Like a satiric painting by George Grosz, the image haunts us. The cop in riot gear looks like he's spraying for weeds. His right hand is extended, his leg turned outward to stroll, as a triangle of red spray hits protesters. Then, as if he had missed a spot, he moves back to finish off the row.
One of the oldest cliches of journalism -- one that we writers secretly detest -- is that a picture is worth a thousand words. And certainly that was the case with Lt. John Pike, which is why the incident at UC Davis has gone viral. It was the casualness that infuriates us.
This was nothing like the cops I saw on the New Haven green in 1970, who turned their badges inside out before they heaved tear gas and charged the protesters. This was nothing like the Chicago police, who showed their rage and frustration in the streets in 1968.
No, this was straightening the yard, a maintenance gig. Hold still now for a dose of venom poured into your eyes. "For shame, for shame,'' the protesters at Davis shouted. It mattered not to Pike. The weeds might just have well pleaded for mercy.
A week after the event, it resonates on the Web like a tactical nuclear bomb. You probably have your favorite meme: A lot of people admire the one of Pike spraying the Declaration of Independence as patriots look on. I like the one of him spraying a kneeling Tim Tebow.
At the core of all this is his body language: This was not a cop who was threatened. He
didn't spray in anger, or desperation, but in disdain. And his sheer coolness -- the stride, the relaxed angle of his arm -- reveals the fundamental unfairness of the moment.
What should happen now? It's too easy to blame it all on Pike. The responsibility for the Davis incident goes back to the training of the UC Davis cops, who thought pepper spray was meant for a situation like this. It extends up the ladder to Chancellor Linda Katehi.
Katehi issued a tearful statement Monday, saying she didn't intend that force or pepper spray be used against protesters. But she had directed that the tents of the Occupy movement be removed. If anything, she didn't play through all the scenarios with the cops.
I doubt she can survive this politically, and I'm not sure she should. The Davis Faculty Association has called for her ouster, and a college president is lame without the support of the faculty. She's asked for a 30-day investigation, but that won't end the memes.
At least Katehi seemed genuinely sorry about what happened. Not surprisingly, Fox News was busy defending the police. When Megyn Kelly and Bill O'Reilly played the video of the protesters, Kelly said, "From a legal standpoint, I'm not sure the cops did anything wrong."
That's hardly the point. A university ought to be a place that invites peaceful dissent. And none of the cover story -- that the cops were blocked, or surrounded -- was true. Pike stepped over the line of protesters before delivering his poison.
All of us understand police have tough jobs. But the endless videos show power exercised with casual disregard for consequences. The protesters were right. The shame won't ebb.
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