SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – A protest at University of California (UC) Santa Cruz turned ugly Oct. 18.
The UC board of regents was visiting, and approximately 200 student protestors began demonstrating against things like increased fees, low retention of minorities and the elimination of some classes. The students were also upset because the board of regents only allows 20 minutes per meeting for public comment. The protesters said that this amount of time was not long enough.
What happened next is subject to debate. As student demonstrators blocked the building entrances, police escorted some of the meeting participants. There was pushing and shoving between protestors and the police. The protesters said the campus police attacked them with batons and pepper spray for no reason. School officials say that although pepper spray was used, law enforcement acted appropriately.
According to UC officials, three of the protestors were sprayed with pepper spray because they tried to push past the guards. Those same demonstrators were later cited and then released.
