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Occupy Cal, November 15, 2011

Occupy Cal included a series of demonstrations that began on November 9, 2011, on the University of California, Berkeley campus in Berkeley, California. It was allied with the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City, San Francisco Bay Area Occupy groups such as Occupy Oakland, Occupy Berkeley, and Occupy San Francisco, and other public California universities. "Cal" in the name "Occupy Cal" is the nickname of the Berkeley campus and generally refers specifically to UC Berkeley.

One stated focus of Occupy Cal demonstrations is the role of education in job creation and societal well-being.[citation needed][opinion] Tuition increases for students, mandatory furloughs for professors and staff, firings or forced realignment of lower-ranking workers as part of the "Operational Excellence" reorganization, and raises for the highest-paid administrators have further fueled discontent.[1][2][3]

Occupy Cal continued to engage in organized meetings, events and actions through March 2012.[4]

Background

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See also: 2009 California college tuition hike protests

Budget cuts, tuition increases, and unpaid furlough days affecting public California universities have been the target of protests by UC Berkeley students, faculty, and employees in recent years. The UC Regents has approved increased tuition fees nine times in seven years. In September 2009, several thousand students, faculty, and employees converged on Sproul Plaza to protest a proposed tuition increase of 32%. Simultaneous protests on the University of California and California State University campuses occurred throughout the state.[5] The statewide campus protests did not sway the UC Regents, however, and the 32% tuition increase was approved in November 2009, setting off another round of protests that included the temporary occupation of campus buildings.[6] Protests continued through 2010 [7][8][9] and 2011[10][11] with Occupy Cal being the most recent iteration of a multi-year protest for affordable public education. UC Berkeley has a long history of student activism. Berkeley spearheaded the Free Speech Movement in 1964 and was a leader in the opposition to the Vietnam War throughout the 1960s.[12]

Timeline

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November 9 protest and police response

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External videos
video icon Police response to Occupy Cal protesters on YouTube, Nov 9

On November 9, 2011, students and professors at UC Berkeley participated in a series of "teach-outs" around campus, a noon rally and march. Approximately 1,500 demonstrators attended the day's events.[13] The march route included a Bank of America location adjacent to campus. Not long after demonstrators set up seven tents in front of Upper Sproul Plaza in the mid-afternoon, law enforcement officials from UC Berkeley Police, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and other UC Police officers in riot gear arrived to remove the tents.[14][15] Protesters linked arms to form a human chain in front of the tents to prevent officers from dismantling the encampment. Police used 36-inch riot batons to "jab" and push back the protesters and to break the human chain.[13]

Video footage of the afternoon confrontation shows police using batons and dragging two protesters by the hair, one of whom was UC Berkeley English professor Celeste Langan.[16][17] 39 protesters, including Professor Langan, were arrested for charges including "resisting and delaying a police officer in the performance of their duties and failure to disperse when given a dispersal order."[18] Robert Hass, a UC Berkeley professor of poetry and former United States Poet Laureate, wrote about the police response in a November 19 New York Times opinion piece entitled "Poet-Bashing Police":

The deputies in the cordon surged forward and, using their clubs as battering rams, began to hammer at the bodies of the line of students. It was stunning to see. They swung hard into their chests and bellies. Particularly shocking to me — it must be a generational reaction — was that they assaulted both the young men and the young women with the same indiscriminate force. If the students turned away, they pounded their ribs. If they turned further away to escape, they hit them on their spines.[19]

Hass himself was hit in the ribs by a police officer wielding a baton. His wife Brenda Hillman was shoved to the ground by a police officer.[19]

Reactions

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UC Berkeley administration and police

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In response to questions about the officer's use of force, UC Police Captain Margo Bennett stated:

The individuals who linked arms and actively resisted, that in itself is an act of violence.[20]

Robert Birgeneau, UC Berkeley Chancellor, George Breslauer, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, and Harry Le Grande, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs initially released a "Message to the Campus Community" in which they stated, "It is unfortunate that some protesters chose to obstruct the police by linking arms and forming a human chain to prevent the police from gaining access to the tents". They described the protesters’ actions as not meeting the criteria for non-violent civil disobedience." The administrators also stated, "We regret that, given the instruction to take down tents and prevent encampment, the police were forced to use their batons to enforce the policy. We regret all injuries, to protesters and police, that resulted from this effort. The campus's Police Review Board will ultimately determine whether police used excessive force under the circumstances."[21]

