Student Protest
Student protests have been a major part of campus life throughout the history of the US. However, often times these peaceful protests have turned violent , as law enforcement steps in claiming that the potential for violence is present. In 1964, thousands of students from the University of California Berkley held a two day mass sit in, to protest the administrations at the school. These two days of protest caused the cancellation of many classes and the sub-sequential arrest of over 700 students (Jo Freeman). These students were arrested for refusing to leave the grounds of the campus past curfew, even though they were protesting under the right of the first ammendment. The aftermath of this rally was felt countrywide and sparked a new era of peaceful protests among college Universities. On November 6th 2011, about 3,000 students gathered at the Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkley campus in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement (Specifically to protest tuition increase)After sitting and linking arms, Police units forcefully intervened, arresting over 40 protestors and removing all tents which were set up. These protestors posed virtually no threat and were arrested for simply ignoring the police. Furthermore, on November 18 2011, hundreds of students gathered at the UC Davis campus and conducted what they thought to be a peaceful protest against for the occupy wall street movement. After police forces asked them to remove their tents and leave the grounds, students refused and continued to sit peacefully. Policemen then continued to pepper spray those who would not leave from very close range causing disorientation to those sprayed. Usually, this weapon would be used to prevent protestors from mounting an attack but in this case was used to disperse the crowd. Law enforcement did not need to use this excessive force and took away the rights of these people under the first amendment. To justify their actions, these officers later claimed that they were, "surrounded by protestors and feared for their safety" (New York Times). Also they stated that they had told the protestors many times that if they did not leave, they would use force to remove them and subsequently detained them. These arrests were unjust and an immediate investigation was declared by the chancellor of UC Davis thereafter. None of the protesters from these events used violence to prove their point. In each case, police officers used excess force or made arrests because they FELT as though there was potential for danger. This reasoning should not be justified and peaceful protestors should not suffer as a result.
This video describes the lack of reasoning behind the UC Davis incident and how police forces used unreasonable tactics to disperse the crowd.