News In Brief

Oak Grove Protesters Clash with Police

Yesterday afternoon, a press conference by tree-sitters in the oak grove near Memorial Stadium turned into a brief skirmish between the protesters and police.

The protesters had gathered to discuss the arborist hired by UCPD to remove sitters' shelters and supplies from the trees. The campus called it an effort to "clean up" the tree-sit.

But at the conference yesterday, the tree-sitters and their supporters claimed the so-called cleanup effort was an attempt to leave them stranded without supplies.

"The university and cops are trying to starve us out," said one tree-sitter who goes by Millipede.

The tree-sitters accused police of making the area more dangerous than it already was.

"(The arborist) left dummy lines by intention or incompetence," Millipede said. "Two people almost died."

Police officials said Tuesday the arborist was told to avoid confrontation. They also said they could not confirm whether a rope was left in a tree.

Yesterday's conference also served as an opportunity for protesters to replenish supplies removed Tuesday.

But when the protesters attempted to lift food, water and clothes to the tree-sitters, police encircled them and about six officers pushed into the crowd trying to break it up.

Police said there were no arrests.

Despite the recent setbacks due to the loss of supplies, protestors said they are determined to stand their ground.

"We're strong, we're staying here," Millipede said. "We will not be deterred."

-Kelly Fitzpatrick

Classes Interrupted by False Threat at Stanley Hall

UCPD determined that unverified information pointing to a potential threat at Stanley Hall yesterday morning turned out to be unfounded.

According to UCPD Lt. Doug Wing, an unknown Florida resident informed the police about an anonymous blog posting suggesting something was going to happen at 10:30 a.m. at the hall.

"There was nothing threatening in the language. Something out of the ordinary and of concern was that a specific time, date and location was mentioned," Wing said.

UCPD responded to the concern by providing extra police presence, notifying people of the potential activity, checking student identification and restricting access to parts of the building.

Instructors informed about the potential activity were given the choice to move, cancel or continue their classes. One class was confirmed to have been continued elsewhere, Wing said.

Wing added that UCPD took the recent Northern Illinois University shooting into consideration when dealing with the incident.

"Obviously (the shooting) came to mind. People are extremely sensitive to that issue because it's so recent in the news," he said. "We would have taken the same security measures we did anyway to ensure the safety of our campus community."

-Emily Grospe

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