Below is a video of the Berkeley Police beating and teargassing protesters on Telegraph on Saturday night. Following is the BPD's account of what they've been doing. -more-

Over the past few days, a series of demonstrations have happened in the City of Berkeley in response to recent incidents in Missouri and New York. With its rich history in the Free Speech movement, the City of Berkeley is and remains committed to ensuring the public’s right to peacefully assemble and protest. -more-

The Ashby BART station has been closed due to a protest march in Berkeley tonight, according to BART officials. -more-

Numerous Bay Area schools are closing Thursday because of a potentially dangerous wind and rainstorm moving into the area. -more-

A protest march through three East Bay cities devolved into a burglary and robbery spree in Emeryville Tuesday night after Berkeley police arrested six people and the California Highway Patrol arrested 13 people blocking a highway in Oakland, law enforcement officials said today. -more-

With heavy rains and strong winds expected to hit the Bay Area Thursday and Friday, the Department of Insurance is urging residents to review their insurance policies today. -more-

Hundreds of people have made their way into Oakland after walking through city streets in downtown Berkeley tonight to protest decisions to not indict white police officers in the deaths of unarmed black men. -more-

Numerous Bay Area schools are closing Thursday because of a potentially dangerous wind and rainstorm moving into the area. -more-

Richmond police Chief Chris Magnus and other police department brass stood shoulder to shoulder with other community members during a peaceful protest against police brutality in the East Bay city today. -more-

Thank you all for reaching out to me regarding the recent protests of the killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and police brutality in general.

I am personally outraged over these killings and strongly support overall goal of these protests which is to raise awareness of the inequities in our criminal justice system and to make it clear that black lives matter. I have participated in these protests over the last two days to show my solidarity for this movement. However, as the Councilmember for the Downtown, I am concerned over incidents of vandalism and violence by a small fringe segment of these protests whose goal is confrontation and damage not advancing the broader movement.

I understand that these protests have elicited a wide range of feelings on all sides, which is why even though the Mayor has cancelled tonight’s City Council meeting, Councilmember Kriss Worthington and I will be on the steps of Old City Hall (2134 MLK) tonight at 7 pm to hear from the protestors and from residents about their views. -more-

The Mayor’s office has just released this statement:

Dear members of the news media,

The regular Berkeley City Council meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight, December 9, has been postponed, as well as the special Work Session scheduled for 5:30 p.m. this evening. The Council Chambers can hold about 125 people, and we understand substantially more people are interested in attending the meeting due to recent events in Berkeley. We want to ensure that the community has as much access as possible to public meetings. The Agenda for the December 9 meeting will be rescheduled for a future date and public notice will be given prior to that meeting. A notice of meeting cancellation will be issued by the City Clerk and publicly posted. We apologize for any inconvenience. -more-

The Berkeley City Council has postponed its scheduled meeting for this evening because of planned disruptions by protesters, Mayor Tom Bates' office announced this afternoon. -more-

James Chang, aide to Berkeley Councilmember Jesse Arreguin, confirmed today that Mayor Tom Bates informed him that tonight's City Council meeting is being cancelled because there might be protesters in attendance, and the council chambers would be too small to hold them all. Chang said that Bates as the council's presiding officer under the city charter, has the power to cancel meetings at his sole discretion. Councilmember Kriss Worthington told the Planet that his aide, Alejandro Soto-Vigil, had been told the same thing, but he pointed out that the city of Berkeley could use some larger meeting rooms in buildings owned by the Berkeley Unified School District or Berkeley City College if the size of the council chambers in Berkeley's Maudelle Shirek Building (Old City Hall) is really the problem which Bates fears. A call to the Mayor's press aide, Charles Burress (who used to cover Berkeley for the San Francisco Chronicle) has not been returned. -more-

2000 protesters surged onto the freeway and stopped traffic in both directions for hours in my neighborhood. They drove a vehicle onto the train tracks and stopped all the north-south train traffic. We figured they hated cars, but who knew they hated trains, one of my neighborhood's best features. -more-

Berkeley police have announced this morning they arrested nine people in a "relatively peaceful" protest Monday night. -more-

The California Highway Patrol has announced that it arrested more than 150 protesters in Monday's standoff that blocked traffic in both directions on Interstate Highway 80 in Berkeley for about 90 minutes. -more-

When I first read Linda Maio’s statement about the protests, what I wanted to say was this. If you don’t want violence to occur on these demostrations, all you have to do is send the police home. There will be peacefulness. But then someone convinced me that that wouldn’t be enough. What you, Linda, and the rest of the city council need to do is get out there with the demonstrators, make yourselves known, march with them, and offer some solidarity with their cry for justice. You do believe in justice, don’t you?

