"I got pepper sprayed and all I got was this lousy t-shirt," was what Santa Monica College student Christina Deal wore to a press conference Wednesday.
She and other opponents of the college's new plan to offer classes at cost to students—at a price higher than the subsidized rate they currently pay—were among the 15-30 pepper-sprayed Tuesday night by a campus police officer.
They were sprayed as they overran a Board of Trustees meeting. The board chambers were overcapacity and students say they wanted their opinions to be heard. But college officials say the students “acted unlawfully.”
Students convened a press conference on the steps of the college library to share personal anecdotes from last night's events.
"The first thing that happened to me was that an officer grabbed me around the neck and placed me in a choke hold," Deal said. "I was doing nothing violent, I was just standing at the front when I was assaulted."
See her and other students' reactions to the new funding model, and to being pepper-sprayed, by watching the video above this article.
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