Last year there were students at the University of California Davis campus
who were pepper sprayed by the local law enforcing when they were protesting
Wall Street. The university had video of the police spraying the students
because immediately when it happened students posted it all over the internet,
leaving many student and faculty furious at their actions against the
students.
Even though the spraying occurred in 2011, it was just settled this past
week and the school agreed that each of the 21 students who received this
treatment by the officers would receive payments. According to reports
they are each receiving $30,000 along with a personal apology form the
school Chancellor, Linda Kathy. Along with each student receiving that
amount of money, the lawsuit is also covering the legal fees that added
up to $250,000 total for all of the students.
One of the students who were involved in the lawsuit address the issue
that they hope that the police and the university staff will learn from
this situation, and take responsibility for where they went wrong in their
actions. The students were protesting because of the extreme hikes in
the tuition costs at the universities, and they felt as though they were
being silenced because they were trying to stand up for what they believe
in with a non-violent demonstration.
Many of the students were greatly effected because of this incident, and
they suffered poor grades and panic attacks because of the trauma they
experienced from being pepper sprayed at their own school by the police
who were supposed to protect them. Unfortunately, this was not the first
time that the police of the UC Davis campus have responded with violence
to peaceful protestors. Reports show that they used batons against protestors
last November at a Wall Street protest as well. If you have been a victim of
police brutality, don’t wait another moment to take action, contact
Knowles Law Firm for a personal injury attorney that you deserve!