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Tag: john pike

  • ‘Pepper-Spray Cop’ from Occupy Protest Gets Bigger Payout Than Students

    Remember the infamous cop that pepper-sprayed peaceful Occupy protesters at the University of California-Davis in 2011 because they wouldn’t move? He was awarded a workers’ comp settlement last week, which just happens to be more than the students that were pepper-sprayed received.

    The news of former University of California police officer John Pike filing a workers’ comp claim made rounds back in July. A judge approved the claim last week in the amount of $38,000 for “moderate” psychiatric distress stemming from the pepper-spray incident. The protesters that were sprayed in the face received around $30,000 each. Check out the video of the cop pepper-spraying the students below.

    Pike walked down a line of student protesters that were sitting on the ground as part of the nationwide Occupy movement and showered pepper-spray in their faces. Some protesters were pepper-sprayed multiple times. Pike was put on paid administrative leave for eight months and was eventually let go from his position after the university determined that he used excessive force.

    According to The Davis Enterprise, Pike was being paid an annual salary of just over $120,000 at the time he was fired, which means in addition to the workers’ comp settlement he received, he was also paid $90,000 (less taxes) after the pepper-spraying incident. Pike will also receive retirement benefits.

    Bernie Goldsmith, a Davis lawyer that supports the protesters, told The Davis Enterprise that Pike’s workers’ comp settlement sends a dangerous message. It “sends a clear message to the next officer nervously facing off with a group of passive, unarmed students: Go on ahead. Brutalize them. Trample their rights. You will be well taken care of,” Goldsmith said.

    While many people question the fairness of Pike receiving a workers’ comp settlement period, let alone receiving more than the people he pepper-sprayed, the university doesn’t appear to have any issues with the settlement. “This case has been resolved in accordance with state law and processes on workers’ compensation,” UC-Davis spokesman Andy Fell said in an email.

    Do you think Pike was entitled to a settlement? Respond below. Many people are outraged with the former University of California system cop receiving a payout:

    [Image via YouTube]

  • Pepper Spraying Campus Cop Seeks Workers Comp

    Back during the #Occupy demonstrations, set off by the #occupywallstreet events in New York, there were lots of accusations of police brutality and abuse. Images of mounted police riding down protestors, old women being pepper-sprayed, and cordoned-off protestors being pepper-sprayed in the face were put on the news on an almost nightly basis for weeks.

    One New York officer, Anthony Bologna, was a particular target of scorn because of video footage showing him, during a scuffle with protestors, deliberately spraying people in the face who were obviously posing no threat.

    But there is probably no more enduring image of this abuse than that of University of California Davis police officer John Pike, seen on November 18, 2011, walking past and spraying unarmed, sitting protestors with pepper spray. The video and images enraged people across the nation. It was made into memes and spread far and wide within a couple of days.

    Pike was suspended and ended up leaving the force in 2012. A 190-page report of the incident showed that campus police used excessive force. The university offered to pay $1 million dollars to university students who were sprayed.

    Now John Pike has come back to get a piece of the action.

    Last month, according to the UC Davis Enterprise, Pike filed a worker’s compensation claim with UC Davis over the incident. He alleges that he himself suffered from unspecified psychiatric and nervous system damage. A judge will hear Pike’s claim in mid-August. If a settlement is not reached, it will likely go to trial.

    Pike’s claim does not specify how he was injured. Only that his injury stems from the incident in which he pepper-sprayed seated students. It is known that he received death threats, threats to his family, and was suspended from work. Perhaps he blames UC Davis for what he did in the line of duty.