UC Davis, pepper-sprayed students settle UC DAVIS

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2011 file photo, University of California, Davis Police Lt. John Pike uses pepper spray to move Occupy UC Davis protesters while blocking their exit from the school's quad in Davis, Calif. The University of California plans to publish a long-awaited report on the pepper-spraying of student demonstrators by UC Davis police last fall online at noon Wednesday, April 11, 2012 a day after an Alameda County judge approved its publication without the names of most officers involved in the Nov. 18 clash. (AP Photo/The Enterprise, Wayne Tilcock, File) less FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2011 file photo, University of California, Davis Police Lt. John Pike uses pepper spray to move Occupy UC Davis protesters while blocking their exit from the school's quad in Davis, ... more Photo: Wayne Tilcock, Associated Press Photo: Wayne Tilcock, Associated Press Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close UC Davis, pepper-sprayed students settle 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

The University of California will pay out $630,000 to 21 UC Davis students who were doused with pepper spray by campus police during a videotaped protest in November that the Occupy movement used as the iconic example of excessive police force.

The students will each receive about $30,000 and a written apology from the university chancellor, according to the terms of a $1 million legal settlement announced Wednesday. The agreement also calls on university officials to work with civil liberty advocates to modify crowd control policies and police response tactics.

The video images from the Nov. 18 protest, which showed police in riot helmets unleashing the chemical irritant on students who were seated with arms linked, galvanized the Occupy movement and led to international condemnation of the officers. Among other things, the students were protesting steep tuition hikes and the public university's increasing financial ties to corporations.

Standing on the same pathway at the UC Davis Quad where he was arrested last fall, plaintiff Enosh Baker, 27, said Wednesday that a timely settlement was needed to keep attention focused on the university's now infamous assault.

"If it dragged on for another 10 years, it'd be forgotten about and swept under the rug," said Baker, who was one of the protest's organizers and a sociology research assistant on campus at the time.

No applause

Baker, like some of the other plaintiffs, was pleased with the outcome, yet hesitant to applaud university officials for reaching an agreement. The university admitted no wrongdoing, and the officer who sprayed most students, former Lt. John Pike, was cleared this week of illegal use of force by the Yolo County district attorney.

"In all, the university got off fairly easy," Baker said.

The settlement, endorsed earlier by the UC Board of Regents, was negotiated on the students' behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union and needs final approval from U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez.

Chancellor Linda Katehi, who became a lightning rod for student anger after her slow response to the incident, will issue a written apology to each of the students and recent alumni.

The $1 million will come from the university's General Liability Risk Program, a self-insured fund. Besides the $630,000 for the students, $100,000 is being set aside for claims from others who can prove they were sprayed during the incident.

In addition, $250,000 is going the ACLU, which represented the students.

In a statement, UC officials said they "believe the proposed settlement is in the best interests of the University of California."

Barry Shiller, a spokesman for UC Davis, said the university had learned from the incident and welcomed the outside assistance to review police protocols.

"When one looks back at the totality of this," Shiller said, "what it led to was a difficult lesson that the campus took to heart, that the university took to heart and (one that) allows the campus to refocus on the things that make it great."

'Police free'

Fatima Sbeih of Oakland, a recent UC Davis graduate who was among those sprayed, said she hoped the lawsuit would keep police from responding to peaceful gatherings by wearing riot gear, which attorneys said escalates tensions and is meant to intimidate students.

Ideally, Sbeih said, the campus would become "police free."

"I want to make sure that nothing like this happens again," Sbeih said. "The university still needs to work to rebuild students' trust, and this settlement is a step in the right direction."

In addition to the chancellor's written apology, the school must assist any students who suffered academically because they were pepper sprayed. Plaintiffs' attorneys said that could include allowing students to retake courses for free but did not elaborate on specifics.

Ian Lee, 19, a sophomore, said he would use his $30,000 to pay future tuition. He said he had suffered panic attacks in the days after the protest and avoided subsequent gatherings, fearful that it would happen again.

"They had silenced me," he said, adding that he is now more committed to political causes.

As part of the settlement, the ACLU will work with campus officials to develop new policies on student demonstrations.

"If the First Amendment means anything, it's that students should be able to exercise their free-speech rights on their college campus without being afraid of police violence," said ACLU attorney Michael Risher. "What happened on Nov. 18 was among the worst examples of police violence against student demonstrators that we've seen in a generation. The settlement should be a wake-up call for other universities and police departments."