As a certified bleeding heart liberal, I'm really not sure what to think about this:
A former US campus policeman who pepper-sprayed peaceful protesters has been awarded $38,000 (£23,400) in compensation for psychiatric damage.
Lieutenant John Pike received threats after footage of the incident went viral on the internet in 2011.
It showed him casually spraying protesters from the Occupy Wall Street movement as they sat on the ground at the University of California.
His award is not much less than that received by the protesters he harmed.
Mr Pike was suspended from his job at University of California Davis after the incident and left the force in July 2012.
via BBC News
Seems Mr. Pike was subjected to abusive emails and letters, causing him serious emotional damage. And that is totally understandable. After all, he was only doing his duty, as he saw it, as he strolled in front of those seated passive hippies and sprayed that stuff directly into their eyes. How could he possibly imagine that anyone might see anything amiss in that? After all, they weren't right wing protestors, who are quite different, as we all know. They're allowed to bring guns to their protests, but the distinction is so clear to see that there's really no reason to explain it to any red blooded American, though those weird Europeans might be a bit perplexed.
But I digress.
The mystery here is why Mr. Pike got such a small settlement; not even equal to the average award given to the hippies he sprayed. That's what's truly shocking about this development. What has this world come to when one of our men in blue is treated so shabbily?
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