Outrage over pepper spraying of California protesters

Two police officers have been put on administrative leave after a California university launched a probe into the "chilling" use of pepper spray on sitting protesters, reports said Sunday. In a video that has gone viral online, a University of California, Davis police officer in riot gear sprayed a yellow-orange mist on protesters seated on the ground in a sweeping motion as he walked back and forth.
Several protesters, who were demonstrating against tuition hikes and were part of a group that had erected more than a dozen tents on campus, were sprayed directly in the face. A crowd surrounded them and chanted "Shame on You" as they were dragged and pushed away.
University officials said two were sent to hospital and later released. Nine of the students were treated on site. Amid a growing outcry, UC Davis chancellor Linda Katehi said Saturday she was forming a task force to investigate the police's "sad and very inappropriate" use of pepper spray, but dismissed calls for her to step down.
"I do not think that I have violated the policies of the institution. I have worked personally very hard to make this campus a safe campus for all," she said.
But the Davis Faculty Association Board called for the "immediate resignation" of Katehi, saying she had demonstrated a "gross failure of leadership" by allegedly authorising the use of force on campus.
The Council of UC Faculty Associations condemned what it called "excessive force" used against non-violent protesters at UC Davis and other University of California and California State University schools. "The violence was unprovoked, disproportional and excessive," it said.
Local media reports Sunday said two of the policemen involved had been put on administrative leave. No confirmation was immediately available from the UC Davis service.
Police action on campuses have triggered more support for the Occupy Wall Street movement protesting corporate greed and income inequality. Several skirmishes between police and protesters have taken place in recent weeks across the country, and clashes last month left an Iraq War veteran with serious injuries in Oakland, California.