The city manager sent me this email about the riots in Berkeley. I have my own opinions but I want to hear yours. Dear residents, I am forwarding the following account of last nights events, prepared by our City Manager: Subject: Events of 12/6 Mayor and Councilmembers, the following is information regarding the events of yesterday and early this morning: The Berkeley Police Department (BPD) has a long history of facilitating peaceful demonstrations by a variety of groups on an array of issues. Unfortunately yesterday, December 6th, an initially peaceful demonstration became violent. A small group of demonstrators chose to throw rocks, bricks, bottles, pipes and other debris at police officers; several officers were injured including one who had a sandbag thrown at him. Berkeley Police also recovered a spent canister of smoke that was released by demonstrators outside the Public Safety Building. Additionally several local businesses were vandalized and looted. It is tragic that in the context of such an important demonstration, the events of December 6th and 7th resulted in violence, injuries and damage to the community. At about 5pm on Saturday December 6th a large planned demonstration, in response to the grand jury decisions in Missouri and New York, began at Telegraph and Bancroft in Berkeley. Almost 1,000 people were participating in the initially peaceful protest. BPD began escorting the protest with a limited number of bicycle officers solely for the purpose of facilitating a peaceful demonstration. Officers escorted participants marching along Telegraph, over to Shattuck and to the Public Safety Building (PSB) on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Unfortunately, when the marchers reached the PSB, some members of the crowd began throwing projectiles at officers and injured them. The group then moved north and west on University, where some participants caused significant damage to local businesses including Trader Joe’s, Radio Shack and the Wells Fargo at University and San Pablo. BPD received a report that an individual entered Trader Joe’s with a hatchet and threatened people in the store. At the foot of University, officers prevented the demonstrators from entering onto Interstate-80. At that point, the group included several hundred people who began to return east toward the Downtown area and ultimately headed back to Telegraph. Vandalism of local businesses and vehicles, including police vehicles, continued. Dispersal orders were given multiple times to a crowd of several hundred gathered at Durant and Telegraph. Bottles continued to be thrown and the crowd failed to disperse despite dispersal orders continuing to be given. In response, BPD deployed smoke and tear gas. The crowds remained in the Telegraph area, failing to heed the dispersal orders; bottles continued to be thrown at officers and vehicles continued to be vandalized. At about 1 am on December 7th, a crowd of several hundred was still gathered and failing to disperse. Multiple further dispersal orders were given and when the crowd failed to leave the area, gas was again deployed. By about 3:00 a.m. on December 7th the crowd had dwindled to a smaller group. Over the course of the almost ten hour event, businesses were vandalized, 2 officers were hospitalized and several were injured, a number of police vehicles were significantly damaged and several people were arrested, including one juvenile. BPD is committed to preserving and protecting the safety of the entire Berkeley community, which includes facilitating peaceful demonstrations throughout the City. Berkeley police are committed to working with individuals and groups as these demonstrations continue in order to facilitate their peaceful expression.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 05:34:35 +0000
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