On Monday night, O’Reilly Factor host Bill O’Reilly and Fox News host Megyn Kelly sat down to discuss what really happened at UC Davis on Friday and whether campus police acted appropriately in showering a group of sitting students with pepper spray. Their conclusion? No big deal.
“Pepper spray, that just burns your eyes, right?” O’Reilly asked Kelly.
“Right,” Kelly said. “I mean, its like a derivative of actual pepper. It’s a food product, essentially.”
Exactly! Like jalapeno poppers, or queso dip. Delicious. In fact, pepper spray is about 1,000 times hotter than a jalapeno, Mother Jones reports. But Kelly, to her credit, said the pepper spraying looked like an “abrasive” and “intrusive” act.
But wait a minute, O’Reilly said. “We don’t have the right to Monday morning quarterback the police,” he said. “Especially at a place like UC Davis, which is a fairly liberal campus.”
The police were acting on the chancellor’s orders, the hosts agreed, to try and clear the “Occupy” protesters’ encampment. Kelly asserted that the cops probably didn’t act outside the law. But the university has launched an investigation into the pepper-spraying.
UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi is under increasing pressure to resign. Two police officers involved in the incident, as well as the campus’ police chief, have been put on administrative leave during the inquiry.
Watch the Fox clip below, via Mediaite:
David Taintor
David Taintor is the Front Page Editor at TPM, where he contributes to TPM's Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
The police had EVERY right to do what they did. If you actually watch videos that haven't been edited by the protestors and the sensationalist media outlets, you would find that the protestors encircled the police and told them that they would not let the police leave. FUrthermore, the protestors were illegally assembled as they were in direct defiance to a lawful order to clear the quad. Take an intro to Law course and you would know this. Don't threaten police and you won't get pepper sprayed. OWS is honestly a whole lot of anarchists exciting marginalized people. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out. Don't be anyone's chump. Don't be the government's chump and don't be the OWS' chumpI AM NO MAN's TOOL!
Patrick Owen Hitchins WORD
I have seen Megyn Kelly referred to as a commentator. She's not a commentator -- she's a blonde.
I suppose this harridan thinks mustard gas is a condiment and agent orange is a dessert topping.
What she is really saying is "I have like no brains, I am a dumb ho, essentially"
tsharpmac420 yes, a "dumb ho" that went to syracuse and then Albany law school and practiced law for 9 years. What have you done?
BillBigO,
STFU. You have no idea what you are talking about. I really wish he would get taxed to the "9"'s and quit. But he won't because he is liar, blowhard asshole, disgusting, vile, pathetic, misogynist, narcissistic stupid idiot flaming gas bag of feces. I am not a violent person but I would sure love the chance to kick him in the jewels, many times.
But I'm not bitter......
marsala56 Why don't you tell us what you really think of Bill?
"It’s a food product, essentially.” Really? I'd like one of these two assholes try it in their Superbowl 7 layer dip recipe. Since we're at it, how about they stick their faces in my mom's salsa, see if they can even take that.
Obviously these people have never bee sprayed with pepper spay, it is even offensive and painful to help clear off of someone. I regret the United States of america has become a place where being Liberal is a crime worthy of assault, and being a complete and utter idiot (Sarah Palin) makes you fit for consideration as President.
Layton Peck Was the protest legal? No it was not. And the last time I looked, when you are doing something that is illegal you should expect consequences. Sure, the police probably could have avoided the situation by arresting 100 students but I agree with the chief of police that the efficient thing to do was pepper spray. So if would like to be illogical and assume that every liberal takes place in illegal protests and every conservative supports Sarah Palin, then please move to Canada. We don't need anymore finger pointers in this country.
That's kind of like Megyn Kelly saying Zyklon B was "just bug spray".
I think we should hold old "BILLO" & the wanna be blonde bimbo kellyho & shoot them w/ this "food product" in their eyes & see if their pozzitive it's only a food product sum one wanna hold a crosshairs so they don't miss.......!!!!!!!!
If Megyn Kelly were to be violated by a foot-long zucchini, would it console her to know that it's a "food product"?
hitpoints UGLY COMMENT!
she would enjoy it to much just like the rest of those fixed noise HO'S
The "food product" statement would be laughable if it were not accepted by so many low information Fox viewers as factual. That turns it from laughable to scary.
.I volunteer to pepper spray O'Reilly on his show so he can show us how safe it is. C'mon Bill -- put your money where you big fat mouth is.
I agree I think those 2 morons should both be sprayed & see if they say it's "just a food product"
“Especially at a place like UC Davis, which is a fairly liberal campus.” - Billo. Two things: (1) is O'Reilly connfusing David with Berkeley; and (2) why does abuse of liberals count less than abuse of conservatives?
drmcclure2004 Sorry. I lived in Davis for years, it's no Berkeley, but it IS a liberal campus. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
drmcclure2004 Liberals are inferior to conservatives and deserve to be abused. Anyone who regularly watches Fox knows that. Don't you?
terrafrittadrmcclure2004 That seems to be O'Reilly's point--labeling liberals as somehow rabid dogs that need to be controlled. I think will_rice 's solution would give tall Bill with the big mouth something to ponder for a while.
drmcclure2004 There ya go.... that's the problem: Liberals and Conservatives. Tired of the labels.
The police officers were "unlawfully assaulting" peaceful protesters who are supposed to be protected by the First Amendment. They need to lose their jobs. So does the Chancellor for instigating this. I didn't know the police dept were hired by the Chancellor, LOL! This was not "diluted" pepper spray and they were indeed soaked with it, which constitutes unreasonable force as well as illegal assault. The statement made by Leslie Green -Wynter that they brought it on themselves, is ignorant and it shows in her spelling (even of her last name). The "victims" of Police Brutality were "over-reacting"? I saw them sitting there covering themselves. They were immobilized from pain, when immobilization wasn't necessary. They were "sitting down" to begin with! I wonder what FOX news would say if Ghandi were pepper sprayed?
