Congressman Garamendi’s Statement on UC Davis Incident

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield, CA), a former University of California Regent and California State University Trustee, today issued the following statement about the pepper spraying of non-violent protestors at UC Davis on Friday:

"I am appalled by the way in which students at UC Davis were treated. Campus police should know better than to cavalierly pepper spray peaceful protestors. The proud tradition of peaceful campus protests was shamelessly marred by these actions. I'm glad an investigation is underway, and I look forward to a full report on how they will avoid incidents like this in the future.

"At the same time, violent protests are never appropriate. From what I have seen, however, there was no violence on the part of the protesters at UC Davis. Indeed, by all accounts, Aggie students have shown remarkable restraint in the days following the pepper spraying. If and when protests become heated, they must be handled with the greatest discretion, so as to avoid and minimize injury to police and to demonstrators.

"Every incident of violence - no matter who the perpetrator - is a distraction from the legitimate issues that the 99% movement has raised. Our public universities have seen drastic cuts, harming our ability to stay competitive in a tough economy, and thousands of students have been priced out of an education or burdened with debts that they cannot repay. I hope the entire university community understands that we're all in this together."