Do you know the difference between a police department and an occupying army? The role of a police department is to protect people's rights, especially their right to call for justice from their own government. The role of an army of occupation is to insure that people obey the rule of power, and that any disobedience be squelched. And that inherently implies violence.

But after the people took over interstate 80 and shut down the Bay Bridge I realized that you have a bigger job. In fact, the job you have is so big I don’t think you can even see it. It is, as they say, too big to see. -more-

Dear residents,

This message follows the City Manager’s statement I forwarded to you yesterday. This one is from me.

The injustice that came to national attention in Ferguson and then Staten Island has deep roots, characterized by racism and fear, and it is widespread. It cannot, must not, be tolerated any longer. The police from these communities report they are feared and hated. They have the weaponry, authority, and power. Like apartheid in South Africa, there are two different realities, one far more powerful than the other. The question before all of us, as a community and as a nation, is where do we go from here to advance meaningful change.

I respect and support the demonstrations’ intent, but the violence and vandalism cannot be tolerated. I am extremely dismayed by the level of destruction and loss visited upon our city and its merchants. A small group of people have wreaked havoc on our Downtown, the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center, and businesses in other areas of our city. It is cowardly and senseless, accomplishing nothing but enmity toward the legitimate and peaceful protests, and their intent, which I support. -more-

Protesters continue to snarl traffic in Berkeley tonight on city streets, the freeway, public transit and train tracks.

They have blocked both directions of the Eastshore Highway near University Avenue twice tonight within an hour.

About a hundred protesters were seen entering eastbound lanes of the Eastshore Highway near University Avenue and some jumped over the center divide to westbound lanes around 8 p.m. CHP officers were able to quickly take the protesters off the freeway.

The off-ramps to University Avenue from the freeway where Interstate Highway 80 and Interstate Highway 580 intersect have been closed.

At about 8:45 p.m., protesters were seen walking on eastbound and westbound lanes of the freeway near University Avenue bringing cars to a halt.

The approaches to eastbound Highway 80 from Highway 580, Interstate Highway 880 and the Bay Bridge have been closed due to the protests, CHP officials said. -more-

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Berkeley police are reporting this morning that the protest Sunday night and earlier this morning over the failure of a New York grand jury to indict a white officer in the death of an unarmed black man has ended. -more-

It appears the demonstration has concluded. We are sending our officers home. We would like to thank the many agencies that assisted us this. I wanted to provide you with a brief update, before I head home this morning. I will be in late tomorrow.

We made five arrests connected with the demonstration for various charges (I don’t have a specific list of charges at this time). One of the arrested individuals was also the responsible who damaged Trader Joes the previous night using his skateboard. Another individual was arrested, was responsible for throwing a heavy object on Saturday, injury one of our officers. They were arrested for those offenses as well as additional charges for last night’s demonstration. -more-

Follow on Twitter for live updates #Berkeleyprotests,

12:20 a. m. Demonstrators have continued to march south on Shattuck Avenue near Oregon Street.Vandalism reported at Any Mountain and Walgreens. (BPD via Nixle). For full details, view this message on the web.

12:31 a.m. Demonstrators are now in the area of Telegraph Avenue and Ashby Avenue. Receiving reports of vandalism and looting at Whole Foods Market on Telegraph. (BPD via Nixle).



Related Searches: #oaklandprotest, berkeleyside, berkeley, #berkeleyprotests tonight, #berkeleyprotests livestream -more-

Entered 4 minutes ago: Demonstrators now at Allston and MLK. Berkeley Police Department -more-

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates this afternoon released the following statement about the recent protests in Berkeley: -more-

(Saturday, December 6, 2014) -- It has just turned 10 o'clock. The sound of helicopters continues to rattle the night sky over North Berkeley. It's been like this for hours. -more-

From: Northern California Society of Professional Journalists Freedom of Information Committee Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2014 04:50 PM To: Berkeley Mayor's Office; Meehan, Michael Subject: Urgent - Police assault journalists in Berkeley

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates

Berkeley Police Chief Michael K. Meehan

By Email

Dear Mayor Bates and Chief Meehan:

The Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists condemns, in the strongest terms possible, the outrageous conduct of law enforcement officers who assaulted members of the media during last night’s (Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014) demonstrations in Berkeley, California. You have an obligation to ensure that all officers, including those providing mutual aid, respect the constitutional rights of the press.

SPJ has been in touch with a number of working journalists who say they were struck with police batons while working and clearly displaying press credentials. In one incident, a journalist who was on assignment tells SPJ that he was holding out press credentials and telling an officer he was a news photographer when struck. This same journalist also reported seeing a colleague take “serious blows” from police who “hit him with impunity,” despite the fact that the colleague was “obviously press.” Other reporters also described witnessing or experiencing similar assaults. -more-

Currently, the demonstrators are in the area of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street. Several businesses are being damaged and looted. As a safety precaution please avoid the area. -more-

(Saturday, December 6, 2014) -- It has just turned 10 o'clock. The sound of helicopters continues to rattle the night sky over North Berkeley. It's been like this for hours. -more-

Demonstrations in Berkeley against police brutality have moved into Oakland this evening and breached state Highway 24 at 51 Street, according to police and protesters.