Following media criticism and statements of disapproval[quantify] from the university community and academic departments[22] Chancellor Birgeneau released a further "Message regarding events on campus" in which he stated, "I returned to Berkeley yesterday after a week-long trip to Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai where we successfully advanced some important new partnerships that will benefit our campus... While away, I remained in intermittent contact with Provost George Breslauer and other members of our leadership team and was kept informed, as much as possible, about the Occupy Cal activities on campus. However, it was only yesterday that I was able to look at a number of the videos that were made of the protests on November 9. These videos are very disturbing. The events of last Wednesday are unworthy of us as a university community." Birgeneau also stated, "We cannot condone any excessive use of force against any members of our community," and granted amnesty to students involved in the protests. Some members of the university community expressed skepticism regarding Birgeneau's statement about video access.[17]

Police Review Board (PRB) released a report on May 29, 2012, reflecting on the events of November 9.[23] They make it very clear that this is not something they typically do, but given the circumstances and the request of the chancellor to look into the case, the PRB was forced to investigate. They collected a variety of evidence and conducted interviews with key players to understand the scope of the events. They concluded that not all instances of police conduct were consistent with campus norms, and were disturbed by the inappropriate use of batons against students and faculty. The PRB noted the potential for deviations from police conduct standards even with comprehensive training. They encouraged Berkeley campus police and leaders to review their report so as to better understand the scope of their actions and make future improvements to how they handle protests.

BAMN, a civil rights advocacy organization, promotes action 'By Any Means Necessary' and they responded to the PRB review strongly.[24] BAMN wrote an article in which they proposed that the PRB should be boycotted now and in the future because they have a conflict of interest. This is a conflict of interest because they claim that the board is appointed by and answers to Chancellor Birgeneau, which would in turn taint their unbiased review.[25]

UC faculty and students

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The ASUC, UC Berkeley's Student Government, was "outraged by the brutal tactics used by the UCPD against students."[26] With support from other student governments including UC Davis, Brown, and Harvard, the ASUC, UC Berkeley's student government, passed a resolution condemning the police brutality against students on the November 9 Day of Action.[citation needed] The ASUC has worked to raise awareness of issues such as police brutality highlighted by the Occupy incident. In a packed auditorium at International House, Berkeley's Academic Senate also considered a resolution, which would have expressed no confidence in Birgeneau and other senior campus administrators, but the resolution failed.[citation needed] While much of the energy of Occupy dissipated during the campus winter vacation, subsequent encampments have been set up as recently as mid-February 2012 outside the International House at the corner of Bancroft and Piedmont.[citation needed]

The Department of Integrative Biology stated, "We are deeply disturbed by the images of violence against members of the campus community, as well as the justification and defense of these acts that followed"[22] The School of Social Welfare issued an open letter to the campus community stating, "We are outraged and appalled by the violent silencing of UC Berkeley student voices."[27] 70 faculty of the School of Law condemned the police action and called for "a re-establishment of the campus's reputation as a beacon of free speech".[28] 2,363 faculty and staff stated, "We express no confidence in the willingness of the Chancellor, and other leaders of the UC Berkeley administration, to respond appropriately to student protests, to secure student welfare, and to respect freedom of speech and assembly on the Berkeley campus."[29]

Other reactions

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Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich responded to the Occupy Cal movement by saying that he believed inequality is bad for everyone. Reich says that Median households are dropping, adjusted for inflation, and is worried about where people are going to get the money to keep the economy going.[30] If there isn't money for the middle class to spend the economy will hurt across the board.

