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How much should you charge for a photograph?Why This Is The Most Iconic Image Of Occupy Movement ... So Far
In a week that produced several “iconic” images from Occupy protests throughout the country, the above photo is easily the most iconic and not just because of the blatant way the cop is pepper spraying the non-resistant students.
But because of the number of cameras capturing the incident that took place on Friday at the University of California, Davis.
I counted at least 15 cameras, not including the one held by Louise Macabitas who captured the image.
Yet UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike appears unperturbed as he casually unleashes a steady stream of pepper spray at the students as if they were cornered cockroaches in his kitchen.
You have to wonder what is going though his mind as he strolls back and forth with his pepper spray canister.
Pike’s actions have stirred a firestorm on the internet, including from many people who did not even agree with the Occupy movement.
And many are calling for the resignation of UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi.
It didn’t take long for Pike's personal information to appear online, including his $110,000-a-year salary, which is now at risk.
Nathan Brown, the UC Davis faculty member calling for the resignation of the chancellor, made just over $64,000-a –year.
Perhaps the above image might not go down as the most iconic, simply because there were so many other cameras, including video and still, that captured the same incident.
But to me, that is what makes it the most iconic. The fact that for every pepper spray canister they have, we have at least ten cameras.
And that’s why we’ll win in the long run.
Please send stories, tips and videos to carlosmiller@magiccitymedia.com
Comments
I count 15 cameras as well.
If anyone want to tell John Pike what they think of him, here is your chance.
http://anoncentral.tumblr.com/post/13023795840/d0x-uc-davis-pepper-spray...
Lieutenant John Pike
530-752-3989
japikeiii@ucdavis.edu
We're making *some* progress...
http://blog.hisnameistimmy.com/progress/1911
In addition to Pike's personal information on the above "personal information" link above, his address is provided on the first page of "older posts" on the UCDavis Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/UCDavis
C'mon Carlos, no one was cornered. These guys could have gotten up at anytime and walked away. One guy on the end does when the spraying starts. As for Pike "strolling back and forth" he goes down the line once and comes back. I have to say of all of the videos you've posted I find this one to be the least disturbing. It seems pretty tame. The protestors were probably repeatedly asked to leave and repeatedly warned they would be sprayed. They chose not to comply and suffered the consequences.
Is that the way your mind works? Any time an authority figure tells you to move, you move? Never question the legitimacy of the order or of the people giving it?
Believe it or not, not everybody has that kind of mindset.
This clearly wasn't an "anytime" moment. You nor I have any idea what the officers orders were or what orders had been given to the protestors. If the orders given were legal (to disperse I assume), which they sometimes actually are, and the protestors chose to ignore those orders then they chose their own fate.
If a protester disobeys a lawful order, the proper procedure is to arrest them. The proper procedure is not to assault them. By your own logic, the police officer could just as well have shot them for refusing to move. Giving the police the authority to use force in situations other than self-defense elevates them from servants of public safety into the role of judge, jury, and executioner. Since the constitution guarantees the right to a trial, any punishment beyond detainment is a violation of it, poorly-worded and contradictory passages from the California penal code notwithstanding.
They were obviously resisting arrest. Cops are allowed to use appropriate force to carry out arrests. To me pepper spray is a better way to gain compliance than to jump on or beat on these kids. Whether the arrests were proper or not is of course a totally different question.
California Penal Code Section 835
An arrest is made by an actual restraint of the person, or by submission to the custody of an officer. The person arrested may be subjected to such restraint as is reasonable for his arrest and detention.
California Penal Code Section 835a
Any peace officer who has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a public offense may use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape or to overcome resistance.
A peace officer who makes or attempts to make an arrest need not retreat or desist from his efforts by reason of the resistance or threatened resistance of the person being arrested; nor shall such officer be deemed an aggressor or lose his right to self-defense by
the use of reasonable force to effect the arrest or to prevent escape or to overcome resistance.
What part of the LAW did this officer not understand.
THE law is the LAW
California Penal Code Section 12403.7 (a) (8)
(g) Any person who uses tear gas or tear gas weapons except in self-defense is guilty of a public offense and is punishable byimprisonment in a state prison for 16 months, or two or three years or in a county jail not to exceed one year or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment, except that, if the use is against a peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2, engaged in the performance of his or her official duties and the person committing the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a peace officer, the offense is punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for 16 months or two or three years or by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.
California Penal Code Section 12403
Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit any person who is a
peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2, from purchasing, possessing, transporting, or using any tear gas or tear gas weapon if the person has satisfactorily completed a course of instruction approved by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training in the use of tear
gas.
