About 50 people gathered outside of California Hall at noon Monday to protest criminal charges filed by the district attorney’s office against protesters active in the Nov. 9 protests.
Protesters marched in a circle holding banners and chanting in unison, calling for the dissolution of the charges and hoping for support from the UC Berkeley administration.
“The silence from California Hall has been deafening,” said integrative biology professor Robert Dudley, who was sitting on the grass in front of the hall.
UC Berkeley students Ricardo Gomez, Zakary Habash and Ramon Quintero and associate English professor Celeste Langan face several charges, including resisting arrest and remaining at the scene of a riot, according to county criminal dockets.
Langan said four additional protesters have been charged but not arrested, including BAMN national organizer Yvette Felarca and three UC Berkeley graduate students — Amanda Armstrong, Jasper Bernes and Shane Boyle.
Additionally, UC Berkeley faculty members have posted an online petition calling for Chancellor Robert Birgeneau to request that the district attorney drop all charges against the campus protesters. In a campuswide email last November, Birgeneau announced that the campus would be “granting amnesty from action under the Student Code of Conduct to all Berkeley students who were arrested and cited solely for attempting to block the police.”
UCPD was able to identify the additional protesters not arrested by reviewing videos that were posted online, according to UCPD Lt. Eric Tejada. He added that the evidence was then presented to the district attorney’s office, which determined that there was enough evidence to proceed forward with the case and file charges.
“What the case is about is failing to comply with an officer, or interfering with an officer, or assaulting an officer,” he said.
Gomez, one of those facing criminal charges, said that protests in front of California Hall will continue for the remainder of the week, or until Birgeneau releases a direct statement to the District Attorney’s office requesting all criminal charges against students be dropped. Protests are scheduled to take place at noon until Friday.
Staff writers Damian Ortellado and Amruta Trivedi contributed to this report.
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Hmmm… want the charges dropped? How ’bout NOOOOOO!
[Gomez, one of those facing criminal charges, said that protests in
front of California Hall will continue for the remainder of the week, or
until Birgeneau releases a direct statement to the District Attorney’s
office requesting all criminal charges against students be dropped.
Protests are scheduled to take place at noon until Friday.]
Hippies, they will ignore you Monday through Friday. Save your breath, get a shower, and occupy a job.
[“The silence from California Hall has been deafening,” said
integrative biology professor Robert Dudley, who was sitting on the
grass in front of the hall.]
That’s because no one gives a fuck about you filthy hippies.
hmmm, i counted way more than 100 demonstrators
random homeless people don’t count as demonstrators
Nor do gutter punks and high school kids ditching class. One thing about these various and sundry Occupy protests is that almost nobody with a real job is missing work to participate in them.
Yeah, because if you have a job you don’t have as much to protest about. It’s like complaining that not enough white people showed up to the civil rights protests; it’s nice if they do, but it’s not the point.
You must have been blind. There were no more than 10 filthy hippies pouting and whining in front of California Hall