General strike on November 15

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Occupy Cal General Assembly at night

In response to the actions of police officers and other perceived failings of Chancellor Birgeneau and the UC Regents, the Occupy Cal voted to call for a general strike at UC Berkeley on November 15, 2011. The timing of the strike and protests was intended to coincide with a meeting of the UC Regents the next day, which was then cancelled by UC Regents and administrators from the UC Office of the President, citing "credible law enforcement intelligence". Many students and faculty did not attend classes and walked out, or incorporated teach-ins, or spent at least part of the day actively protesting. The UC Davis Faculty Association also voted to endorse the November 15 systemwide strike.[31] Events included a downtown march past Berkeley High School and Berkeley City College, speeches, and resolutions.[citation needed]

A small encampment was set up and allowed to exist for a day before being peacefully dismantled on November 17, with 2 voluntary arrests at 3:30 AM. Approximately 100 to 120 police in riot gear were used to dismantle the tents and make the arrests. Following that, tents were flown over Upper Sproul using balloons, including a banner claiming "Our Space".[citation needed]

On November 18, newspaper reports indicate that UC Davis police officers used pepper spray on protesters sitting peacefully on the ground.[32][33]

On December 11, the last day to date of the visible presence of Occupy Cal on the Mario Savio steps of Sproul Hall, a UC Berkeley student who took a vow of silence as a means of non-violent protest, was arrested, apparently under Section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code.[34]

UC Berkeley Anthropology Library Occupation 2012

On January 17, 2012, a proposal was brought to the Occupy Cal General Assembly to occupy UC Berkeley's George and Mary Foster Anthropology Library due to a recent decision by the administration to reduce the library's hours and service offerings.[35] As part of the overall trend of privatization and divesting of public resources, the university has reduced spending on its libraries by 12 percent since 2012.[36] With mass approval by the General Assembly, members of Occupy Cal decided to lead a study-in of the anthropology library on January 19 to demand the reinstatement of the library's hours and resources.

On January 19, 2012, following a noon-time rally by the larger Occupy Cal community, a group of roughly 100 students, faculty, and staff occupied the anthropology library and sent their demands to the administration.[35] The non-violent study-in lasted 3 days and 2 nights, and involved several email exchanges between administration, and students and faculty.[37]

Following the cutting of the library hours, on January 19, 2012, Occupy Cal hosted a study-in of the George and Mary Foster Anthropology Library to demand reinstatement of the library's hours and services.[38] On January 21, 2012, the occupiers were notified by the administration that their demands would be met and library hours would be reinstated.[39][40]

On January 21, 2012, the occupiers were notified by the administration that their demands would be met: library hours would be reinstated, and a replacement job would be created to achieve regular access to the library.[39] While many non-tangible successes were achieved by Occupy Cal, the reinstatement of the anthropology library's hours represented a concrete, observable success in protecting the accessibility and quality of education at the University of California, Berkeley.[40]

