Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

Students for a Democratic Society condemns the actions of UC Davis police Lt. John Pike, Chief Annette Spicuzz and Chancellor Linda Katehi which led directly to the injury of students exercising their rights on the campus of UC Davis. The act of police brutality committed by officer Pike led to the hospitalization of two students as well as the arrest and injury of others. The students were brutally and violently attacked by campus police for protecting their Occupy space, which had previously received the approval of both the student government and Chancellor Katehi herself.

For the millions of people who have now seen the violent measures taken by the police, there is no doubt that these students are victims of oppression from their own university and its police. These actions came upon students because of explicit directions from both Chancellor Katehi and Chief Spicuzz, both of whom students now demand the resignation of. Students for a Democratic Society stands in solidarity with the students of UC Davis in these demands and in their effort to fight against administrative oppression.

Students for a Democratic Society stands with the demands of students across the world calling for NO MORE TUITION HIKES. The Occupy space at UC Davis was in part established by students in an effort to challenge an 81% tuition hike. As students across the United States face increased cost of public education, they also face increased loans, increased debts and a decreased availability of jobs upon graduation. These conditions are not sustainable economically for anyone and force college students into a lifetime of debt.

It is due to these ongoing struggles that SDS stands in solidarity with all students across the United States and the World, who are struggling against economic oppression, police oppression, administrative negligence and the misdistribution of priorities across all education systems. SDS supports calls for student strikes at UC Davis and across the UC system. Administration is accountable to tuition paying students, not the other way around. Students must exercise their rights and their strength on campus to demonstrate this to disillusioned administrators hidden behind the doors of grand offices and boardrooms.

Students for a Democratic Society says EDUCATION IS A RIGHT and therefore demands an end to tuition hikes, an end to outrageous administrative salaries, an end to inaccessible and unaffordable education and an end to the oppressive tactics of police brutality used by universities and local and state governments to silence the voice of dissent.

Out of your desks and into the streets!

#UnitedStates #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SDS #PoliceBrutality #OccupyWallStreet #UCDavis #pepperSpray