SAN FRANCISCO – Two University of California, Davis police officers involved in pepper spraying seated protesters are being placed on administrative leave as the chancellor of the school accelerates the investigation into the incident.
UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi on Sunday said she has been inundated with reaction over the incident, in which an officer dispassionately fires pepper spray on a line of sitting demonstrators.
Video of the incident was circulated widely on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter on Saturday, and the university’s faculty association called on Katehi to resign, saying in a letter there had been a “gross failure of leadership.”
Katehi said she takes “full responsibility for the incident” but has resisted calls for her resignation, instead pledging to take actions to make sure “that this does not happen again.”
