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We stand in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and the rest of the 99% throughout our country and the world. We stand in protest of the greed and corruption of our government and the 1% who bankroll them. We are striving to affect change locally by raising awareness through marches, sit-ins, and other non-violent tactics, as well as through social outreach.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Non-violence in action

I just wanted to post some videos of the incident at UC Davis that happened last week.
Students were occupying the quad in a protest of solidarity. The campus police came in and shocked the country with incredible feats of sadism and brutality.
As I watched then footage, my heart sank and I was left shaking my head in disbelief.
Fortunately there was a happy conclusion to the video.
Those students dispersed the police with non-violent tactics. Freaking brilliant. By the end of the video I was cheering.



There is a lot that we can learn from this. I think one really important lesson is that your camera/phone/ipad is your best friend, and your best weapon against corruption. We can show the world what is really happening.


In this video we see the Chancellor of UC Davis, Linda P.B. Katehi, being escorted to her car after the incident. Another beautiful display of non-violent tactics. I feel like she was expecting to get shouted down by all those present, and wasn't prepared for silence. I feel it had a much more powerful and resounding effect. What do you think?



One of the many things that bothers me about this is the official report. "Officially" the reason those students were pepper-sprayed was because the officers were being surrounded and felt threatened. Surrounded and threatened the sprayed, not the people who were surrounding them but the ones who were sitting. On the ground. Peacefully and lawfully.
That makes sense, right? How is this not being questioned? How stupid do they think we are?
Chancellor Katehi ordered those police in there. She needs to go. Police Chief Annette Spicuzzam was complicit in this as well. She is currently on leave and also needs to go. Lt. John Pike and the other officer(whose name I can't find) are both on paid leave/vacation. The need to have criminal charges filed against them. They no longer deserve the honor of being police officers. They no longer deserve the honor of being a protector of citizens.

1 comment:

  1. A thoughtful blog, Jake. I was particularly impressed with the way the UC Davis Occupiers used silence to drive their point home to the chancellor.

    One of the important elements of nonviolence is thinking about it as a form of political jujitsu, in which the goal is to employ nonviolent direct action in such a way as to use the opponent's own weight as a tool against him/her. By remaining nonviolent the UC Davis demonstrators were able to show the hollowness of police reliance on violence. Because of the nonviolent way that the Occupiers responded to repression the leadership of the UC Davis campus has lost credibility, and thus new opportunities have opened for the protesters.

    David Hostetter

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