After being pepper-sprayed, Fatima Sbeih dreamed of orange gas seeping into a room with her and her family inside. Sometimes, her roommate would shake her awake.

Sbeih said she changed how she walked to class, so she could avoid the police station. She felt uncomfortable in university counseling.

And she shied away from the Quad, where it all took place, for fear of her nightmares growing worse.

Under a proposed settlement filed on Wednesday, Sbeih and 20 other Occupy UC Davis protesters who were arrested or doused with pepper spray on Nov. 18 will receive $30,000 each and a letter of apology from Chancellor Linda Katehi for what happened.

“I feel like the settlement is a step in the right direction,” Sbeih said at a news conference Wednesday on the Quad, “that not just this university but universities across the nation will realize that they can’t harm students for protesting policies — that we are a college campus (and) we do need to foster free speech.”

Attorneys for the University of California and the protesters submitted the settlement with Judge John Mendez of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California for review.

Under the $1 million deal, UC also will:

* Pay up to $250,000 in costs and attorney fees;

* Pay up to $20,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union to cover the cost of its attorneys reviewing and commenting on new UCD policies;

* Set aside up $100,000 to pay $20,000 apiece to any others who join the class-action suit and can prove they were sprayed or arrested; and

*Assist students whose studies were negatively affected by anxiety attacks or other consequences of the incident with applying for a records adjustment.

The defendants did not admit wrongdoing in the proposed settlement, contending that the administrators involved “acted reasonably and in good faith to address legitimate health and safety risks associated with the presence of an unpermitted encampment” — “and not out of any intent to suppress debate and protest.”

“We believe the proposed settlement is in the best interests of the University of California,” said spokesman Steve Montiel. “It was approved by the Board of Regents, and we hope it will be approved by Judge Mendez.”

Michael Risher, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Northern California, helped represent the 19 students and two alumni. He said the settlement avoids years of litigation, more taxpayer money spent by UC and his clients reliving a horrifying experience.

But, he stressed, it does not allow the university to sidestep the need for corrective action.

“We have here an apology from the chancellor of this university,” he said. “The magnitude of the money and the policy changes that are going to be worked out speak much louder than any standard language in a settlement agreement.”

Sacramento civil rights attorney Mark Merin, who also represented protesters, said that based on videos of the pepper-spraying, another five to 10 people may yet join the suit. Marin said retired federal district court Judge Raul Ramirez acted as a mediator between the sides during two days of talks in August.

If the settlement is approved, the money will come from UC’s general liability risk program, a self-insurance fund, Montiel said.

Back to the Quad

On the afternoon of Nov. 18, about three dozen campus police officers with helmets and batons took down a handful of tents from a day-old Occupy encampment on the center of the Quad intended to protest, among other things, rising tuition, what protesters perceived as the privatization of the university and police use of force on the UC Berkeley campus.

Police arrested some protesters immediately, pulling them to the ground and placing them in plastic cuffs.

With onlookers crowding the scene, many with camera phones in hand, about a dozen protesters sat down on a sidewalk, locking arms, blocking the route officers planned to use to remove others they’d arrested.

After warning protesters, UCD police Lt. John Pike walked back and forth, pepper-spraying protesters in the face at close range. A second officer, Alexander Lee, also sprayed protesters, who were treated on the scene by paramedics or taken to the hospital.

“Pepper spray is unimaginable pain,” said Sbeih, 23, a recent graduate in international relations from Oakland who was returning a book to the library when she decided to join the seated protesters opposing the arrests.

“You feel like your eyes are boiling. Your skin is burning.”

Viral videos of the incident and of Katehi walking to her car amid silent protesters the next day brought international attention to campus.

The suit alleged that the protesters’ state and federal rights were violated, and that UCD failed to properly train its officers. Other allegations included failing to provide medical care for those injured.

Ian Lee, now a sophomore, was taking part in his first protest when he was pepper-sprayed. He said he was afraid to protest for several weeks afterward.

“The university silenced me,” said Lee, 19, of Temple City. “The university squashed my First Amendment rights and hopefully this lawsuit tells them that students should not have to be afraid to speak out or to dissent. If campus police are to exist, they must be accountable to the students.”

Investigations

In the months following the incident, investigators and a task force led by former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso placed blame on both the UCD administration and police for what took place.

Spicuzza retired and her replacement, Matt Carmichael, reportedly fired Pike, though an internal affairs investigation resulted in a panel calling for no more than his suspension. Lee also has left the department.

Swartwood, who has not been named in previous documents, was to be the incident commander at the Quad that day. Investigators found he deferred to Pike, however. UCD confirmed Wednesday that Swartwood’s rank is now “officer,” but could not comment on any possible disciplinary action under state law.

The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges against the protesters, who were arrested for failing to disperse, and, more recently, the officers involved.

Faculty members strongly supported Katehi in a January no-confidence vote. Later, however, in a controversial decision, the Executive Council of the UCD Academic Senate voted to censure Katehi. A special committee named by the council voted to call for the resignations of the chancellor, Vice Chancellors Meyer and Wood, as well as Spicuzza.

Katehi has moved control of the Police Department from Meyer to Provost Hexter. Wood resigned to accept the chancellorship of the University of Minnesota, Crookston.

In all, the settlement and hiring of outside consultants and investigators have cost UC and UCD upwards of $2 million, not including legal fees for cases involving first the police union and later newspapers over the release of officer names in the reports.

UC has promised it will reform, systemwide, the policing of protests involving civil disobedience. The Davis campus has posted a long list of reforms and possible reforms at http://demonstrationreviews.ucdavis.edu.

The faculty senate is planning a progress report this fall.

‘Commitment’

UCD spokesman Barry Shiller said the proposed provision that would see the campus collaborating with the ACLU on reforms is “evidence” of a “100 percent good-faith commitment” on the part of the university.

“This campus under Chancellor Katehi’s leadership is committed to ensuring that a repeat of last November never happens,” Shiller said.

Ian Lee said some of his fellow protesters will donate what they receive from the settlement. Others will using the money to begin their lives after college.

Lee plans to use his share to pay for tuition.

— Reach Cory Golden at [email protected] or 530-747-8046. Follow him on Twitter at @cory_golden

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Fatima Sbeih, 23, a recent UC Davis graduate in international relations from Oakland who was pepper-sprayed last November, speaks at Wednesday’s news conference. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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Ian Lee, a 19-year-old sophomore at UC Davis who was among the protesters who were pepper-sprayed last November on the campus Quad, speaks at a news conference Wednesday. Behind him are student Elizabeth Lara and Michael Risher, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Northern California. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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Elizabeth Lara, a recent UC Davis graduate with a degree in nature and culture who was among those arrested on Nov. 18, speaks at Wednesday’s news conference. Behind her is Mark Merin, a Sacramento civil rights attorney who represented the protesters in their lawsuit against the University of California. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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