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A University of California police officer drew his gun and pointed it at students protesting meeting of the UC regents this morning, and the UC San Francisco police chief’s explanation as to why doesn’t seem to hold water.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, UCSF police chief Pamela Roskowski told a press conference today that the officer drew his weapon after a protester took his baton and hit him on the head with it, but that claim appears to be contradicted by a video recording of the incident.

In the video, posted on the Chronicle‘s website, the officer lunges into a crowd which is surging toward him. With his baton held in both hands in front of him, he tussles briefly with one protester. For most of the scuffle, which lasts for less than five seconds, the baton is visible in his possession. As he breaks away from the protester he is clutching the baton in his left hand, and he only draws his gun after the baton has fallen from his grasp to the floor behind him. The officer’s helmeted head is visible throughout the altercation with the protester, and there is no indication that he is ever struck with the baton or any other object.

I’ll have more to say on this incident tomorrow.

Update | Here’s another copy of the same video, from a local television station’s website. At 0:42 in this video the officer is holding his baton in both hands. At 0:45 and 0:49 he’s holding it in his left hand in the same orientation. The only time it’s even possible that he could have lost control of the baton is the three seconds (or less) between 0:42 and 0:45, and his head is clearly visible during that entire period.

Second Update | Here’s raw video of the altercation and its aftermath. Although Roskowski claimed that someone said “take his gun” before the officer unholstered his weapon, no such statement can be heard.

Morning Update | Here are some more thoughts on yesterday’s events, and what they mean for the University of California.

November 26, 2011 | I tweeted a link to this post this morning, as it seemed worth mentioning in light of recent events. Unfortunately the videos linked above are no longer online, and I have been unable to find footage of the entire incident. You can, however, see video of Officer Kemper pointing his gun at unarmed students here.

The Carleton University Student Association is having a busy November.

CUSA sued last week to force their university to release some three million dollars in student fees that the administration has been holding hostage in an accountability/autonomy dispute. And now they’ve moved to de-charter Carleton Lifeline, a campus pro-life organization.

A letter from CUSA’s vice president for internal affairs, Khaldoon Bushnaq, to Lifeline cited the following student association policy as the basis for their decision:

CUSA and CUSA Inc. respect and affirm a woman’s right to choose her options in case of pregnancy

CUSA further affirms that actions such as any campaign, distribution, solicitation, lobbying, effort, display, event etc. that seeks to limit or remove a woman’s right to choose her options in the case of pregnancy will not be supported. As such, no CUSA resources, space, recognition or funding will be allocated for the purpose of promoting these actions.

The association’s pro-choice policy has been in effect since 1997, and it is not clear why Carleton Lifeline, which was chartered four years ago, has been allowed to operate as a recognized organization until now. A Lifeline representative speculated, however, that CUSA’s decision may stem from an October incident in which five Lifeline members were arrested while attempting to display graphic anti-abortion posters on campus.

CUSA has given Lifeline until tomorrow to submit a revised constitution that comports with the association’s pro-choice policies.

It’s seven o’clock in the morning in California, and the November meeting of the UC regents is scheduled to get underway soon. Topping their agenda is another steep tuition increase.

When the regents met last fall at UCLA some three thousand students were on hand to protest their imposition of a 32% fee hike, but at least some student activists expect a smaller turnout this time around. Ricardo Gomez, External Affairs Vice President of the Associated Students of the University of California, told the Daily Cal this week that the meeting’s staging at UC San Francisco Mission Bay — a medical center and teaching hospital with no undergraduate student body — is likely to suppress student turnout.

Buses and carpools are heading to San Francisco this morning from across the state, however, and some activists are still hoping to shut the meeting down.

8:10 am PST | Tweeter @reclaimuc says that “approx 200” protesters are on the scene, with more en route.

9:00 am | Reports on Twitter suggest that student activists faced off with cops in a parking garage on campus. Police are said to have arrested at least two students. “Most” of the regents are said to have made it into the meeting, and protesters are apparently leaving the garage. A tweet from the student regent says that the meeting has begun.

11:20 am | Activists apparently made an effort to storm the meeting not long after my last update. Several more arrests have been made, including a vice president of the Berkeley student government. Police have pepper-sprayed a number of demonstrators, and one source has claimed on Twitter that an officer on the scene unholstered his gun and pointed it at a protester.

As noted earlier, the University of California board of regents will be meeting at UC San Francisco Mission Bay beginning tomorrow to consider yet another massive fee increase. Protests against the move are taking place at several UC campuses today.

Berkeley

Activists blocked access to California Hall, Berkeley’s administration building, early this morning. As of nine am California time one entrance was reportedly re-opened.

Davis

Students, faculty, and staff staged a teach-out, as well as a banner drop with a list of demands.

Santa Cruz

At this hour (1:30 pm PT) protesters are on the move, marching through campus. Governor Schwarzenegger is on campus today, and the marchers are reportedly heading in his direction.

The next meeting of the University of California regents doesn’t start until tomorrow, but Berkeley’s activists are starting the protests early.

The regents are expected to impose a new eight percent fee hike at this week’s meeting, and other proposals on the agenda are meeting with student resistance as well. Students will be coming in to protest the meeting from all over the state, and we’ll be covering that story as it develops.

This morning, though, at six-thirty, activists at Berkeley gathered at California Hall, UCB’s administration building. It’s now 7:45 am on the West Coast, and according to reports on Twitter, all entrances to the building have been blocked.

Follow @reclaimuc and @callie_hoo for updates on Twitter, and check back here for more news as I get it.

8 am California time | As I posted last night, actions are reportedly in the works this morning at UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz as well.

9 am | The action is still going on. The blog Occupy California has a photo from the scene, and a report that the UCPD have managed to secure one entrance to the building, with the others still blockaded.

9:45 am | Another Berkeley activist blog — The University Belongs to Those Who Use It — has posted a report and a photo. They note that UCPD has received reinforcements from the Alameda County Sheriff.

10:20 am | Here’s the Facebook event page for the planned UC Santa Cruz action, scheduled to start at noon.

1:30 pm | Continuing coverage of events at Berkeley, Davis, and Santa Cruz today can be found here.