BERKELEY, Calif. (KCBS RADIO) – UC Berkeley has indefinitely paused construction at the historic People's Park after a pre-dawn, unannounced police operation was met with resistance and led to multiple arrests on Wednesday.
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An Alameda County judge last Friday gave the university the go-ahead to begin a long planned $312 million student housing project, which has been delayed by numerous legal challenges filed by advocates for unhoused people. Under cover of darkness, starting just before midnight, university police, some in riot gear, surrounded the green space as construction crews erected fencing around the park to prevent interference.
The operation was quickly met by dozens of protestors hoping to halt the construction.
Tensions between opponents and university police and construction crews fluctuated throughout the day, with authorities attempting to clear people out while protesters blocked construction efforts. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, multiple vehicles and equipment had wires clipped, spark plugs removed and unknown materials dumped into their gas tank.
The situation reached a head at approximately 12:30 p.m. when multiple people were arrested for allegedly tearing down some of the fencing around the park. Just after 2 p.m., UC Berkeley announced they had paused construction at People's Park indefinitely due to "the destruction of construction materials, unlawful protest activity, and violence."
It wasn't immediately clear how many arrests were made.
KCBS Radio reached out to UC Berkeley police for more information and has not received a reply.
University Spokesperson Dan Mogulof previously said Wednesday morning they had no plans for a forced removal of the protestors, which is why they moved in overnight. "Obviously at a time when the park is least populated and there are fewer people there, that minimizes the chance for confrontation," Mogulof told KCBS Radio.
"If we decide that we can't proceed in a safe manner, we'll step back, we'll slow down," he continued. "We have an objective and our objective is to have urgently needed student housing ready to roll two years from now."
As many as 100 people lived in People's Park several months ago, many of whom vowed not to allow the park to become student housing.
"I feel it's injustice, I don't feel the need to put up fences around the park," a People's Park resident named Sidewalk Sam, explained on Wednesday morning. "I think the park should be free along with the people in this city."
"This is my home, this is where I can be free and stuff," another person said. "This is my park."
People's Park was a central area for Vietnam War and civil rights protests in the 1960s, and was a hub for the free speech movement. In recent years the park has become a refuge for unhoused people.
Mogulof said the unhoused people are not being left high and dry.
"The state, the city and the campus spent millions of dollars to provide transitional housing for the unhoused people that have been here," he said.
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