New Ruling: Tree-Sitters Must Go

All the tree-sitters in the oak grove near Memorial Stadium must leave, a judge ruled yesterday.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Richard Keller modified his original order, which was issued Oct. 1 and required only a single protester to leave the area.

Since Dec. 2, the tree-sitters have been protesting a proposed athletic center that would require the removal of 26 trees.

Keller had originally issued an injunction only to David Galloway, one of two protesters that university attorneys identified by name in an attempt to remove the tree-sitters.

In a brief filed after the initial decision, UC lawyers claimed that making the ruling applicable to all tree-sitters would better serve the “ends of justice,” or the intentions of the judge, as the tree-sitters are trespassing on university property.

The modified order makes the ruling applicable to “all other persons acting in concert or participating with (the protesters).”

Tree-sitters said they were not surprised by the judge’s ruling.

“None of us are dismayed by any of this,” said a protester who identified himself only as Stork. “We have seen this coming a long way off. (But the protest) is worth a lot more to us than what they’re trying to throw (at us).”

UCPD officials said they had no immediate plan to remove the protesters, but would soon officially inform them of the judge’s ruling.

“We will go up there and let them know about the court order and inform them they are trespassing,” said UCPD Lt. Doug Wing.

Campus officials said they too were glad the judge ruled in their favor and hoped his decision would help sway public opinion.

“This latest ruling makes it seem even more difficult for reasonable people to see this as a benign protest,” said Executive Director of Public Affairs Dan Mogulof.

Doug Buckwald, organizer for Save the Oaks at the Stadium, said he thought the protest would continue.

“UC Berkeley has always said it has the right to remove the sitters, nothing has changed,” he said.

The protest began three days before the UC Board of Regents approved the plans.

The city of Berkeley, the California Oak Foundation and the Panoramic Hill Association then filed three separate lawsuits against the university questioning the legality of the proposed development.

A ruling in those cases, which were argued before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller, is expected by early December.

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