Speech by pepper spray victim at UC Davis

[kas125]

Run time: 06:22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mse5wfBZ4j8   Posted on YouTube: November 21, 2011 By YouTube Member: keithbradnam Views on YouTube: 771   Posted on DU: November 23, 2011 By DU Member: kas125 Views on DU: 4366

 

[wundermaus]

1. Honestly, if it were me facing those cops in riot gear...

and all that goes with it...
knowing what I know now as a man in my late fifties...
I would have stood up and ran as fast as I could.
That young man (and all those young citizens) are very, very brave.

[kas125]

2. Yeah, me, too. I'm in my late 50's also and I've run from cops

in riot gear with pepper spray and worse a few times. I so admire those kids; they prove that there's still hope for this place.

[Blue Meany]

9. When I was young I could always outrun cops in riot gear

because they had so much more weight. I guess that's why they used to surround us and then tell us to disperse.

[rhett o rick]

3. I also have great admiration for those that have the guts to stand up for all our rights not just

theirs.

[DaveJ]

10. They are tough too.

They barely seemed to quench as they were being assaulted by those criminal thugs.

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. Bravo.

[Kaleko]

5. My admiration for that young man is overwhelming right now.

Incredibly moving account of what happened.

Should be seen by everyone.

Seriously, everyone.

[Magoo48]

6. These young people are wise and courageous. I am in awe...

[Paper Roses]

7. Thanks to all these young people who are risking so much.

The cause is just. They are hoping for a better future for all of us, young and old. The only way to bring attention to their cause is through non-violent protest. The world is watching as they bravely make their message known.

[Enthusiast]

8. Cheers for Occupy! nt

[russspeakeasy]

11. Excellent..K&R

[SunSeeker]

12. Whose University? OUR University!

Damn right, my brave man. Like you said, we're taking back this university (and country!) brick by brick, with dignity and respect. Thanks, kas125 for posting that video. It gave me goosebumps.

[tblue37]

13. At several points during his speech you can tell that he is overcome,

in a way that obviously results from the trauma of being viciously, unexpectedly assaulted by a cop in a situation that clearly did not call for such an assault.

Up until that moment, this young man probably believed that despite the current political and economic mess we are in, the US is for the most part a country where citizens have certain rights and liberties.

But at that moment, in addition to being a moment when he was the victim of brutal violence, he also was forced to realize that his country is nothing at all like what he has been taught his whole life.

It must have been the same sort of shock he would have experienced if he had discovered that his own mother or father was willing to torture him for convenience and—as was obvious from the Pike’s body language during his attack on these kids—even just for the lulz!

One blogger referred to the "depraved casualness" of Pike's body language. Other commentators have recoiled in horror because he looks like he is spraying cockroaches (because he obviously considers these kids to be no more significant than cockroaches). I agree with both reactions.

But I think his behavior is even worse than those critiques indicate. The way Pike twice held up the cannister of pepper spray (once before stepping over the kids, once before spraying them), theatrically displaying it for the crowd, was even more repulsive than the phrase "depraved casualness" can capture. He was saying, "Check it out, man! I am soooo badass, sooo cool! This is such a frickin' trip!!!"

He wasn't just "following orders." He was really, really loving every minute of it--the chance to assault the kids and the chance to strut his "badass coolness" in front of a crowd. He was so excited about his performance that he wasn't capable of considering the possible consequences of that performance being caught on video.

In fact, if he had just sprayed them once, in a less casually, arrogantly brutal way, people would still have been outraged, but probably the depth and breadth of the outrage would have been somewhat mitigated.

The bully-boy body language throughout his whole "performance" makes all too clear that he loves getting to spray these kids, that he enjoys it so much that he just can't stop himself from doing it over and over again, and that he especially loves being able to strut his dominance like that in front of a crowd.

[PatrynXX]

14. sorry to say but that dude needs like the medal of honor

as well as every person who sat down there and did stuff I couldn't imagine. I've got enough eye problems. If Faux wants to say thats a food group then they should have no problem we someone pouring ethanol on the Fox Anchors, hey it's a food group it made from corn. Got a match?? that was called the pure torture of Americans by rogue cops. They should be held to the torture laws that we hold dear.


there is other ways to protest as well. for those of us chickens. money. like right now just checked my bank and have no incoming transactions. so I'll be getting my shot (low t) then going over to Regions to close that account. I've never closed a bank account. I've moved out of the area and have had them closed that way. I've already moved my base to a credit union.

You can also go to the OWS sites buy pins, shirts etc... I'll be wearing a tiny 99 % pin to the bank. lets see if they bother to notice. I'm a chicken so we'll see how this goes...

[SunSeeker]

15. It's torture, plain and simple.

Lt. Pike chose to inflict extreme pain over other non-harmful, non-painful methods. That 230-lb bully could have easily picked up each 140 lb student and carried them off the sidewalk. He instead chose to torture them. Sick mofo.

[PatrynXX]

19. yeah I'm a 280 pound chicken

:( or geek. tall dudes don't look like bully's so the weight reference doesn't mean anything to me. :(

[PatrynXX]

18. and thats what I did

had to write it here so there was no turning back. no longer a member of Regions Bank.. out at Veridian Credit Union (used to be John Deere. ) $10 a month is too much to risk if I lost my direct deposit from SSD

[Ed Suspicious]

16. "I was no longer a protester, I was an object." So angry! NfuckingT

[graywarrior]

17. Awesome!

Truly. Those kids make me so god damned proud....and grateful.

[Tiggeroshii]

20. This is incredible.

No words, really.

[lovuian]

21. Very Proud of them

They proved there is a reason America as a nation is in such dire straits

the corruption has to stop

it was torture

Just as the veteran was shot in the head by riot police
they are out to hurt intimidate

but the police only reflect oppression cruelty and injustice


They are exposed and there is no doubt

[Douglas Carpenter]

22. fantastic - the hope of our nation..the hope for the world ,,,the hope for the future