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UC Davis Spent $175,000 To Bury Search Results After Cops Pepper-Sprayed Protestors (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The University of California, Davis spent at least $175,000 to improve its reputation on the internet after images of campus police pepper-spraying protestors went viral in 2011, according to documents obtained by The Sacramento Bee. The money went to public relations firms that promised to clean up the university's search results. One company outlined a plan for "eradication of references to the pepper spray incident," according to the documents, and was eventually paid nearly $93,000, including expenses, for a six-month campaign in 2013. After that, the Bee reports, the university paid $82,500 to another PR firm to create and follow through on a "search engine results management strategy." The latter firm was later given thousands more in other contracts to build a university social media program, and to vet its communications department.
Know what else is great for your reputation? Not acting like a bunch of fucking assholes. And it's free!
... the fact that Davis tried to bury this in the first place, or that they were gullible enough to flush $175K down the toilet for that kind of scam.
Never mind the fact that there are a lot of protesters who try to make a martyr out of themselves by walking the line and pushing the peace keepers to their limits, Just to show how bad the people are.
I'd be fairly surprised. Most often what you have are some kind of agents provocateurs. neutral third parties, or people paid by police to start shit.
Hired PR can paper over the effects of an errant email, but if you try to erase a news event, you just spammed Barbra Streisand.
Bleah.
The trick is to not treat all the protesters as a unified mass. If one protestor kicks policemen or throws poo around, knock him down with force and let the peaceful types boo & yell their slogans. And if internet journalism shows a video of security knocking him to the ground with heavy blows, just follow up with commentary or your own press release (universities have very visible web pages.)
"A protestor crossed the line and threw stuff. He doesn't do that anymore now that he's in hospital with a fractured skull. We tolerate peaceful protests only — live by the sword, die by the sword and all that."
Pepper spray (or weapons) makes sense if protesters/provocatuers attack first - otherwise not. Thinking that stuff can be covered up, is hilarious. Even if they succeeded, some student org might remember and hold a yearly memorial or some such. The best weapon against bad press is another press, or just wait for someone else to make the next scandal that overshadow this one.
Ok, my dear fascist, do tell me how people sitting on the ground can "surround" an officer.
"They could have pulled out their billy clubs and started beating on the students."
Late 1930's Germany called, they want you back.
The students also had the police officers surrounded, had been asked and ordered to move. Had been shown the pepper spray and told what would happen if they did not move to allow the police officers through. The students were blocking a main thoroughfare of the campus, and preventing the officers from doing their jobs, heck the officers were surrounded they were even being prevented from leaving the scene.
The African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama were surrounded by police and were shown the police dogs and fire hoses if they did not disperse. The protestors were blocking a main street in Birmingham preventing traffic. Heck, the officers were surrounded and prevented from leaving the scene.
In short the students had every chance to avoid it. They deserved what they got. The School needs to grow a pair and back their officers who acted appropriately. They could have pulled out their billy clubs and started beating on the students.
In short, the African Americans had every chance to avoid it. They got what they deserved. The South needs to grow a pair and back their officers who acted appropriately. They did pull out their billy clubs and started beating on protestors.
Lack of context, much?
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
The issue is that one protester eggs the policemen for them to make a bad judgment call. So yes the policeman is technically at fault. And a press release where the Organization is saying it was only that guy or small group, still will get egg, because the media will normally edit the content to make their broadcast more interesting.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
"A police officer crossed the line and punched someone without cause. The officer doesn't do that anymore now that he's in hospital with a fractured skull. We tolerate lawful activities only — live by the sword, die by the sword and all that."
Doesn't sound so pleasant now does it? In fact in todays society those "assaulting" the officer would almost certainly be hunted down and prosecuted with extreme prejudice. So why is it OK when the police do it? I agree that police should arrest those committing crimes, not targeting general protestors (as seems to be the rule rather than the exception). And protestors should be fine with police moving freely through the crowd keeping the peace. The reason why we are in the boat we're in though is decades of animosity because in some cases police used thinly veiled "safety" reasoning to try to break up protests & protestors didn't react very well towards watching people being beaten in front of their eyes or lines of heavily armored "peace officers" towards them shouting "this is an "unlawful" protest, disband" over a bullhorn.
Yes, the police were so hopelessly boxed in by the students they stepped over on the way to pepper spraying them.
Make up context much. The Alabama protestors did not surround the police. In fact they were marching up the road. And pepper is not dogs.
That was the point. The protestors at UC Davis did not "surround" the police. They were sitting down in a line. There were other students watching and filming but the actual protestors were sitting down. So your point was factually a lie. The other point is that assaulting someone who poses no threat to you seems to be okay with you. Have you ever been pepper sprayed? It's a painful experience.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Clearly, you need to look up the definition of the word "surround." There were a LOT more students and officers. Given that the officers do not have wings, and could probably not pole-vault even if they had the poles, surrounding is certainly possible.
Yes, when the police arrived the sitting students surrounded them, by remaining seated.
You apparently dont know what happened there, probably because of the campaign the prevent you from knowing.
"His name was James Damore."
Under your interpretation, the first amendment is meaningless. "You can protest, but anything we do to you is your fault" means that there is no right to protest.
Just declaring that the order to disperse is a "legal order" does not automatically make it so, but plenty of police seem to think that it does.
In this case, the protesters were clearly peaceful, were offering no resistance and presented no threat to the police. Other people were not affected by the protesters since they could have easily walked around the protesters.
Furthermore, the officer who used the pepper spray was not authorized to carry and use this weapon. Double standards such as this (no meaningful action for breaking department rules and policies) serves to encourage the use of excessive violence against the public.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
Seriously, fuck off. Sitting and protesting and someone sprays you. No. So again, fuck off.
Or, the people walking to classes could have merely walked around the protesters. Yes, they would have had to walk on the well-maintained and flat area around the path. Such a problem!
It's possible that there were protesters around the police. What's important though is whether the protesters were actually stopping the police from moving away if they wanted to. You will also note that the police were on both sides of the sitting protesters, which suggests very strongly that the protesters were not significantly impeding the movement of the police officers.
Watch the video of the pepper spraying: it's clear from the way the officers were standing that they were relaxed: they did not feel threatened. So, the "but surrounded!" excuse is merely a distraction.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
Irrelevant, because the police officers must have: 1) justifiable reason to tell them to move and 2) authority to use the pepper spray.
The officers had neither.
The officer was not trained nor authorized to use the pepper spray. What's more, it appears that the spray was not used in accordance with the way it should be used. That the use was not authorized makes it an assault.
If police officers are the sole authority on who can protest, when and where, with the threat of assault if you don't comply, then you live in a police state.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!