Oct 30, 2007 7:48 pm US/Pacific
New Court Ruling Evicts UC Berkeley Tree Sitters
BERKELEY (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) ―
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Protestors have been living in a grove of trees next to Memorial Stadium since last December to block the building of an athletic training center.
CBS 5
A judge ruled late Monday afternoon that officials at the University of California, Berkeley, may remove all tree-sitters protesting a planned new sports center.
Earlier this month, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Richard Keller gave UC police authority to remove tree-sitters identified by name. But that proved difficult because many wore masks and gave fake names.
As a result, university police could only identify one protestor: David Galloway, according to UC spokesman Dan Mogulof. Campus officials then asked the judge to broaden the preliminary injunction he issued on Oct. 1.
Keller said Monday that in addition to Galloway, his ruling now applies to "all other persons acting in concert or participating with them," referring to the tree-sitters.
Protesters took up residence in the oak trees next to Cal's Memorial Stadium last December. University officials plan to cut down two-thirds of the grove to build a $125 million athletic training center.
Those who violate the court order can be found in contempt of court, fined up to $1,000, jailed up to five days and be ordered to pay attorney's fees.
However, university officials have been vague about any plans to enforce the court's order.
"We will inform all the people in the trees that this ruling applies to them and we hope that they will come down and we can find a peaceful resolution to this," Mogulof said.
The UC spokesman said the protest is "a dangerous and illegal occupation of university property" and it isn't a free speech issue because protesters have other forums to demonstrate against the university's plans.
Mogulof said the university is "evaluating a number of possible scenarios" if the tree protesters don't come down but he declined to be more specific.
Tree-sitter Zachary Running Wolf said tonight he and other protesters don't plan to leave their despite the judge's ruling against them.
"We're definitely planning to stay up there and we don't plan to leave," Running Wolf said Monday.
Running Wolf also alleged that the protest really is a free speech issue and called the university's actions "an assault on free speech" and a violation of human rights.
He said, "This is a sad day."
Meanwhile, another judge is expected to rule soon on whether the university can proceed with construction.
The university's plans have been on hold since Jan. 29, when Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller issued a separate preliminary injunction at the request of three plaintiff groups who sued the university.
Those plaintiffs, which are the city of Berkeley, a neighborhood group and the California Oak Foundation, allege the proposed project is unsafe because it's near a dangerous earthquake fault and violates environmental laws.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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