Doesn't say a peace officer can use it anyway he/she wants right? No. All it says is that they can purchase, possess, transport, and use it. The self defense portion in section G still applies. Nice try.
California Penal Code Section 835
An arrest is made by an actual restraint of the person, or by submission to the custody of an officer. The person arrested may be subjected to such restraint as is reasonable for his arrest and detention.
California Penal Code Section 835a
Any peace officer who has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a public offense may use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape or to overcome resistance.
A peace officer who makes or attempts to make an arrest need not retreat or desist from his efforts by reason of the resistance or threatened resistance of the person being arrested; nor shall such officer be deemed an aggressor or lose his right to self-defense by
the use of reasonable force to effect the arrest or to prevent escape or to overcome resistance.
Nice IceTrey, hopefully you shut that clown up
"Leave or we will assault you," is not a lawful order.
"Leave or we will arrest you," might be.
Just because a cop threatens to assault you doesn't mean you have to do what he says. In a free society, people who are breaking the law are arrested. They aren't legally assaulted first, and then arrested.
Why would you approve of assaulting suspects before arresting them? Why would you approve of using force against non-violent protesters?
The point is they didn't use force to arrest them. The protestors were linked arm in arm. To arrest them without the pepper spray would have required much more force. At this point we have no idea if the arrests were good or not. Using pepper spray to gain compliance for arrest is a pretty low violence means. I just think that with all of the other things going on this is pretty low in terms of outrage. It's not like this is the first time some protestors got pepper sprayed.
I think they resorted to pepper spray too quickly. Did they try to arrest the protesters by simply pulling their arms apart first? Sometimes a simple pressure point to gain pain compliance works well enough.
We had protesters in my town try that and simply grabbing under the arm and applying pinching pressure to the meaty part under the triceps caused them to let go quickly. Of course they probably had some bruising under their arms the next day but it certainly looks better on camera.
The police in this incident are probably going to lose in court unless they can show that they tried other means first before resorting to OC spray. The courts have been pretty clear about spraying passive protesters.
Completely agree with you for once JL.
Johnny Law
In order to minimize some cretin like Jude from name calling let me first say Johnny Law is a fascist, sadist with latent homosexual tendencies . Now those out of the way look at this video and see if it mitigates your opinions on the UC Davis incident.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuWEx6Cfn-I&feature=related
Starts off with an officer informing (perhaps the leader of the protest) that they are going to use pepper spray. At 2:12 we have what might be considered a pro forma attempt of an arrest on one demonstrator. At 2:28 the spraying begins. Not going to continue to bore you with my recap and I do admit that pepper spraying non violent protestors does not sit very well with me but as you can see later in the video requiring 2 or 3 officers to have a wrestling match with someone just because they are a non violent protestor seems unreasonable for the officers. If the rules become those described by that authoritarian puke Johnny then I suspect protestors will just start gearing up to prevent it. Don’t have any answers but at least I admit to an open mind.
I watched the link. The audio was quite entertaining. From listening to it you would think the students had no idea what was going to happen.
I think that it probably would have gone to OC eventually anyway but I still think the police should have made more of an attempt to simply force them into handcuffs. If it came down to having to have a wrestling match then OC would have been the next logical step.
It just looks better for the camera if the police had tried lesser methods a little bit more before breaking out the Mark 9 pepper spray canister.
I'm amazed. Johnny Law actually said something sensible.
I'm gobsmacked.
Now if he will renounce his advocation of police brutality against women I think we could really celebrate a breakthrough!
Actually the steps for escalation vary slightly depending on the state/county/city but so far every published one I have read state clearly that hands-off methods are preferred over physical hands-on. Jumping to hands-on is considered to be MORE violent than the spray and carries a higher risk of injury to both the protester and the officer. I would certainly rather have puffy red watery eyes and difficulty breathing for several hours than a broken arm that takes weeks to heal. Less pain for less time.
In my city the PDF I downloaded on our police departments use of force policy the stages of escalation are:
1. uniformed police presence
2. verbal orders
3. non-contact compliance methods such as OC (pepper) spray
4. full contact compliance methods such as restraint
5. (last resort, reserved for situations in which the officers' or members of the public lives are in danger) lethal force
How is the weather down there on your knees?
You tell me. Wait, I have to take my dick out of your mouth first.
What the above comment by "I.T." tells me is this. When someone has NO intelligent answer or comment to a ongoing discussion, they tend to revert to the age old position of making ignorant comments like he did above.
Rail Car Fan
P.S. Even though I disagree with "Johnny Law" most of the time, at least in this case he took the high road and made comments that I agree with.
