their throats. Several of these students were hospitalized. Others are seriously injured. One of them, forty-five minutes after being pepper-sprayed down his throat, was still coughing up blood........in Berkeley on November 9 is that UC Berkeley faculty stood together with students, their arms linked together. Associate Professor of English Celeste Langan was grabbed by her hair, thrown on the ground, and arrested. Associate Professor Geoffrey O’Brien was injured by baton blows. Professor Robert Hass, former Poet Laureate of the United States, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winner, was also struck with a baton......


    It is perhaps ironic that the events at Cal were a catalyst for students deciding to set up camp at UCD.  There was a wish to show solidarity against that kind of brutality.


    Here's what I posted at TPM:

     

    Thus far, Katehi's various responses have been universally unimpressive. The bottom line is that she ordered dozens of cops with pepper spray and pepper ball guns to disperse students from the quad, where they have every right to be at 3PM on a Friday and where she had permitted them to spend the prior night in the quad.

    This response, ordered by Katehi, represents an escalation of force on her part against students. 52 were arrested at Mrak last year. None were treated like this. Many more were arrested when students attempted to block I-80 and the rail line. Still, nothing like this was necessary.

    As an Aggie alum, I feel proud, angry and ashamed right now. I'm incredibly proud of the current students and faculty at UCD. Their commitment to social justice and non-violent action has been exemplary throughout these events. I am incredibly angry at the cops on the scene, but also at the leadership that allowed this action even to be considered in the face of what was actually occurring - namely, a few dozen students peacefully camped out in the quad FOR ONE NIGHT.

    Keep that in mind as you hear more about this story. The students had camped out for one night, for which they had permission. This was the response the following day.

    And that brings me to shame, which is what I will feel as long as I know that there is so much craven cowardice among UC "leaders" like Katehi and Birgenau. Her most important responsibility is keeping the campus safe. Ordering thugs with chemical weapons upon a peaceful protest is one of the highest violations of that I can conceive of. Nothing about her response thus far engenders confidence in her continued service.

    Fiat Lux

    I plan on writing more later, but I'm still learning about the events, trying to collect my thoughts and figuring out how I can best support efforts on campus right now.