Correction Appended

About 60 local activists gathered at Upper Sproul Plaza yesterday morning to protest a raid by campus police on a Downtown Berkeley grassroots cooperative that took place last week.

The protesters and other Berkeley community members are raising concerns about how police seized computers and data storage devices from the Long Haul Infoshop cooperative on Shattuck Avenue.

Some members of the groups whose computers and data storage devices were collected joined yesterday's protest. The demonstration attracted a crowd of about 60 people on the steps of Sproul Hall, where protesters voiced opposition to the way the raid was carried out. Some said UCPD should not have entered the shop without first informing management about the nature of their search.

"That means you can go into anyone's home, just assuming a felony's being done," said a protester who goes by Soul at Thursday's demonstration.

On Aug. 27, UCPD and members of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force executed a search warrant at the infoshop in response to threatening e-mails that police believe were sent from the location to a UC Berkeley affiliate. The e-mails may be related to issues like the tree-sit and animal research, said campus spokesperson Robert Sanders.

Campus police said that they cannot give detailed information about the case since the investigation is still ongoing, but they did say that a forensics team is analyzing the computers and data storage devices for evidence.

Last Wednesday's search included the seizure of computer hardware from the infoshop, which provides free public Internet access, and other groups like Berkeley Liberation Radio, Food Not Bombs and community magazine Slingshot.

UCPD Assistant Chief Mitch Celaya said providing detailed information before the raid could have compromised the investigation by potentially giving advance notice to anyone who is involved. He said it is not uncommon for faculty, staff or students on campus to receive annoying e-mails or phone calls.

UC Berkeley sophomore Ali Irani, who witnessed the protest yesterday, said, "I don't agree with the stance they take, but they have the right to protest."

Tags: LONG HAUL INFOSHOP, PROTEST, UCPD