More from Santa Monica College

More on pepper spraying at Santa Monica College

Last night at Santa Monica College (about 20 blocks from the beach here in Los Angeles, CA), police pepper-sprayed some thirty students in a crowd of about 150 protesters. The students want affordable education. They gathered during a meeting of the college's board of trustees to voice opposition to planned tuition hikes that would raise the cost of bread-and-butter courses during the summer session by as much as 400%. I was close enough to the location last night to hear helicopters and sirens as it happened. The LA Times reports that Santa Monica police are today "trying to sort out" who used pepper-spray on the peacefully assembled students. Reports I heard last night indicated that the person or persons responsible were campus police, not Santa Monica police, who were called in later to secure the site. Full story here: http://boingboing.net/2012/04/04/students-protesting-tuition-hi.html

Why is it okay to pepper spray students?

UPDATED: Police Pepper-Spray Santa Monica College Students Mobs of students disrupt a Board of Trustees meeting upset over a highly controversial plan to offer pricier classes. Trustee calls the use of pepper spray a "black eye" on the college. Administrators will launch an investigation. From Santa Monica Patch: http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/police-pepper-spray-smc-students#video-9491962