Cal Stops Construction At People S Park Due To Violence

Police in riot gear descended on the four-block lot just off Telegraph Avenue before sunrise to clear a small homeless encampment and cordon off the area. A work crew showed up at the scene as soon as the sun came up, bringing in construction equipment and cutting down trees. A worker fells a tree at People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022 Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE “Right now they’re cutting down trees in the park with chainsaws,” said Ramon Mendoza, who is involved in a movement to preserve the park. A video posted on Twitter at 9:36 a.m. indicated that the tree is in progress. Hearing the horrible sound of chainsaws in People’s Park. Seeing trees fall. Sad day for Berkeley. pic.twitter.com/JJtXKcrEfw — Jimi Devine (@JimiDevine) August 3, 2022 KRON posted a video at 9:23 am. with protesters blocking construction trucks “to prevent them from clearing any trees”. As the day progressed, more protesters descended on the area, tearing down the fence and flooding the park. Protesters try to scale a fence at People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE UC Berkeley said several arrests had been made, but could not provide detailed information on numbers and charges as of 2 p.m. The Defend People’s Park team said early this morning that several forklifts, large mobile vehicles and fencing trucks were in the park before sunrise. “Residents’ belongings are being thrown away,” the group tweeted. The university said in a statement that when work began this morning, two or three strays were in the park who had “previously been offered shelter, repeatedly advised that the park was going to close soon and advised that camping in the park would be overnight.” not allowed.” “Last night, alternative shelter, transportation and storage of belongings was again offered to each person when the park was closed, an offer that remains available to all who need and want it,” the university said. People prevent contractors and their equipment used to cut down trees from leaving People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE An Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled Friday that UC Berkeley can begin construction on a 16-story building that will house more than 1,100 students. Activists and student groups stood on the sidelines protesting the park’s closure. They have long contested the university’s project and called for the site, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to be preserved as a public green space. Heavy machinery is seen pushing a redwood tree at People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE UC Berkeley, located at the center of the Bay Area’s expensive and notoriously tight real estate market, faces a shortage of student housing. According to a 2017 survey, it “has the lowest bed-to-student ratio of any campus in the UC system.” The survey also found that 10% of respondents self-identified as having experienced homelessness at some point while attending UC Berkeley. In addition to student housing, the People’s Park housing complex will provide up to 125 apartments that offer supportive housing with on-site services for unhoused and low-income residents, as well as open landscaped spaces. Protesters sit atop a structure at People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE “More than 60 percent of the 2.8-acre site will be preserved as open space and revitalized into a revitalized parkland that enhances the history of the site,” the university said. The space will also include “a commemoration of the park’s past and historical significance.” The university’s plans also include providing temporary housing to people living at People’s Park, with services to support the transition to permanent housing, a website dedicated to the project says. This is a developing story and details will be added as they emerge. A lone protester sits on the last standing redwood tree in People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE Police monitor an entrance previously used by contractors to enter the fenced area at People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE A sign proclaiming “53 years of resistance” is seen at People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE A person waves at a California Highway Patrol officer during a protest at People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE A protester is led away by police after being arrested during a protest at People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE Protesters talk to each other as California Highway Patrol officers protest at People’s Park in Berkeley, California, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jungho Kim/Special to SFGATE