Less than five months after campus police at the University of California, Davis pepper-sprayed non-violent protesting students, controversy over the use of pepper spray by campus police has erupted again in California.

 

At least one officer at Santa Monica College pepper-sprayed a crowd protesting outside a board of trustees meeting on Tuesday evening. At issue was an administration decision to charge extra money for popular classes. When the trustees refused to move the meeting to a larger room to accommodate the crowd of about 200 students, demonstrators attempted to enter the meeting room. At that point, the officer used the irritant on those gathered nearby.

 

About 30 people were treated for pepper spray, and two were transported to the hospital for treatment.

 

“The crowd was getting out of hand,” college spokesman Bruce Smith told Channel 4 news. “There was a safety issue. A couple of students had sort of broken into the boardroom. It was a judgment call and a question of safety.”

 

On Wednesday, the chancellor of the California community college system, Jack Scott, asked Santa Monica College to delay its plan to create a two-tier pay system for classes. The college’s president, Chui L. Tsang, said that he and the board of trustees would consider the request.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Chancellor Asks California Community College to Hold Off on 2-Tier Tuition Plan (by Jennifer Medina, New York Times)

30 Pepper-Sprayed Outside Santa Monica College Board of Trustees Meeting (by Samantha Tata and Robert Kovacik, Channel 4 News)

2 Hospitalized in Santa Monica College Pepper-Spray Incident (by Carla Rivera, Chicago Tribune)

Statement from SMC President Chui L. Tsang (Santa Monica Dispatch)

California Community College First to Charge Extra for Popular Classes (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)

Police Union Tries to Block Portions of Report on Campus Pepper-Spray Incident (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)