November 9, Berkeley, California<\/p>\n

Students at the University of California Berkeley began an occupation of Upper Sproul Plaza on November 9th, 2011. Here are some voices from the assembly that evening. Later that night University police came in riot gear and violently pressed the protestors with batons and arrested several students and one professor from among those who had locked arms to defend the encampment. A CALmessage<\/a> sent by Chancellor Birgeneau and other administrators defended the police action, described locking arms as ‘not non-violent’: “It is unfortunate that some protesters chose to obstruct the police by linking arms and forming a human chain to prevent the police from gaining access to the tents. This is not non-violent civil disobedience.”<\/p>\n

The occupation general assembly has called for a campus strike on November 15.<\/p>\n