Open Mic: Police Pepper Spray U.C. Davis Student Protesters

Police Pepper Spray On Students at U.C. Davis

Friday afternoon, police attacked seated students with pepper spray at the University of California, Davis Occupy protests. The attack, which occurred on the student quad, was captured on camera by hundreds of on-lookers and has sparked outrage over police conduct.

As the video shows, there seemed to be little risk of students becoming violent in the face of the on-coming police. 

Officials at Davis have tried to justify the police tactics. One administrator said that the officers were essentially trapped and had to transport several of the arrested students. "The pepper spray was used because they needed to get out of there," she said. At the end of the day nine students and one non-student were arrested.

According to a recent Pew study, four-in-ten Americans support the Occupy movement, while nearly as many oppose the movement.

Weigh in: Following a week of widespread arrests and police crackdowns across the U.S., what do you think will happen to Occupy Wall Street? Are the police's tactics justified? Should Americans support or condemn the Occupy movement? 

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