The Chancellor of UC Berkeley sent us all this email about the police brutality (I work there)

[lunatica]

Of course it was at 4:30 when most of campus had gone home for the long weekend. It smells like the Friday night news dump.

************

To the Extended UC Berkeley Community:

As you know, yesterday an effort was made to establish an encampment on Sproul
Plaza, by the "Occupy Cal" movement. This followed and marred the aftermath of an
impressive, peaceful noontime rally on Sproul on behalf of public education, which
was attended by some 3,000 participants and observers, including many campus
leaders. We compliment the organizers and speakers for setting an example of
peaceful protest and mobilization. As we informed the campus community earlier this
week, we understand and share the concern of the Occupy movement about the extreme
concentration of wealth in US society and the steady disinvestment in public higher
education by California and other States.

We want to clarify our position on "no encampments" so you better understand why we
do not allow this to occur on our campus. When the no-encampment policy was
enacted, it was born out of past experiences that grew beyond our control and
ability to manage safely. Past experiences at UC Berkeley, along with the present
struggles with entrenched encampments in Oakland, San Francisco, and New York City,
led us to conclude that we must uphold our policy.

This decision is largely governed by practical, not philosophical, considerations.
We are not equipped to manage the hygiene, safety, space, and conflict issues that
emerge when an encampment takes hold and the more intransigent individuals gain
control. Our intention in sending out our message early was to alert everyone that
these activities would not be permitted. We regret that, in spite of forewarnings,
we encountered a situation where, to uphold our policy, we were required to forcibly
remove tents and arrest people.

We want to thank our student leaders, faculty, and community members who worked hard
to maintain a peaceful context last night. We have been in discussions with the
ASUC, Graduate Assembly, and other student leaders who have provided a number of
alternative proposals for working with the student protesters. One such discussion
led last night to our offering protesters the opportunity to use Sproul Plaza 24/7
for one week, as a venue for gathering and discussing the issues. However, we
stipulated that no tents, stoves, and sleeping bags would be allowed. They could
gather in Sproul for discussion, but not for sleeping. This was rejected by a vote
of the mass of the protesters.

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.
This is not non-violent civil disobedience. By contrast, some of the protesters
chose to be arrested peacefully; they were told to leave their tents, informed that
they would be arrested if they did not, and indicated their intention to be
arrested. They did not resist arrest or try physically to obstruct the police
officers' efforts to remove the tent. These protesters were acting in the tradition
of peaceful civil disobedience, and we honor them.

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.

We call on the protesters to observe campus policy or, if they choose to defy the
policy, to engage in truly non-violent civil disobedience and to accept the
consequences of their decisions.

We ask supporters of the Occupy movement to consider the interests of the broader
community---the tens of thousands who elected not to participate in yesterday's
events. We urge you to consider the fact that there are so many time-tested ways to
have your voices heard without violating the one condition we have asked you to
abide by.

Robert J. Birgeneau, Chancellor
George Breslauer, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Harry LeGrande, Vice Chancellor for Studies Affairs

[Angry Dragon]

1. Linking arms is violent??

[enough]

2. quote: ... the police were forced to use their batons to enforce the policy.

snip>

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.

snip>

Interesting uses of the words FORCED and FORCE and ENFORCE.

Thanks for letting us see this. Interesting.

[lunatica]

3. One of the Vice Chancellors was trying to get the Occupy group to only

put up their encampment for a week. The students had a General Assembly and voted against it.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/11/10/us/AP-US-Occupy-Universities.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=Berkeley&st=nyt

snip...

The university reported earlier that an administrator had told the protesters they could stay around the clock for a week, but only if they didn't pitch tents or use stoves or other items that would suggest people were sleeping there.

The protesters voted not to comply with the demand and to go ahead with setting up a tent site they dubbed "Occupy Cal" to protest financial policies they blame for causing deep cuts in higher education spending.

[JDPriestly]

16. Problem is that traditional methods of drawing attention to the fact

that there is a lot of money for crazy state commissions but not enough for education, health care and other vital services have not worked.

[JDPriestly]

15. "You made me do it" says the abusive husband to his wife.

