Protesters force UC Davis chancellor to halt news conference
The embattled UC Davis chancellor, Linda P.B. Katehi, had to stop a news conference prematurely Saturday night after protesters angry that police had used pepper spray on Occupy demonstrators disrupted the event.
Hundreds of students surrounded the building where Katehi was speaking, and police were called in.
A video of a Friday incident posted on the Internet showed a police officer dousing the protesters with a canister of pepper spray as they sat huddled on the ground. The police had been attempting to clear the university's Quad of tents and campers.
Faculty and students reacted with outrage. Nathan Brown, an assistant professor of English, said in an interview that the episode was the latest example of "the systematic use by UC chancellors of police brutality" to suppress protests.
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In an open letter, he wrote: "Without any provocation whatsoever, other than the bodies of these students sitting