Police Officer Who Pepper-Sprayed Peaceful Occupy Protesters Awarded $38,000 in Damages
The police officer who became an internet meme sensation after pepper-spraying peaceful Occupy protesters at the University of California, Davis in November 2011 has been awarded $38,000 in damages after revealing that he was suffering from anxiety and depression.
John Pike was fired in July 2012 after eight months of paid administrative leave, the Davis Enterprise noted. The 40-year-old former officer has said that death threats directed at him and his family have negatively affected his health.
"This case has been resolved in accordance with state law and processes on workers' compensation," UC Davis spokesman Andy Fell said after a judge approved the settlement last week.
Pike became an online sensation in 2011 after the video of him pepper-spraying peaceful protesters at UCD went viral, with the meme "Casually Pepper Spray Everything" or "Casually Pepper Spraying Cop" popping up all over the internet.
The meme featured photoshopped pictures of the officer spraying anything from famous artwork, such as Picasso's "Guernica" and Salvador Dali's "The Persistence of Memory," to spraying celebrities, like Glenn Beck, Lindsay Lohan, and Gandhi, among others.
One of the lawyers supportive of the Occupy protesters that were sprayed, however, criticized the settlement, saying that it sides with the officer's actions.
"(The settlement) 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," said Bernie Goldsmith.
Pike's disability was rated as "moderate" by a Piedmont psychiatrist acting as the expert on the case. According to Richard Lieberman, the former officer faced "continuing and significant internal and external stress with respect to resolving and solving the significant emotional upheavals that have occurred" in his life following the incident.
The Enterprise noted that Pike will now be paid in total more than the separate victims of the pepper-spray incident, who agreed to a $1 million settlement with UCD in January, with each of the 21 plaintiffs receiving $30,000.
During Pike's suspension, an investigation was launched into the incident, with reports finding that the situation had not required the officer to use pepper spray on students seated on the ground, and that he used it from an unsafe distance.
