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Lawmakers To Investigate UC Davis Pepper-Spraying

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are investigating how colleges responded to non-violent protests that sprung from the Occupy movement, including the pepper-spraying incident at the University of California, Davis.

Top officials from the UC system and California State University system will testify at a hearing in the state Capitol on Wednesday. They include UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, who came under fire after a campus officer last month pepper-sprayed a crowd of students who were sitting peacefully.

Assemblyman Marty Block, a San Diego Democrat and chairman of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, says universities have a responsibility to provide a safe environment and foster a climate for free expression.

The panel will also hear from police oversight experts and student representatives.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

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