Shutting Down Marine Recruiters in Berkeley- No Support for an Illegitimate War!
Audio, Photo, Video here at Indybay.org
KPFA RADIO interview with high school students 2-12
VIDEO interviews with Berkeley residents
Tuesday night, February 12,
the Berkeley City Council voted not to send a letter to the Marine Corps
telling them their new recruiters, near Berkeley High School, “is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” The Council had received 24,000 messages, reportedly mostly
favorable to their stand, but also a great storm of protest on right-wing
blogs. Republican politicians in California,
and US Senators threatened
to take away funds for education and transportation projects in Berkeley, and vilified the Council for being
against the war. The Council refused to apologize to the Marines, however, and
reaffirmed its stand against the Iraq war and occupation.
Photo by Felix Barrett
Starting at 7 PM Monday February 11, an emergency 24 hour
vigil called by Code Pink, numbering close to a hundred people from
several progressive organizations, encamped on the City Hall lawn to
support the Berkeley City Council resolution to oust the Marine Corps
recruiting station, and to counter a right-wing, pro-war mobilization
that had been called for on Tuesday at 5 AM.
Later that morning, as the crowds on both sides grew, and after a few
initial and sharp skirmishes, it became increasingly clear that the
anti-war side was gaining momentum and the upper hand.
Then, just before noon, the scene took a dramatic turn, as hundreds and hundreds of orange-clad
students took the lead and poured out of Berkeley High and into the
park across the street, joining dozens of their classmates who had
already been confronting the pro-war crowd all morning. Meanwhile, a
wide variety of people of conscience numbering in the hundreds,
converged at the encampment to declare their support for the Berkeley
City Council’s courageous stand against the Marine Corps recruiting
station, and to further declare their determination to shut it down.
On the other side of the street, hundreds of pro-war rightwingers were
supported by formations of Berkeley riot squad police who started in by
roughing up the youth and students – some as young as 12 years old.
Over the course of the afternoon, the police would display increasing
belligerence, aggressively jabbing their batons at people, and shoving
youth and others aside, or to the ground – including at one point, some
photographers and a local news cameraman. Four people – 3 of them
minors – were grabbed and arrested.
Overall though, for the better part of 20 hours, the loud – and vicious
– reactionaries were decisively outnumbered by the youth, veterans,
***activists from many groups, as well as a good number of Berkeley
residents who energetically chanted:
“What are they recruiting for? “Murder, rape, torture, war!”
and:
“Stop the torture, stop the war! That is what we’re standing for!”
If you were a part of this beautiful day, we want to know about your
experiences, your thoughts . . . and your pictures and your videos. We
invite you to email any of this to us at: sf@worldcantwait.org
***Code Pink, A.N.S.W.E.R., Courage to Resist, Veterans for Peace, Iraq
Veterans Against the War, the ACLU, and many others . . .
FRIDAY Feburary 1, Berkeley CA at Marine Recruiting Office
World Can’t Wait calls for “no business as usual”
Three protesters arrested by forty police in riot formation
This report continues describing what happened Friday, February
1st. See report from the previous day .
Three days after the Berkeley City Council voted to tell the U.S. Marines that its Shattuck Square recruiting station “is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders,”
protesters from World Can’t Wait were arrested after chaining
themselves to the door of the recruiting station and refusing to leave
in an act of non-violent civil resistance. Forty Berkeley police officers in riot formation blocked and violently cleared the street before arresting the orange jumpsuited protesters.
The recruiters shut down early Thursday to avoid the protest, so as
promised, a spirited group returned the following morning at 7 AM. The
station normally opens at 7:30, but the recruiters had snuck in at
6:30. Seven and a half hours followed with several protesters in orange
Guantanamo jumpsuits standing chained to each other and to the gate,
chanting, giving press interviews, waving at the passing cars, trucks
and buses (lots of supportive horn honking!) – and nonviolently
preventing anyone from entering the station. Numerous men repeatedly
tried to force their way through. Sometimes angry arguments turned into
intense debates, and some who came decided to leave. Woven into all the
chains were wads and tangles of videotape, representing the evidence
tapes showing illegal torture at secret U.S. facilities – tapes which
the CIA has destroyed. Code Pink maintained a constant support presence
with their literature table, as they and a number of students helped
sustain the “no business as usual” atmosphere. Police informed us that
because the City Council of Berkeley supported our position, there
would be no arrests today, and stayed across the street monitoring the
scene.
Hours later, however, a very different “scene” would erupt.
At 2:30, without warning, a wall of 40 or more Berkeley police in riot
formation came marching around the corner, as paddy wagons and squad
cars blocked off the street. The police waded into the demonstrators
gathered around the chained group, shoving everyone out to the other
end of the street, and then moved in with their bolt cutters to snap
apart the three WCWers” chains and take them to the paddy wagon.
Chanting and bullhorns carried the air throughout this entire scene.
All three protesters were cited and released, with court dates to
follow later.
For news articles, video, and photos of the two days of action (led by
World Can’t Wait with many others taking part, including Code Pink and
students from many schools) go to Press reports here