Police Brutality Against CA Protesters for Higher Education…Again

Thursday, March 4, a group of UC Davis students marching through campus began to approach a freeway on-ramp for the purposes of occupation, and Yolo County Sheriff’s Department officers blocked the route. They shot pepper balls at students’ feet as the marchers continued to approach the on-ramp. Abruptly, the police pulled Laura Mitchell, a student and queer leader at UC Davis, from the front of the crowd, dragging her along the ground, ripping her shirt off, and holding her hostage until protesters agreed to dissipate. Police alleged no injuries were sustained by any in the crowd. The video clearly demonstrates otherwise.

Below is a video account of the afternoon ordeal. **Trigger Warning: Police violence at 6:43**

Additionally, more than 100 Bay Area protesters shut down the 880 and 980 freeways for hours on Thursday afternoon, creating gridlock. All were eventually arrested, including the student journalists among them. Many were beaten (video).

Mainstream portrayals of student activism tend toward stereotyping
movements based on their place of origin. Berkeley, still widely known
as “Berserkeley,” or “The People’s Republic Of Berkeley,” lacks some
agency on the national stage because of assumptions that all students
are politically active. Along with Berkeley’s legacy of activism around
the Free Speech Movement is the legacy of administrative overreactions
to protests. In fact, the administrative building on campus which hosts
the offices of Vice Chancellors, California Hall, has “protest-proof”
doors with two essential anti-protest features: first, they lack door
handles so as to prevent any protester from chaining anything to the
doors. Second, a backup pair of doors automatically swing shut and lock
in case of protest or political activity outside.

The harder a campus works to shed its stereotype of activism, by
repressing protest movements and student voices, the more radically
students push back to gain press and attention from an administration.
This builds a longer legacy of activism. The campus of UC Davis lacks
that legacy of activism– their mascot is the Aggies, short for the
“Agriculturalists.” But just as a generation of UC Berkeley students
first witnessed police brutality on November 20, 2009, a generation of
UC Davis students witnessed police brutality Thursday.

Hate Update:

UC San Diego Student Satire Publication goes too far

The Koala, which will receive more press for this hate than it
deserves, published a joke issue entirely themed around mocking the
Black Student Union and opponents of the Compton Cookout.

The Koala’s newest issue satirizes the demands issued
by the BSU in the recent weeks, by introducing a mock program-the
Coalition of Outreach and Opportunity for Negro Students, or C.O.O.N.S
for short. The “program” proposes such things as “Special All Black
Housing” and “Special Classes Just 4 U!” including “SOC20N: Blame it on
Whitey” and “Swimming 101: It’s not actually that deep!”

Story and full issue available here.