Berkeley Protests Against Police Brutality

By Aleida Moreno on December 17, 2014

The last two days have been filled with a buzz in the air both from people talking about the officially titled “From Ferguson to Ayotzinapa: March Against State Violence” protest as well as the constant hum of news and police helicopters circulating the area around campus.

The protests started with the intention of the Berkeley protesters to show solidarity with the communities of Ferguson, Ayotzinapa and Staten Island, NY, affected by police brutality.

Peaceful protesters (Image credit to Ray Zhu https://www.facebook.com/polarismaple)

(Image credit to Ray Zhu https://www.facebook.com/polarismaple)

At about 10:30 p.m. on December 7, students took to the Berkeley streets again with the intention of marching their peaceful demonstration to the Berkeley Police Station.

Searchlights and numerous police vehicles had already made their way down Bancroft and past Telegraph – the very intersection where the peaceful march was to begin.

In the initial moments, there were chants of solidarity shouted by the couple hundred students that turned out for the demonstration. “No justice. No peace, no racist police” and “Hands up, don’t shoot” were among the most widely heard. The march began down Telegraph and soon made its way down Bancroft and towards the police station.

(Image credit to Ray Zhu https://www.facebook.com/polarismaple)

Along the way, however, chaos ensued. Despite the desperate cries from the crowd urging people to “stop breaking things” and “stop looting,” there were indeed property damages as a result from a pocket of radicals interspersed among the peaceful protesters.

Many have called into question the motives of the looters, recalling that it was “white anarchists” ready to make the protest about smashing capitalism, who had also started the looting the evening before. Affected buildings included banks, chain fast food restaurants and cell phone provider storefronts.

Many protesters stood in front of small mom-and-pop shops, arms linked yelling “not this one.” Despite the radical visions of the looters, some people managed to remain level-headed and realize that this was not what the march was about, and that these small business owners were not part of the problem.

Soon, the mass began to regroup, pausing for a second. I took this second as an opportunity to look at the people around me, and I realized how thoughtful people had been in their outfits of choice for the night like this gentleman, for instance:

Not so obvious in the one photo I was able to snap of him, this man is dressed in full army gear and donned the American flag upside down, a signal of dire distress, for the entire protest. (My own image)

These were people fully dedicated to the cause and it was these people that were going to move this protest forward, not the people using bricks to smash windows. As the protest moved on, and with the trail of broken glass leading straight to the group of protesters, the deafening wail of sirens got closer and a small band of students, myself among them, was cornered by the police.

Students one by one raised their arms and chanted “hands up, don’t shoot” until the police dispersed and a shout of relief escaped each one of our lips. We quickly caught up to the larger group of protesters who had begun to build barricades of trashcans and newspaper dispensers in the middle of the road to slow the police; some saw another opportunity to set things on fire and did so with the barricades.

Trashcans spray painted with “Fuck the Police” or acronymized equivalents made for great barricades against police cars, determined to stop the protestors (Image credit to Francesca La Breque)

When the march reached Milvia and Martin Luther King Jr Way, a line of riot police who were blocking the pathway, screaming at the protesters to stay back, met protesters. Stunned only momentarily, it did not take long for the group to reroute and shift its focus.

The protesters walked back to Alcatraz and Telegraph where a large group of people decided to break into the Whole Foods on the corner,  breaking windows and throwing shopping carts around. It was at this moment that the group of protesters split from the looting radicals, many continuing to make their way to have their voice heard and many heading home, disillusioned by the distracting acts of violence by supposed peaceful protesters.

Protests are expected to last the entirety of the week and community clean up events have already been set up on Facebook by people who understood that this was not the way things were meant to go.

Solidarity and best wishes in these trying times; stay safe.

Common graffiti of the night, seen in multiple places around Berkeley. (My own image)

Aleida M.

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