The silence was deafening!
After the spraying incident at UC Davis where peaceful protesting students were pepper sprayed like bugs, outrage began pouring into to the university, as Americans nationwide called for the resignation of the police officers involved as well as UC Davis Chancellor, Linda P.B Katehi. Katehi pledged support for the trigger happy police, and suggested that the peaceful protesters were intimidating to the officers.
Again, these students were sitting on the ground. How intimidating is that?
Well just hours ago, a video posted by Lee Fang showed a haunting image – the Chancellor leaving a press conference and walking to her car, surrounded by students sitting on the ground in complete silence. According to Fang’s report, the Chancellor initially refused to leave the building due to the eerie scene of the students outside.
A pretty remarkable thing just happened. A press conference, scheduled for 2:00pm between the UC Davis Chancellor and police on campus, did not end at 2:30. Instead, a mass of Occupy Davis students and sympathizers mobilized outside, demanding to have their voice heard. After some initial confusion, UC Chancellor Linda Katehi refused to leave the building, attempting to give the media the impression that the students were somehow holding her hostage.
A group of highly organized students formed large gap for the chancellor to leave. They chanted “we are peaceful” and “just walk home,” but nothing changed for several hours. Eventually student representatives convinced the chancellor to leave after telling their fellow students to sit down and lock arms.
The officer involved in the spraying was placed on “administrative leave,” pending an investigation into the incident. The Chancellor has, thus far, refuse to resign.
