UC System Pays Dearly for Pepper-Spraying Student Protesters

Posted on Sep 26, 2012

Screenshot via YouTube

A screenshot from the video showing student protesters getting pepper-sprayed by a UC Davis campus officer in November.

The University of California on Wednesday reached a settlement with the 21 UC Davis students and alumni who were pepper-sprayed by campus police during what was otherwise a peaceful demonstration last year in support of the Occupy movement.

Each of the protesters who were sprayed will receive $30,000 from the UC system. But wait, that’s not all.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

The agreement, which must still be approved in federal court, also calls for UC to pay a total of $250,000 to the plaintiffs’ attorneys and set aside a maximum of $100,000 to pay up to $20,000 to any other individuals who join the class-action lawsuit by proving they were either arrested or directly pepper-sprayed, a university statement said.

...The settlement also calls for UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi to write a formal apology to each of the students and alumni who were pepper-sprayed or arrested

In total, the UC system will pay out nearly $1 million in the settlement.

The campus police officer who unleashed a torrent of pepper spray on the protesters at close range was not charged after the incident, but he was eventually dismissed by the university.

—Posted by Tracy Bloom.

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