Yesterday afternoon, after UC Davis police dismantled an Occupy encampment on their campus, making several arrests, a group of students sat down.
That’s it. They sat down in a wide ring around the officers, and bowed their heads. Some linked arms. Many did not. Officers were positioned behind the line and in front of them, and — video shows — were able to move past them easily in either direction.
In order to clear the demonstrators police pepper-sprayed the line. Just sprayed the entire line of students with a casual sweeping motion. Video shows that within eight seconds of the first use of spray, the line was broken up and no longer restricted police action at all. (One student on the scene says that police sprayed the
