If only protesters were really that scary

Via the San Francisco Chronicle:

The UC regents are expected to put the final seal today on a hefty 32 percent tuition increase as students resume the protests that shut down their board meeting three times Wednesday and required campus police in riot gear to maintain calm.

"Required" campus police in riot gear? Nowhere in the article is evidence provided that protesters were violent, or even armed. I find that specific choice of words troubling; it reinforces the distressingly common attitude that any action taken by law enforcement is by default proper and necessary.