To the Editor:

Back when the Occupy movement was gaining ground, a University of California Davis police officer pepper sprayed a group of nonviolent student protesters. The incident resulted in media and alumni backlash, and it also made meme history. The pepper-spraying cop was cut and pasted onto famous pieces of art such as Archibald Willard’s “The Spirit of ’76” and Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory.”

At the other day’s Blarney Blowout fiasco, town and University police officers sported riot gear and fired nonlethal pellets into the crowd. I believe that a YouTube video titled “inthefaceumass” resembles the incident of abuse at UC Davis. In it, a police officer approaches and immediately releases a can of pepper spray onto a student. Prior to his being sprayed in the face at point blank, the unnamed student faces the officer with open arms and nonviolent body language.

The officer faces the student and then raises his hand to the viewer’s right before spraying. Such a graceful pose could render Géricault’s “Raft of the Medusa” with newer, more profound meaning. Perhaps Delacroix’s famous “Liberty Leading the People” could welcome the addition of a University police officer. I, for one, would enjoy contemplating the officer leading a group of farmers at the dawn of the French Revolution.

I hope that our University’s pepper-spraying cop can be featured in a new meme that rivals that of UC Davis. I encourage a talented, young University of Massachusetts student to take up my challenge.

Sincerely,

Brandon Sides

University of Massachusetts Amherst ’16