"Sunday, the university television station, AggieTV, interviewed her about Friday's events. She says that police had been asked to "go and remove the equipment" and that "the intent was not to remove the people or disperse the crowd."
Asked whether police were within their rights to spray and arrest protesters, she says, "So technically speaking, the police followed protocol. But what really made us all really wonder is that protocol is not appropriate all the time and mostly is not appropriate at least to be followed the way it was followed, my guess is, when you have a gathering of peaceful students."
from an interview with the president.
Actually, those were statements by the UC-Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi,
not UC President Mark Yudof. You should try to quote people accurately and correctly.
You will note that I didn't say the police didn't follow protocol. I said that the use of pepper spray was against the stated rules of the University of California System. I understand that this might be too subtle a distinction for you, but it is quite a substantial one.
sorry hoss you dont have the right to go plop down where ever you want whenever you want.
Sure - you can't camp on private property without the owner's permission, for example. But we are talking about government-owned land that is open to the public. We also have explicit University Regulations in the mix that permit protests, and statements by the Administration to the effect of "we fully and unequivocally support your right to protest peacefully." All this changes the calculus considerably.
Note that I do not disagree that UC-Davis can prohibit the use of tents or require permits for such tents. But that doesn't mean that they can limit or control the assembly of people, in general, unless they do so in a completely content-neutral way, which they could not have done in this case. This is well established precedent at the State and Federal levels.
I agree that their reaction was over zealous to say the least but if asked to leave by authorities, yes you must leave.
Their reaction was more idiotic than overzealous. According to Katehi, they had been told to do it peacefully, and to not do it if there were too many students or if the students were aggressive. In light of the UC-Berkeley incidents, the Police should have known that their actions were under a microscope and would be recorded and posted on the web. But that's a story for another time.
you are wrong about one other thing too. You state unequivocally that if you're asked by authorities to leave then you have to comply. That isn't quite as true as you make it out to be. I know you've probably watched a lot of Matlock reruns and you own a crappy light grey suit, but that your legal analysis skills leave a lot to be desired. You need at least 6 seasons of Law and Order, still.
You cant sit outside a convient store if the owners ask you to leave either...
They can ask. Doesn't mean you have to. You might be on a public sidewalk. For sure, if you are on private property, you have to comply with the wishes of the property owner, or face trespassing charges when the Police arrive. But the rules are quite different for public properties, like the UC-Davis campus and political protests in particular.
