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Students rally at US college against pepper-spraying

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:46 GMT

Source: reuters // Reuters

* University launches investigation on use of force

* Tent camp cleared in Oakland

By Noel Randewich

DAVIS, Calif, Nov 21 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 demonstrators rallied on Monday at the University of California at Davis to protest the pepper-praying of student protesters by police, a clash captured in video footage circulated widely on television and the Internet.

The incident, which led to suspensions of the campus police chief and two officers, has thrust the campus to the forefront of anti-Wall Street "Occupy" protests nationwide.

The university said on Monday it put the campus police chief on administrative leave while it probes officers' use of pepper spray on students passively protesting last week that was captured on video.

"As I have gathered more information about the events that took place on our Quad on Friday, it has become clear to me that this is a necessary step toward restoring trust on our campus," UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi said in a statement.

As on other campuses around the country, UC Davis demonstrations started out focused on issues such as economic inequality, cuts to education cuts and sharp tuition hikes.

But Monday's rally was spurred by last week's pepper-spray dousing of protesting students who were sitting on the ground, and an earlier confrontation at UC Berkeley in which police jabbed students with night sticks.

"Before, students didn't see how (the Occupy movement) affected them, but I think watching the video ... they see how it affects them," said Cole Sawyer, 19, a freshman from Long Beach, California.

Katehi asked the Yolo County District Attorney's office to investigate the police department's use of force and said she would create a task force to conduct a campus review and report recommendations in 30 days.

Earlier in Oakland, a hot spot of anti-Wall Street activism in recent weeks, police in the largely working-class city on the east bank of San Francisco Bay swept away the last of the town's protest camps.

Police moved in at about 12:30 a.m. local time and ordered the removal of 20 to 30 tents from Snow Park, the only remaining Oakland camp still standing after another park and an adjacent vacant lot were cleared on Sunday.

Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said the tents were cleared out without incident, and there were no arrests.

Oakland has been a flash point of the anti-Wall Street movement, helping rally support nationwide for demonstrations launched in New York in September to protest excesses of the financial system, bank bailouts and high unemployment. (Additional reporting by Greg Lucas and Lauren Keiper; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Greg McCune)