Actually, the language the husband uses to "explain" his self-defense (ha!) is, "But she . . . ." You can change the pronouns and substitute wife for husband if you want because women can also commit physical abuse.

There is a difference between words and weapons, a difference between insult and physical injury.

Ask any judge who hears domestic violence cases (and I repeat the victim is not always female).

[msongs]

4. "intransigent indivduals" = out of control police clubbing unarmed students nt

[backscatter712]

5. What a crock of shit!

Linking arms is "not non-violent"?

What's he been smoking?

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. I gotta say it, news dump

you are correct

[Downwinder]

7. Had over 10,000 live feeds.

[BiggJawn]

8. Translation: "You made the Police beat you"

Coulda been worse, they coulda called out the Ohio National Guard...

[anamandujano]

9. Talk about redefining violent and non-violent.

"We regret all injuries, to protesters and police, that resulted from this effort."

Some of the police must have stubbed a toe or broken a fingernail while being forced to club people.

"We ask supporters of the Occupy movement to consider the interests of the broader community---the tens of thousands who elected not to participate in yesterday's events. We urge you to consider the fact that there are so many time-tested ways to have your voices heard without violating the one condition we have asked you to abide by."

These "time-tested ways" have been tested timelessly and found wanting.

This feeble message reeks of "poor us."

[JDPriestly]

17. Time-tested ways that do not work nowadays.

Challenge the chancellor: prove over a period of two weeks that the time-tested ways work or permit us to occupy this space. We will go home when we feel heard and that we have a reasonable response to our claims.

[Aerows]

21. "His face violently assaulted my hand..

...and then his ribs violently assaulted my shoes!"

[slay]

10. Do they not understand the meaning of the words PROTEST - or OCCUPY?

sorry berkley authority people - you have let your students down and that is why they will protest, that is why they will occupy. if the people in charge hadn't failed so miserably and completely it wouldn't have come to this - but non-violent occupation will be the result. they would love it if we would just do as we are told and go back to "business as usual". not gonna happen. these so called authority figures just don't get it - at all it seems. this is not a game, this is not college kids playing around - this is about the future, their future, our future - and what direction it takes!

[coalition_unwilling]

11. Birgeneau should resign in total, utter disgrace - n/t

[SoDesuKa]

12. Birgeneau the "Feel Good" Chancellor

What a sweetheard he is, and now we see how completely out of his depth he has gotten. He was very slick standing on top of a car in Sproul Plaza dedicating it as Free Speech Plaza. He also looked good the day of Obama's Inauguration.



There's an opening at Penn State you might consider, Bob.

[coalition_unwilling]

13. Just emailed my state rep, Assemblyman Steven Bradford, to

demand he take action against the UC system for this outrageous waste of taxpayer money. Not holding my breath but, if I don't hear back from Bradford, I won't be voting for his re-election in 2012.

[Downwinder]

14. Hopefully, come Tuesday the whole system will come down.

[EFerrari]

18. I called his office last night and I bet a bunch of other people did, too.

What an ass.

[lunatica]

19. Kick for the early Sunday crowd

[Aerows]

20. Let's see

Linking arms vs. beating people with clubs.

Which would YOU classify as violent behavior? I know which one *I* classify as violent behavior. They linked arms and got a beat down and there were arrests.

10,000 people RIOTED over the dismissal of a pedophile enabler, destroyed property and overturned a news van and no one was arrested.

What the hell is wrong with our country?

[lunatica]

22. The thing most people don't know is that these are UC police

Not Berkeley police who haven't done a thing to stop the Occupy Berkeley group just a block away from the campus. The Mayor of Berkeley has stated that the city supports the right of its citizens to Occupy.

These thugs belong to the University of California. Their headquarters are on campus under Sproul Hall which is where the students are trying to Occupy.

[EFerrari]

23. UCPD and UCSFPD, Alameda Co. Sheriffs and OPD.

The Ustreamer was reading off their uniforms, names, badge and helmet numbers. But I was correcting people all night, too, who thought it was BPD.

[lunatica]

24. .