The University of California, Berkeley said Wednesday afternoon that it was halting construction that began this morning on a student housing project in People’s Park due to “destruction of construction materials, illegal protest activity and violence.”
Police in riot gear descended on the square lot just off Telegraph Avenue before sunrise to clear a small homeless encampment and put up a fence around the area. A work crew arrived at the site as soon as the sun came up, bringing in construction equipment and cutting down trees.
A worker cuts down a tree in People’s Park in Berkeley, California, on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE
“Right now they are cutting trees in the park with chainsaws,” said Ramon Mendoza, who is part of a movement to preserve the park. A video posted on Twitter at 9:36 a.m. showed the tree in progress.
Listening to the awful sound of chainsaws in People’s Park. Watching the trees fall. Sad day for Berkeley. pic.twitter.com/JJtXKcrEfw
— Jimmy Devine (@JimiDevine) August 3, 2022
KRON posted video at 9:23 a.m. of protesters blocking construction trucks “to stop them from clearing trees.”
As the day progressed, more protesters descended on the area, tearing down the fence and flooding the park.
Protesters attempt to tear down a fence at People’s Park in Berkeley, California, on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE
UC Berkeley said several arrests had been made, but could not provide details on the number or charges as of 2 p.m.
The group Defend People’s Park said early this morning that several forklifts, large moving vehicles and fence trucks were in the park before sunrise.
“They are throwing away residents’ belongings,” the group wrote on Twitter.
A statement from the university said that when the work began this morning, two or three unaccommodated people were in the park who “had previously been offered shelter, repeatedly advised that the park would be closed soon, and informed that camping at night in the park is not allowed.”
“Last night, alternative shelter, transport and storage were again offered to each person when the park was closed, an offer that remains available to all who need and want it,” the university said.
People block contractors and their equipment used to cut down trees from leaving People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE
An Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled Friday that UC Berkeley can begin construction on a 16-story building that will house more than 1,100 students.
Activists and student groups stood on the sidelines protesting the park’s closure. They have long contested the university’s project and called for the site, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to remain a public green space.
Heavy equipment is seen pushing a redwood tree in People’s Park in Berkeley, California, on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE
Located at the center of the Bay Area’s expensive and notoriously tight real estate market, UC Berkeley faces a shortage of student housing; according to a 2017 study, it “has the lowest percentage of beds for its students of any campus in the UC system.” The survey also found that 10 percent of respondents self-identified as having experienced homelessness at some point while attending UC Berkeley.
In addition to student housing, the People’s Park housing complex will provide up to 125 apartments, offering supportive housing with on-site services for homeless and low-income residents, as well as outdoor landscaped spaces.
Protesters sit atop a structure in People’s Park in Berkeley, California, on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE
“More than 60 percent of the 2.8-acre site will be preserved as open space and revitalized into renewed parkland that reinforces the history of the site,” the university said. The site will also include “commemorating the park’s past and historical significance.”
The university’s plans also include providing temporary housing to people living in People’s Park, with services to help them transition to permanent housing, according to a website dedicated to the project.
This is a developing story and details will be added as they become available.
A lone protester sits in the last standing redwood tree in People’s Park in Berkeley, California, on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE
Police monitor an entrance previously used by contractors to enter the fenced area at People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE
A sign proclaiming ’53 years of resistance’ is seen in People’s Park in Berkeley, California, on Wednesday, August 3, 2022.
Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE
A person waves a finger at a California Highway Patrol trooper during a protest in People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE
A protester is led away by police after being detained during a protest in People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE
Protesters talk to each other as the California Highway Patrol polices a protest in People’s Park in Berkeley, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE
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