2:05 p.m. From AP:
Student activists at the University of California, Berkeley are regrouping the day after police arrested dozens of Occupy protesters who tried to establish an encampment on campus.
Graduate student Amanda Armstrong says Occupy Cal activists are meeting Thursday evening to plan a demonstration Tuesday to protest budget cuts to higher education. It’s unclear whether they will again try to set up a camp.
Protesters are also planning to march to downtown Berkeley to protest big banks Thursday afternoon.
Campus police Capt. Margo Bennett says on Thursday morning police arrested one person who had pitched a tent near Sproul Plaza and attempted to stop an officer from taking it down.
Bennett says 39 protesters were arrested Wednesday after they clashed with police trying to dismantle a small camp next to the main plaza.
Also this from AP…Looks like the person who had pitched that lone tent only to have it confiscated by a police officer has been arrested. (See the 11:11 a.m. update.)
Campus police Capt. Margo Bennett says on Thursday morning police arrested one person who had pitched a tent near Sproul Plaza and attempted to stop an officer from taking it down.
11:11 a.m. Our reporter Peter Jon Shuler is at UC Berkeley today and reports the following odd incident, which happened around 10:40 a.m.:
I was on Sproul Plaza and suddenly saw a scuffle up on the steps of the administration building. An officer was walking hurriedly away with the one tent that had been erected as a symbol of the protest.
I didn’t see the officer actually grab the tent, but an eyewitness said he had snatched it in the midst of a peaceful teach-in, running up and grabbing it. As he ran off, I saw a crowd try to stop him, and he jabbed at them with his baton. The other officers then came to the officer’s aid, forming a circle around him and pushing people back with their batons.
One witness described the officer’s action as “like a three year old’s.”
Students are now discussing the incident and police are standing back.
11:30 a.m. Statement from the Berkeley Police Dept. today:
“There has been some widespread confusion as to the law enforcement entities that were involved in the Occupy Cal events of last evening. Members of the City of Berkeley Police Department (BPD) were not part of any mutual aid or assistance last evening/night. We have received calls and emails about our presence there.
Out of respect and policy, we defer to UCPD to speak to their jurisdiction, activities and what assistance they sought.”
“City of Berkeley Police department (BPD) did manage the protest/demonstration during a part of the afternoon of November 9, 2011 when the group of several hundred marched onto City of Berkeley streets which are our jurisdiction. Groups have often done this when protesting or demonstrating in the past. BPD had bike officers, motor officers, parking enforcement officers and patrol officers to maintain community safety, the safety of participants, officer safety and to monitor the group for any unlawful activity. There was much verbal energy but no arrests were made. It went fairly smoothly. BPD managed the march until the group returned to UC campus.”
11:35 a.m. The Daily Cal is live-blogging today’s events via Storify. The Oakland Tribune is also live-blogging.