You're the one on your knees. Wanna rethink this?
"I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protesters. The people of Egypt have rights that are universal. That includes the right to peaceful assembly and association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny. These are human rights. And the United States will stand up for them everywhere." —Barack Obama
Everywhere except the US, it appears...
I've posted a query about that on Obama's Facebook page (in comments of posts since you can't post on his wall) several times and mysteriously it keeps disappearing!
It's not disappearing, it's becoming completely transparent. Obama did promise increased transparency if he was elected, after all!
It is pretty clear what is going through his mind. "You will respect my athoritiii!"
"You have to wonder what is going though his mind as he strolls back and forth with his pepper spray canister."
My guess is that what is going through this thug's mind is probably very similar to what went through the minds of the Nazis concentration camp guards as they dropped the Zyklon B canisters into the gas chambers.
My guess is that you are moron.
OC spray that burns for about 30 minutes compared to the murder of an entire people?
Yeah that makes sense.
Zyklon B didn't even hurt for 30 minutes!
Zyklon B consisted of clay pellets impregnated with hydrogen cyanide. The pellets had to be heated to release the cyanide. If they were just dropped into the chambers they would have been harmless.
The Zyklon B was for delousing, so it was harmless overall, even if heated.
Yeah, I didn't want to get into the whole "disproving the Holocaust" thing. I just wanted to point out how ignorant he was.
I dont agree with the Occupy movement (AT ALL) and I am appalled at the pepperspraying of these people. No better way to incite more violent demonstrations in the future.
Best way to make the Occupy problem go away is to ignore it.
The Movement sprang up because of serious, real issues in the country. Ignoring THAT has only allowed them to get worse. OWS, et al are only a symptom. You're attitude is depressing...
RE:The Movement sprang up because of serious, real issues in the country. Ignoring THAT has only allowed them to get worse
I agree. How can anyone disagree?
Several videos that seem to show arrest began long before the pepper spray incident.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3A0d9fHWag&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNxER57VnlY&feature=related
As a CA resident to the young lady yelling that it is “Our University”. I would like to say okay then you and your followers are then solely responsible for maintaining and governing it.
God these protesters are so naive. It's painful to listen to them.
Why can't they just protest without blocking sidewalks? They still get their message out and they aren't breaking any laws.
Jan reminded me I forgot to post this one that shows events after the pepper spraying from a different angle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwFa5Kq4Rfo
Johnny Law
You are still a fascist pig who has to overcompensate for feelings of inadequacies and I am not a lawyer but like to play at one on the internet.
So looking at the previous videos including the warnings, prior arrest, and what some may consider resisting what is your “obvious wannbe” cop opinion? Also consider that it looks like the police arrested one group and then another group formed first with 3 people sitting on the sidewalk and then fairly quickly about 20 people joined them. Don’t really know if that matters.
Jeff N,
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
With that being said, I think the OC might be considered proper since it looks like other methods were tried and multiple warnings were given. It's hard to say which way a lawsuit will go in CA though.
Johnny
You self loathing tool of our oppressors, I am glad you are willing to get into the spirit of things.
Well if a mindless minion of the man like you sees it as a toss- up I doubt the UC system will put up much of a fight.
Ironic, the students were protesting budget cuts and now a payout to lawyers on both sides, money spent on retraining for all UC officers and less money for the students.
Iconic image? Yes for the republicans ton use for 2012. This iconic image of lawless criminals totally supported by Obama and democrats and DNC.
Police - surrounded many hundreds of by lawless people. Rape, theft, assault, public defication, for MONTHS now. Only to be told to stand down by politicians - mostly liberal democrat politicians
Buy now told to clear them out - so they give lawful orders which are ignored by these punks or they will be sprayed. Sprayed to help deter the hundreds of these other criminals to NOT even think of interfering and having riots ensue.
The police across every city of this fake self-righteous "protests from lazy ignorant jerks has been amazing. Told to ignore lawbreaking by Mayors, not arrest etc… all to their own safety.
Hey but none of you "OWS" lovers care of :
"A key Occupy Wall Street leader and another protester who leads a double life as a businessman ditched fetid tents and church basements for rooms at a luxurious hotel - the W Hotel, at $700 bucks a night - http://nyp.st/sYJRv4
The hypocrisy is astonishing even for you liberals.
The police have done nothing but show restraint in every city.
well Danny proves my theory that even with direct evidence to the contrary, some people are still stuck in deep denial with their opinions.
Deep denial? He's so deep, he needs a bathysphere.
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