To Serve and Protect the 1%

In the last few months, media outlets have struggled to understand and report on the amorphous Occupy Wall Street protests and the seemingly endless issues voiced by its participants.

Living in Wisconsin, one can’t help but draw parallels to our own protests in the state Capitol that lead to the (in)famous congressional recalls and now the gubernatorial recall effort.

Like Egypt's Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street and the Madison protests have been largely peaceful events notwithstanding the rough treatment of protesters in Oakland on Oct. 25 when Iraq veteran Scott Olsen was seriously injured when hit with a tear-gas canister.

That all changed on Friday when protesters in the quad at University of California, Davis were pepper-sprayed at point-blank range by at least 2 local police officers including one Lt. John Pike.

The attack began when the officers attempted to clear the quad area and protestors passively resisted by sitting crossed-legged on the ground and linking arms.

As clearly shown in multiple eye-witness videos, these attacks are another disgusting example of abuse of power by local officials against the electorate.

No matter what opinion you have of the Occupy movement, one thing is clear: Lt. Pike and his colleagues are guilty of, at a minimum, assault under the California criminal code.

By denying citizens their rights to free speech and peaceful assembly, the UC Davis police have also sent a clear message: they are NOT here to serve and protect the people in their community.

Rather, either intentionally or coincidentally, the actions by the UC Davis officers - now on indefinite paid leave - have served only the interests of Wall Street.