Protests erupt after People’s Park in Berkeley cordoned off

Will Tran
·2 min read
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BERKELEY, Calif. (KRON) — University of California, Berkeley started to close off the People’s Park construction site overnight Thursday ahead of plans to build housing for students and low-income housing residents. In the midst of the closure, a protest broke out, and police showed up in riot gear to move them away from work now underway in the park.

All four corners of People’s Park in Berkeley have been closed off by police from multiple agencies, including the California Highway Patrol. Authorities are monitoring the situation as cargo containers arrive and are being placed in a perimeter around the park.

Police descend on People’s Park as crews cut down trees and people are asked to leave in Berkeley, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Police officers in riot gear removed activists and crews put in shipping containers to wall off the historic park overnight as the University of California, Berkeley waits for a court ruling it hopes will allow it to build much-needed student housing. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group via AP)

The protests are peaceful, according to KRON4’s Will Tran at the scene. Protesters are not getting into the faces of police officers at this time. For a time, protesters were seen tipping garbage cans in an attempt to block the roadway, Tran said.

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UC Berkeley, the City of Berkeley, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Berkeley councilmembers want to resume construction on the People’s Park development.

Crews install shipping containers around the perimeter of People’s Park in Berkeley, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Police officers in riot gear removed activists and crews put in shipping containers to wall off the historic park overnight as the University of California, Berkeley waits for a court ruling it hopes will allow it to build much-needed student housing. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group via AP)

Crews are not currently allowed to resume construction on the 17-story building that will house about 1,100 students and a separate building that will house about 125 people, many of them unhoused. The construction is being held up in the Supreme Court of California.

People’s Park is important for the protesters to preserve because of its history as a civil rights activist gathering place in the 1960s.

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