Protestors clash at People's Park as authorities clear out, install shipping containers as barricades
BERKELEY, Calif. - People's Park was cleared out late Wednesday night into Thursday morning, and large shipping containers were brought in to barricade the area in Berkeley. The historic park has been cleared of people in preparation for new student housing to be built by the University of California, Berkeley.
UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said eight unhoused people were on site when police moved in. Of that group, two accepted shelter and the rest voluntarily left. Separately, a group of activists gathered to protest the park’s closure, of which seven people were arrested for refusing to leave.
UC Berkeley Police had support from other officers in the UC system, the California Highway Patrol, as well as the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, and San Francisco Sheriff’s Office. The university had tried to close the park in August 2022, but the attempt was met with vandalism and violence.
Now, construction crews are working to double stack shipping containers around the perimeter of the park, which will not come down until construction on housing is complete, according to Mogulof.
"It’s an extraordinary measure, but in order to close the park completely… which has become a significant location of crime, we needed to something extraordinary to seal off the park for urgently needed student housing," he said.
Large yellow shipping containers could be seen along the side of the park. The plans for the site include student housing, green space and also low-income housing. The university is hoping to add around 1,100 beds for students at this site, but that falls far short of the more than 9,000 beds that the college still needs.
Shipping containers brought in to barricade People's Park in Berkeley.
In the summer of 2022, an appeals court issued a temporary injunction preventing demolition of the site. However, that order still allows them to block off the area so that people cannot access it.
The construction on the new student housing will not continue until the California Supreme Court issues a decision on the matter. The issue of what to do with the park has passionate voices on both sides. State Senator Scott Wiener criticized the judge's ruling on the People's Park housing project just last year.
"Given that the existing legal issues will inevitably be resolved, we decided to take this necessary step now in order to minimize disruption for the public and our students when we are eventually cleared to resume construction," said UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ. "Unfortunately, our planning and actions must take into account that some of the project’s opponents have previously resorted to violence and vandalism, despite strong support for the project on the part of students, community members, advocates for unhoused people, the elected leadership of the City of Berkeley, as well as the legislature and governor of the state of California."
KTVU reporter Cristina Rendon contributed to this report.