A California Highway Patrol officer said eastbound Highway 24 was closed due to police activity. Reports and photos on Twitter showed protestors on the freeway blocking traffic.

Demonstrator Alessandro Tiberio said the protest began at Bancroft and Telegraph avenues around 5 p.m. with only 50 people. Soon, the crowd swelled to 500 or more, according to Tiberio and police.

Tiberio said the march started with "very positive energy." He came to the demonstration to support black people who are protesting, he said.

"I'm an ally," Tiberio said. "It's important to stay focused on the fact that black lives matter. It's not that all lives don't matter but I'm here to support especially the black people who are most often the ones victimized by the police."

Berkeley police Officer Jennifer Coats said at least one demonstrator sustained minor injuries when he tried to prevent a business's windows from being broken by someone at the demonstration. -more-

We live on Regent St. and were at home when we started having burning eyes, skin and lungs. It seems that the police had started firing tear gas at the demonstrators on Telegraph Avenue. This is the most densely populated area in the city and the result of this police action had a direct impact on the residents living up here. When I called the 911 number and reported the problem and asked them to stop the tear gassing, the dispatcher said it was the protestors who had used tear gas and missiles against the police. They did not seem to care that the police action of gassing Telegraph Avenue was harming residents. Shades of the 1960s and James Rector. -more-

Protesters tried to set fire to my apartment building last night, white people in masks who were stopped by my young Latino neighbors. The protesters brought a tank of gas with them to the march. We had to rescue a recycling bin, which they wanted to use as a barricade or perhaps burn. All this does is hemorrhage overtime pay into police pockets and frighten people away from joining marches.

We have children in this building. We have dozens of residents who stood in front of our apartments astonished at being targeted, watching the circling helicopters in the moonlit sky. We have everything in common with people who oppose police brutality and support police accountability. We are old and young, we are black, white, latino, asian, and pacific islanders. We are a rainbow community with stories of our own about police misconduct.

What do you masked protesters prove with broken windows? What message do you send by smashing into a grocery store, a yarn store, or even the local Wells Fargo branch, which is right under my neighbors' apartment homes?

I'm not someone who has not marched, sat in, gone to jail. But I will not provide cover for cowards who exploit a peaceful effort to join the national voice against police corruption at a crucial moment. Broken windows might catch a photographer's or reporter's attention momentarily, but whatever ambiguous message vandalism sends is not nearly as powerful as numbers, which masked vandals never seem to master. Peaceful, nonviolent tactics don't just sound nice; they are the practical path to change. -more-

Police this morning said six people were arrested during an overnight protest that turned violent in Berkeley. -more-

Hundreds of protesters marched from the UC campus down to west Berkeley and stopped traffic briefly at the corner of University and San Pablo Avenue Friday night. Protesters smashed glass and vandalized property at the intersection's largest building which has several commercial properties as well as 26 residential apartment units, some housing families with children, which are part of a low-income housing co-op. They tagged the front wall of the building with the traditional anarchist symbol of the letter A in a circle. The protesters attempted to set the building on fire until two young Latino tenants of the building, physically stopped them. -more-

In Berkeley about midnight tonight a line of unmarked white vans, SUVs and large sedan equipped with flashing red and blue lights moved across Bowditch adjacent to the First Church of Christ Scientist and People's Park, turning down Channing to park in the block between Bowditch and Telegraph.

At about 12:30 a group of demonstrators was contained on Telegraph at Channing between two lines of police in riot gear, with additional police lines a block away in either direction.

It seems very likely that mass arrests are imminent, and these vehicles have been assembled to transport arrested persons. -more-

A protest in Berkeley turned violent Saturday night when a small group of protestors began hurling bricks, pipes, smoke grenades and missiles at officers, police said. -more-

A standoff with police and protesters in Berkeley Saturday evening continued with police firing teargas and smoke at protesters to disperse them, police said. -more-

FERKELEY-- This evening, a peaceful protest turned violent when several splinter groups broke off and began hurling bricks, pipe, smoke grenades, and other missiles at officers. -more-

In the news in the last few weeks: multiple incidents where citizens have been killed by police officers for reasons that seem trivial or non-existent. They range in gravity from a policeman shooting a guy in Missouri who might or might not have pinched a few cigars all the way down to a twelve-year-old kid in Cleveland gunned down for flashing a toy gun in the wrong place at the wrong time. The common thread: all were African-Americans, and all had done nothing to merit summary execution. And none of the uniformed killers have been held to account. -more-