Ginger Mason I saw the video--it was pre-meditated and systematic back & forth spraying up and down the line while the victims were handcuffed. The campus police captain is a born bully and loss of his job is the only message he will be able to understand. Chances are if this really is his personality, he will ultimately end up in jail for something similar, done without protection of the uniform.
"Pepper spray is food" is no different than saying "Foxnews is fair and balanced."
I have some cans of tomatoes gone bad. If I make a stew from these and send it to Bill and blonde, I won't be guilty of murder will I? I mean any ptomaine in the stew "is a food product, essentially." Right?
(Hmmm. Where did I put those cans... I hope I didn't throw them out.)
They don't get it... you can't arbitrarily call an assembly unlawful. The Constitution protects the right to assemble. Courts have held that it violates the 1st amendment when law enforcement breaks up peaceful protests for frivilous reasons like "not obtaining a permit".
Malcolm Shaw Which courts have done that? Obtaining a permit for large assemblies on public property of lengthy duration is part of the "time, place and manner" restrictions that have been part of First Amendment jurisprudence for decades.
Should Tea Partiers who actually complied with permit requirements for their peaceful protests get refunds now, because OWS has made that whole "permit" thing obsolete?
I`d like to see Billo` and that bleached blond bimbo " eat " some of that " food product " or get the same amount of that " food product " sprayed in their eyes like those defenseless students did .
and also, pepper spray isn't evening that bad...it burns for a little but it goes away after awhile...people are totally over reacting.
Leslie Greene-wynter No. That was military grade pepper spray which was sprayed at such a close distance that they were drenched in it. It burns, the felling can last for hours if not treated. Please, look this up before making such comments.
Leslie Greene-wynter have you ever been pepper sprayed?
bayreportaLeslie Greene-wynter i've got OC sprayed wich is 10x worse than pepper spray trust me
@Leslie Greene-wynter Having been in law enforcement for 20 years in supervised the training of agents in the use of various types of pepper spray you are just wrong.
Leslie Greene-wynter Your entire sinus fluid gets flushed out to try to rid your body of the inflammatory material (the burny stuff). Your eyes swell shut, you have melted snot coming out of your nose, your skin turns red, it's EXTREMELY PAINFUL. even after you wash it off, your face is puffy for DAYS, and just dealing with teh shock can give you the WORST MIGRAINE in your life.
they should of just moved like they where told by the officers. Personally i think they brought it on themselves....
Leslie Greene-wynter Ask the question: Why were they there in the first place protesting? You need to understand the reasons behind the peaceful protest before making such a statement. Besides, where you there? Because I was, that is my school.
zil0708 Was "having to live under the rule of law" one of the reasons that they're protesting? Otherwise, why is OWS and its offshoots exempt from obeying laws that the rest of us live under? Would you take the same view of abortion protesters who ignore the laws requiring them to stay a certain distance from clinic entrances -- that if someone believes their cause is important enough (and abortion prohibitionists claim to believe that abortion = genocide), laws regulating their protests shouldn't actually be enforced?
pgofhsmzil0708 What laws? The laws that say you have to do whatever a policeman tells you to do?
zil0708 enlighten me, why were they protesting?
Leslie Greene-wynterzil0708
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
zil0708Leslie Greene-wynter Oh, and because it was your school and because you were there means that you are correct. Seems like sound logic to me.
Leslie Greene-wynter You didn't see the event, captured on video. It was, as I described up above, systematic multiple back-and-forth in the faces of victims who were handcuffed together, sitting on the ground. They were helpless and it was a crime that he did it.
Watergate Mike what crime??? if they didn't want to get sprayed they should of moved! point blank!
"if they didn't want to get sprayed they should of moved! point blank!"
Why, you could have said the exact same thing about these civil rights protesters in the early '60s. They should have just moved when the cops told them to, so it was THEIR OWN FAULT that they got sprayed with fire hoses and attacked with billy clubs and dogs. The UC Davis protesters were just being . . . UPPITY.
rough_draft Wait a second... You are seriously comparing the civil rights movement to this situation? You must have no understanding of the law if you think these are comparable. The fact is the students at UC Davis were clearly breaking the law, which is very clear, and were warned over ten times that they would either be arrested or would be forcefully moved. When you decide to tell the police that you run the town, you put yourself in a little bit of a pickle. Which would be more efficient, putting a hundred students in jail, which would take hours and most of the students would resist arrest like shown in the video, or would you pepper spray about 15 people which caused minor injuries and end the "peaceful protest" in less then 30 minutes. They did them a favor by not charging them with illegal assembly. Could the situation have been avoided by both sides? Yes, but don't act like the police are completely to blame for what happened.
I'm not sure what to make of all of this. I hear/see a lot of people saying that they were in violation of the law. Exactly what law was broken? All I saw were angry students chanting in protest. I saw no law enforcement officers attacked or threatened in any way. The protestors were even seated when the atrocity took place.
So, someone please tell me in what way the law was broken, and how, if possible, the pepper spray was warranted?
I love how this is taken out of context. Pepper spray is essentially a food product. A food product that burns your eyes as if they were lit on fire. She's not taking away from the fact that it hurts like hell, she's simply explaining what it is. "...but that's obviously beside the point. It's obviously something that's abrasive and intrusive." Hey look she's actually agreeing with you, so shut up and listen every once in a while.
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