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Updated: Goodbye, and Good Riddance (?) to Camp Occupy Berkeley
Police said they'd enforce no-camping restrictions in Civic Center Park, but they didn't say when. When has since come and gone—and so has the encampment. Goodbye, and good riddance?
Twenty-five Occupy addicts, and some curiosity-seekers showed up at Thursday's general assembly, in Civic Center Park, to debate responses to the city's take-down of the camp. Many denounced the troubled camp, but some supported it.
One Occupier tried to rally the GA to march across the street to the Berkeley police station, but had to do so, himself. After 10 minutes, he returned—a man without a crowd.
The GA was disrupted repeatedly, as police staged a ten-man mop-up operation of the few remaining tents in the now barren and soggy park, as sprinklers tried to save the life of a trampled lawn.
Disruptions were not caused by the police, who probably could have lived without scourging from the angry protesters, who raced from the GA to give the cops a chunk of their minds.
Two tents were carefully removed in the surgical action. The confiscated tents can be reclaimed later, the police said: two tents, ten officers, city refuse vehicles, and angry rebukes.
Where GAs will meet in the future is an open question, as is the future of Occupy Berkeley, which had hosted—and possibly become attached to—one of the longest surviving Occupy encampments in the nation.
Late Wednesday OB tried to save some of the camp by relocating it to Bank of America Civic Center Plaza, where half a dozen tents shifted two blocks from MLK Park for a new lease on camp life.
But by 5 a.m., according to reports from a camper at the scene, Berkeley Police, "snuck up on us, kicked us off the plaza, and took our gear." According to a source at the scene, a veteran camper lost his second tent, and "is pissed."
Police also shooed-off close to a dozen occupiers, who posted protest signs at the front of Bank of America. According to one of the protesters the protest signs were confiscated. Now he too is "pissed," saying he plans to enlist District 7 councilman Kriss Worthington to help with a “violations of constitutional rights” complaint.
A march around MLK Park's perimeter, which was called for 10 p.m. Wednesday by the O.B. general assembly, was a no-show. It was snot the first time a GA-backed initiative had died of inertia.
Near midnight, the once fat city had turned lean, with only stragglers remaining.
An OB veteran of nearly two months said, "we've been cut off at the waist, so that now we can grow from the head." Many veterans of Berkeley's Occupation movement say they are ready for a new phase.
Protesters who spent Wednesday afternoon building up steam for a stand-off with police, kept the faith near midnight, exhorting on-lookers to either "go to your warm apartments, or camp with us." Few stayed.
Boasts from Occupying Oaklanders, that their ranks would swell with fresh blood, turned out to be bravado, as a scene that might have spun out of control was reigned in, perhaps by a scare-squad of Berkeley police bearing shelter info leaflets earlier Wednesday night that no one took.
Alan Wang, Channel 7, one of a gang of major media covering yet another Occupy eviction, contacted Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates at home sometime after 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Bates held a brief (exclusive) interview with Wang near City Hall on Center street, according to Wang, in which the mayor disclosed that cops would not be moving in for the time being.
Was the mayor out of the loop, or part of a plan?
According to the Oakland Tribune, "police detained three people they believed were going to vandalize police headquarters late Wednesday night.
"Campers said police then drove onto the park grounds in patrol cars and began confiscating tents. Some campers left while others stayed and confronted officers, who used batons to push them back, according to police and campers.
A second confrontation happened at 1:15 a.m. when police say a crowd swarmed a public works crew and climbed onto their truck. Video from the early morning shows police striking some protesters with batons," according to the Trib.
Ted Friedman returned to his less-than-warm apartment late Wednesday, having missed events at 1:15 a.m.
There have been 33 reported calls for BPD services related to Occupy Berkeley since October 23, 2011, 24 of which are classified as crimes. During some of the investigations at the scene, victims did not wish to cooperate with BPD officers. There are crimes and other incidents that may be unreported, thus are not documented by BPD.I
