UC Police Issue Ultimatum to Tree-Sitters at Oak Grove 2-14-2007
For Immediate Release -
Contact: Doug Buckwald 510-845-6441 or 510-599-0044 (cell)
Berkeley, Calif. - UC Berkeley police arrived at the threatened Memorial Oak Grove in Berkeley Wednesday afternoon to issue an ultimatum to the tree-sitters occupying 6 trees in the oak grove and their ground support, demanding that all tree-sitters and support people vacate the area. UC police further threatened to return to remove people and fence the area if people did not vacate, without specifying when this would happen. This ultimatum contradicts what law enforcement discussed with Save the Oaks Coalition members yesterday at the grove. Ground support had been asked to shrink their footprint at the grove by removing gear, tables and tarps protecting people from rain, and clean up the site. People on site complied with this request, and law enforcement then specifically told oaks supporters that they "would not come to remove the people in trees."
The Save the Oaks Coalition maintains that the tree sitters are exercising their free speech rights by staging the protest in a public access area, i.e., the oak grove that UC Berkeley is planning to level to build a sports training facility.
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