This piece includes a statement of what happened leading up to the spraying:
Police called in
The confrontation took place after UCD held off on enforcing a camping ban overnight Thursday. On Friday morning, a Student Affairs representative delivered a letter from Katehi asking the protesters to take down their tents by 3 p.m.
The bulk of the protesters chose not to budge.
Ugliness followed.
....
At 3:30 p.m., about 35 officers wearing helmets and carrying batons on their hips, some with guns filled with pepper balls, crossed the Quad as about 60 protesters chanted “Shame on you!”
“We’re fighting for your children’s education!” yelled one.
Shouting into the crowd noise, Pike three times ordered them to clear out under section 409 of the California penal code. The law requires that those taking part in an unlawful assembly disperse.
By the time Pike ordered the police skirmish line forward, the crowd of onlookers had swelled to perhaps 150, many recording the slow-motion confrontation on cell phones.
Officers almost immediately dragged three protesters to the ground and pinned them. Many in the ring sat down, arms locked, chanting, while supporters pulled away the tents.
Police took down more protesters, tightening plastic restraints around their wrists.
Some onlookers joined the protesters, chanting “Set them free!” They rose as a group, then, slowly moved to surround the officers, who drew their batons.
Having at least once ordered the sidewalk cleared, so that those arrested could be taken away, Pike then pepper-sprayed seated protesters blocking the officer’s path.
And then there's Police Defend Use Of Force On ‘Occupy UC Davis’
I wonder what people would have preferred to see – how about the "active denial" microwave guns?
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