Lawsuit

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BAMN and twenty-nine protesters sued the UC-Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau, other administrators, UCPD, and other Alameda County Sheriffs for $15 million for excessive force, false arrests, and violation of First Amendment rights from the November 9 protests. They cited other cases where excessive force was used on Occupy protestors and instances where camping was allowed to strengthen their case.[41] The lawsuit went on for a number of years and the organization BAMN presented evidence and legal arguments suggesting that police and administrator actions were excessive and impacted political speech.[42] BAMN encouraged people to attend the final hearing on Sept. 10, 2013, claiming that this was a major part of the movement and that without the support of the community, the protests on Nov. 9th were in vain.[43] Reports indicate the lawsuit sought $15 million in damages, though a final verified outcome is not cited here.[44][45]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Gordon, Larry (9 November 2011). "UC to seek state funds to avoid tuition hike next year". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  2. ^ Barry Bergman (July 10, 2009). "Furloughs, pay cuts proposed for UC staff and faculty". UCBerkeleyNews. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  3. ^ Nanette Asimov (August 18, 2011). "Cash-strapped UC hands out millions in raises". SFGate.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  4. ^ "Occupy Cal". occupycal.net. Occupy Cal. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  5. ^ Wollan, Malia (25 September 2009). "California university cuts protested". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  6. ^ "Fee hikes bring student protests back to California universities". Christian Science Monitor. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  7. ^ Josh Wolf (March 3, 2010). "Timeline: UC Berkeley fee increase protests". Oakland North. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  8. ^ Jesse McKinley (March 5, 2010). "Timeline: California students protest education cuts". The New York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  9. ^ Terry McSweeney (November 19, 2010). "Tuition hikes spark UC Berkeley protests". KGO-TV. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  10. ^ Mihir Zaveri (March 4, 2011). "Protesters on ledge at UC Berkeley come down". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on March 8, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  11. ^ Nanette Asimov (September 23, 2011). "UC Berkeley students protest tuition hikes, cuts". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  12. ^ "Days of Cal | Berkeley in the 60s".
  13. ^ a b Hollyfield, Amy (10 November 2011). "Occupy Cal calm, but ready for showdown". KGO-TV. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  14. ^ Asimov, Nanette (11 November 2011). "Occupy Cal protesters vote to strike on Tuesday". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  15. ^ Asimov, Nanette (10 November 2011). "UC campus police move in on student protesters". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  16. ^ Gollan, Jennifer (11 November 2011). "UC Berkeley Pledges to Investigate Police Response to Occupy Cal Protest". The Bay Citizen. Archived from the original on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  17. ^ a b Jennifer Gollan (November 14, 2011). "UC Berkeley Investigating Police Tactics". The Bay Citizen. Archived from the original on November 18, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
  18. ^ Bowe, Rebecca (10 November 2011). "Occupy Cal makes its dramatic entrance". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  19. ^ a b Hass, Robert (November 19, 2011). "Poet-Bashing Police". The New York Times. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
  20. ^ Kane, Will (11 November 2011). "UC cops' use of batons on Occupy camp questioned". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  21. ^ Khan, Sara (10 November 2011). "Campus administrators send out message responding to Occupy Cal demonstrations". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  22. ^ a b Sarah Burns (November 14, 2011). "Integrative biology faculty, students condemn campus response to Occupy Cal". The Daily Californian. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
  23. ^ Police Review Board (2012). "Report on November 9, 2011" (PDF). Committee of U.C. Berkeley Police Review Board.
  24. ^ "About BAMN". BAMN. 2011-04-20. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  25. ^ "BAMN responds to UC-Berkeley Police Review Board report". BAMN. 2012-06-12. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  26. ^ Applegate, Jamie (13 November 2011). "Reactions to the police response to Occupy Cal on Nov. 9". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  27. ^ "An Open Letter To:The Office of the Chancellor, UC Berkeley, California Members of the National Association of Social Workers, Students, Faculty and Alumni of the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare". University of California, Berkeley. September 15, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  28. ^ Samad, Aaida. "UC Berkeley School of Law faculty condemn police actions at Occupy Cal". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  29. ^ "Open letter to Chancellor Birgeneau". originally on www.ipetitions.com and reposted by UCSD Faculty Association.
  30. ^ "Nearly half of young millennials believe the American Dream is dead". infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  31. ^ Davis Faculty Association Endorses Occupy Cal’s Call for Strike
  32. ^ Kent, Julie (19 November 2011). "UC Davis Police Brutally Pepper Spray OWS Protesters Sitting Peacefully on Campus". The Cleveland Leader. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  33. ^ Pringle, Paul; Quinones, Sam (19 November 2011). "UC Davis chief launches probe into pepper-spraying of Occupy protesters". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  34. ^ Morris, J. D (11 December 2011). "Silent UC Berkeley protester detained". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  35. ^ a b Staff, Afsana Afzal (19 January 2012). "Occupy Cal to hold demonstration in Anthropology Library". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  36. ^ D (2009-10-16). "reclaim UC: What a coincidence!". reclaim UC. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  37. ^ "Occupy The Library". The New Inquiry. 2012-01-21. Archived from the original on 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  38. ^ Staff, Amruta Trivedi /Senior (20 January 2012). "Protesters occupy campus library". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  39. ^ a b D (2012-01-23). "reclaim UC: "We Won!": Reflections on Two Occupations of the Same Library". reclaim UC. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  40. ^ a b "Occupy Cal library protest ends". Berkeley News. 30 November 2001. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  41. ^ "BAMN files brief to hold UC-Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau and administrators responsible for Occupy Cal police brutality". BAMN. 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  42. ^ "BAMN demands right to put UC-Berkeley administrators, police on trial for brutality against 'Occupy Cal'". BAMN. 2015-07-31. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  43. ^ "FILL THE COURT Tuesday, Sep. 10 to Win Justice for Occupy Cal Protesters!". BAMN. 2013-09-08. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  44. ^ "Police beatings recounted in $15 million lawsuit against UC Berkeley administrators, police". www.lexisnexis.com. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  45. ^ "BAMN, Occupy Cal Protesters Win Legal Victory: UC-Berkeley Administrators Stay in Lawsuit!". BAMN. 2014-01-17. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
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