The University of California Board of Regents meeting was
disrupted Wednesday when university police clashed with a group of
students as they moved into the restricted area of the third-floor
conference room in Covel Commons.
The students, who had been sitting in the designated public area
for most of the meeting, violated meeting rules by attempting to
approach the regents during a brief lull in the discussion.
“Myself and Eric Lopez stood up and asked politely that
the regents address our concerns,” said Anica McKesey,
president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council.
McKesey said they disrupted the meeting because they believed
the regents had not been receptive to their ideas.
Minutes earlier, a few of the regents had met with students and
attempted to address their concerns.
Several university police officers stopped the group of seven to
eight students from approaching and asked them to return to their
seats.
“We stood up and formed a line and tried to let the
regents hear our voice,” said Mike Speltie, one of the
activists who tried to speak with the regents.
When the police began to push the students back, they joined
arms and began chanting, “We just want to be
heard.”
Police stood together and formed a skirmish line to keep
students back.
“The officers use their batons as a blocking mechanism to
hold people back,” said acting UCPD Chief Karl Ross, adding
that no arrests were made during the incident.
The confrontation grew heated as the students refused to move,
and police and students began to push harder back and forth.
“At first they were all pushing at our shoulders to
contain the crowd,” McKesey said.
By this point, roughly a dozen additional students had joined
the initial group.
“An officer grabbed my arm. … That is when they started
swinging at us. They struck several students,” McKesey
said.
Police reports differ from McKesey’s account and state
that students attempted to grab police batons.
“I didn’t get any word that batons were
swung,” said Ross. “Jabs were made, but no swings.
“
Some police received minor scratches and bruises, Ross said.
During the confrontation, several students cried out in pain as
police tried to move the students from the restricted area, said
Genevieve Espinosa, a fourth-year political science and Asian
American studies student.
Espinosa left the incident with scratches on her upper left
arm.
“That’s unacceptable,” she said.
Police inside the meeting radioed for support, and about 20
additional officers rushed in to help.
“Students need to understand that the stanchions (boundary
lines) block off areas where they can’t go,” Ross said.
“We have a responsibility to protect the regents.”
The police drove the crowd several feet back from the restricted
area, causing some students to fall.
The situation seemed as though it would escalate further until
two students stood up on chairs and shouted for attention,
reminding everyone it was intended to be a peaceful protest.
“I felt it was getting out of hand, so I stood up and
tried to get everyone to calm down,” Speltie said.
More police flooded in as the situation diffused.
“I think that the students are reflecting the outrage at
what is going on,” said Dolores Huerta, a regent and a former
labor organizer with the United Farmworkers of America.
“People might be uncomfortable with the way they are
presenting themselves, but this is what they have, their bodies and
their voices,” Huerta said.
“I don’t think the students were being violent; they
were just exaggerating their position,” she added.
Chancellor Albert Carnesale declined to comment on the situation
because he said it was a matter for the regents.
After the confrontation, some of the students involved went to
the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center for medical
treatment.
“I have a couple of bruises and scratches on my right
arm,” said Elizabeth Cajayon, chairwoman of the Asian-Pacific
coalition.
“I don’t expect them to take violent action on
students who are approaching in a peaceful manner,” Cajayon
added.
“No one was bleeding, but a lot of people did have
bruises,” said McKesey, who also went to the Ashe Center to
be treated.
Because they had been hearing protests all day, the regents
ignored the brewing confrontation, continued their meeting, passed
a motion, and filed out.
Several regents said they did not feel threatened by the
students.
Regent John Moores said that the students were not
threatening.
Huerta agreed.
“If the police hadn’t intervened, what would have
happened? They would have talked to the regents.”