Prosecute Pike.

Editor,

In addition to signing a petition to fire UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, I sent the following letter to Jeff W. Reisig, District Attorney of Yolo County, CA, where UCD is located:

I am writing with regard to the incident at UCD on 11/18/2011 in which Lt. John Pike of the UCD Campus Police discharged a pepper spray canister into the faces of a group of nonviolently protesting students sitting quietly on the ground.

(The video of the incident is here.)

According to California Penal Code Section 12403.7 (a) (8), use of tear gas or a tear gas weapon, EXCEPT in self-defense, can be a felony, the following being possible sanctions for misuse:

* Up to three years in state prison; or
* Up to one year in county jail; or
* Fine up to $1, 000; or
* Both fine and imprisonment.

I urge you to prosecute Lt. Pike for discharging a defensive weapon, egregiously, when neither he nor anyone else was threatened with bodily harm.

Thank you.

Re: "Officers Put on Leave After Pepper Spraying Protesters" (11/20/2011)