No Charges For Pepper Spray Cop

The cop who casually pepper-sprayed a seated group of peaceful UC Davis students last year will not face criminal charges. The incident sparked a national rallying of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Yolo County District Attorney's office said in a statement that there was insufficient evidence to prove the use of force was illegal. A task force appointed by the university concluded in April that the Nov. 18 pepper-spraying was "objectively unreasonable" and could have been prevented. In reaching their conclusion, prosecutors said they relied on facts included in the task force's report. Among them was the finding that the officers perceived they were dealing with a hostile mob and needed to spray the protesters to clear a path to safety.

The cop was fired in July. Last week the university reached an undisclosed settlement with some of the students.