UC System Pays Dearly for Pepper-Spraying Student Protesters

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.

Screenshot via YouTube

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