Louise Macabitas Photo of Police Officer Pepper Spraying UC Davis Students


Image: Courtesy Louise Macabitas

Posting here because of the iconic image that this photo captures.

It's always interesting to see how these things spread and this time the photographer has their name on the photo.

WAiting to see how long it takes for them to be interviewed.

If you find a good link for them, please add it in the comments.

Update:

The Atlantic: Why I Feel Bad for the Pepper-Spraying Policeman, Lt. John Pike

Where's the photographer credit?

Update:
They added the photographer credit.

Update 2:

Daily Mail: Two officers suspended following UC Davis police pepper spray attack



Where's the photographer credit?

Update 3: Pepper Spray Cop Gets Photoshopped

Gawker: UC Davis Pepper Spray Cop Is Now a Meme

Wired Gallery: Pepper Spray Cop Squirts the Internet in the Eye.

Pepper Spraying Cop Tumblr Blog.

Little did we know that Pepper Spraying Cop has cracked down on so many famous moments in history!! This Tumblr will help document the long pepper spraying arm of this officer of the law!

All images are not owned by anybody involved with this Tumblr page and are probably totally cool to post here under the parody and satire rules in the copyright laws. Right? RIGHT?

Update:


Read the product reviews on Amazon.com. LOL!

Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray is the perfect product for would-be dictators, military rulers, and university chancellors. With a simple, nonchalant spraying action, you can be sure to cause great distress among unruly protestors, ensuring that their freedoms of speech, assembly, and protest are eliminated in favor of screaming in agony and writhing on the ground.

Whenever I need to breezily inflict discipline on unruly citizens, I know I can trust Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray to get the job done! The power of reason is no match for Defense Technology's superior repression power. When I reach for my can of Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray, I know that even the mighty First Amendment doesn't stand a chance against its many scovil units of civil rights suppression.

Update 11/26/11:

Success!

Chris O'Brien, Mercury News Columnist found Louise Macabitas: How one student's pepper spray photo became an Internet meme:

Of course, creating an Internet sensation was the last thing on the mind of Louise Macabitas, 22, a psychobiology major at UC Davis, when she grabbed her camera and went down to the protest.

She began snapping photos as Lt. John Pike of the UC Davis police walked along a row of huddled students, spraying a bright orange mist of pepper spray into their faces. He got so close to Macabitas that she got pepper spray on her jeans.

Later, she downloaded the photos, and one in particular stood out, which she posted on her Facebook wall.

That photo was shared by many of her friends. One of them eventually posted it in the online Reddit community, a social news site whose members tend to have a snarky sensibility and strong political views, and who frequently remix various objects to trigger many of the Internet's biggest memes.

The Pepper Spray photo caught fire on Reddit, and then spilled back into mainstream sites, according to Kim. Already, the Pepper Spray meme extends beyond Macabitas' photo.
There are YouTube videos of the incident that have more than 1 million views.

People are selling T-shirts with various versions of the Pepper Spray photo. And people have even taken to Amazon.com to write satiric reviews of pepper spray products:
"Accept no substitutes when casually repressing students," reads one such review. "Whenever I need to breezily inflict discipline on unruly citizens, I know I can trust Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray to get the job done!"

Meanwhile, Macabitas remains surprised by all this, but she's also quite comfortable with it. She's glad her photo has helped tell the story of what happened that day, even if it's spread that tale to a far wider audience than she expected.

"It was so emotional watching that cop pepper spray those students," Macabitas said. "I couldn't believe something like that was happening at UC Davis. I just wanted my friends to see what was really going on. I had no idea it would spread across the whole Internet, but I'm glad it has."

posted by Steve at 9:51 AM | link | (1) Join the Discussion

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