At Least 8 Arrested at UC Berkeley After Concert & March

Indybay.org Saturday Dec 12th, 2009

   Students at UC Berkeley re-grouped Friday evening to protest the early
morning raid on the Open University at occupied Wheeler Hall. A rally
at Wheeler was followed by a concert and a march on the north side of
campus. Police dispersed the marching crowd and arrested at least 8,
who are being charged with "riot vandalism."

Students at UC Berkeley re-grouped Friday evening to protest the early
morning raid on the Open University at occupied Wheeler Hall. Police
raided Wheeler at around 5 am Friday morning while many of the students
occupying the building were asleep. 66 people were arrested. Students had
been occupying Wheeler since Monday, and the space was being used for
study sessions, lectures, workshops, and celebrations during "Dead Week,"
the time between the end of classes and the beginning of final
examinations.

At the evening rally, students denounced the arrests earlier that morning,
which came without warning. Campus police and administrators had seemed to
indicate that the students would be allowed to continue the occupation
until Friday. Students also pointed out that while the occupation had not
disrupted classes and study sessions at the building, the police locked
the building and closed it to students after the raid. Speakers stated
that the occupation was an example of how the university could be run and
that it was a critique against the privatized nature of the university.

After the rally, a concert, featuring Boots Riley from the Coup, that had
been scheduled to take place inside Wheeler Hall was held at an alternate
location. The concert was followed by a march on the north side of campus.
Police dispersed the marching crowd as it passed by the chancellor's
residence. At least 8 people were arrested and are being taken to Dublin
jail. They are charged with "riot vandalism."



8 arrested in vandalism of UC chancellor's home

Dec 13, 2009 SF Chronicle

(12-12) 19:15 PST BERKELEY -- Eight people were in custody Saturday after
a crowd of angry protesters broke windows and threw burning torches at UC
Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau's campus residence in protest of fee
hikes and budget cuts, authorities said.

As many as 75 people - some of them carrying torches - surrounded the
mansion, known as University House, on the north side of campus off Hearst
Avenue at about 11:15 p.m. Friday, police said.

The crowd, including a man taken into custody in a university protest a
day earlier, chanted, "No justice, no peace," and began smashing planters,
windows and lights. Several hurled their torches at the building, said
campus spokesman Dan Mogulof.

Birgeneau was sleeping at the time and was awakened by his wife, Mary
Catherine, Mogulof said. They were frightened, but unharmed, he said.

"These are criminals, not activists," Birgeneau said in a statement issued
Saturday morning. "The attack at our home was extraordinarily frightening
and violent. My wife and I genuinely feared for our lives."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger condemned the attack Saturday as a form of
terrorism.

"California will not tolerate any type of terrorism against any leaders,
including educators," Schwarzenegger said. "The attack on Chancellor
Birgeneau's home is a criminal act and those who participated will be
prosecuted under the fullest extent of the law."

The demonstrators had marched earlier Friday night from Wheeler Hall to
the chancellor's home. Most of the protesters ran away when police
arrived, but some of them threw torches and other objects at officers and
patrol cars, Mogulof said.

UC Berkeley police arrested Cal students Zachary Bowin, 21, and Angela
Miller, 20, on suspicion of rioting, threatening an education official,
attempted burglary, attempted arson of an occupied building, vandalism and
assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, Mogulof said.

Six nonstudents, Julia Litmancleper, 20, of San Francisco; John Friesen,
25, of Fullerton (Orange County); Donnell Allen, 41, of San Francisco;
David Morse, 41, of Oakland; Laura Thatcher, 21, of Rolling Hills Estates
(Los Angeles County); and James Carwil, 31, of Brooklyn, N.Y., were
arrested on the same charges.

Most of the eight remained in custody Saturday in lieu of $132,500 bail
and were scheduled to appear in court Monday or Tuesday.

The incident came a day after university police arrested 66 people -
including Friesen - in connection with a four-day protest last week at
Wheeler Hall. The building was also the site of a Nov. 20 occupation and
clash between protesters and officers from several law-enforcement
agencies.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.