I expect that over the hiatus it will have grown, not subsided.
In California the oppression of lawful dissent by the Occupy Movement has begun. As the Arab Spring resumes their protests and their renewal of government by and for and of the people, we do so here in this country as well, taking back power to the people where it rightly belongs, away from corporations and special interest greed.
Pepper spraying unarmed people for simply gathering and objecting, including women and children, is not how we think of ourselves in this country. Apparently there is a disconnect between our image and our reality; that disconnect needs to be resolved. The reality needs to improve for dissenters, and those in authority need to make changes for the better to prevent these incidents from happening again.
From MSNBC
30 people pepper-sprayed at Santa Monica College course fees protest
Michael Yanow / Getty Images
Two women treat a child suffering from the effect of pepper spray outside the SMC Board of Trustees meeting on April 3, 2012 in Santa Monica, California.
A handful of protesters suffered minor injuries as campus police tried to prevent dozens of students chanting, "Let us in, let us in" and "No cuts, no fees, education should be free," from disrupting the meeting during a public comment period, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Capt. Judah Mitchell of the Santa Monica Fire Department told NBC News that up to 30 people had been sprayed, five of whom sought treatment for the effects of the spray and were transported to nearby hospitals.
Priscillia Omon, 21, claimed a police officer fired the spray into the mouths and eyes of people standing arm's length away, NBC Los Angeles reported. She said a family, including a 4 year old, were in the crowd when the officer used the pepper spray.
PhotoBlog: Cops pepper-spray 30 as Santa Monica students protest fees
"They were trying to silence our voices by not allowing students access to this supposedly open forum," Omon told the station.
However, Mitchell said a mother and young child were not among those treated for the effects of pepper spray.
'Students care about their education'
The meeting was slated to discuss a controversial tiered payment program, which has drawn the ire of students and professors claiming that the plan would make in-demand summer classes -- such as English, math, history and biology -- more expensive.
NBC Los Angeles said some courses would rise from $46 per unit to $180 during the summer session, meaning a high-demand 3-unit course would cost about $540.
"The students wanted to be heard and we wanted to be in the room where we could fairly discuss this topic, and be seen by them," said Aura Chavez, 18, who was standing in the back of the crowd when the pepper spray incident happened. "We wanted to let them see how many students care about their education."
Bruce Smith, spokesman for Santa Monica College, said it had set up an "overflow room" with an audio visual feed so students could take part in the meeting, but "a fairly large group of students ... quite vociferous about the position showed up in the corridor and ... demanded to go into meeting room."
He added that the college and Santa Monica College Police Department will be investigating the incident.
Samantha Tata and Robert Kovacik of NBC Los Angeles and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.
Hello Dog Gone,
ReplyDeleteYour statement, “taking back power to the people where it rightly belongs, away from corporations and special interest greed,” is a well stated comment and should be the mantle for this year’s General Election for November.
Keep up the good work and let’s all get the word out to counter the propaganda rhetoric being disseminated by the corporations through the mindless right wing lemmings and pimped off Republican Main Stream leaders.