The campus police had "the right" to arrest or issue civil citations for trespass; they also had the right to physically arrest the persons, but given the range of methods and materials available to them, the use of chemical agents in a non-violent sit-in, especially when the stated goal of the campus police was to remove camping equipment, does seem over reaction.

In the end, the protestors achieved more publicity than they could ever imagine. It seems that some elements of "the establishment" and law enforcement learned nothing from the past.