KPIX: UC SAYS TREE SITTERS TRESPASSING, FIND STOLEN I-HOUSE TABLE AMONG TENT CITY REFUSE

University of California, Berkeley Assistant Police Chief Mitch Celaya said police today removed signs, tables, tents, tarps and other items at an oak grove where activists have been protesting for 82 days but no arrests were made.  However, one person was arrested on Wednesday on misdemeanor charges of illegal lodging and resisting arrest, Celaya said.  A group of about eight activists have camped in the trees, which are near the university's football stadium, since Dec. 2 to protest the university's plans to build a new sports training center and other facilities in the area.  The activists' supporters gather in the area below the trees.  A judge has issued a preliminary injunction which prevents the university from going forward on its development plans until a hearing is held on the merits of lawsuits filed against the university by four plaintiffs, including the city of Berkeley, the California Oak Foundation and a neighborhood group.

The hearing was not expected to occur until early this summertime.  Celaya said university police went to the oak grove at 8:30 a.m. today to tell the activists and their supporters that they planned to remove various items because the university believes they are trespassing.  He said police, who were accompanied by maintenance workers, returned at 12:45 p.m. and spent about 90 minutes removing the items.  Celaya said at least one of the tables that was removed by police today had been stolen from the university's International House, which is located near the oak grove.  Celaya said this is the second time that university police have removed items from the oak grove area. The first time was on Jan. 12.  Celaya said police want to arrest the activists who are in the trees but don't want to risk the safety of the protesters or officers by going up into the trees.  Celaya said the activists and their supporters don't have permission to be in the area and university officials believe "enough is enough" and it's time to clear the area.

He said officers arrest the activists if they spot them on the ground.  Celaya said that was the case with Richard Marrion, a 33-year-old non-student activist who was arrested about 12:50 p.m. Wednesday.  Marrion, who is free on his own recognizance, was scheduled for arraignment in Alameda County Superior Court today.  Celaya said there's an order excluding Marrion from the UC-Berkeley campus for allegedly violating the university's property rights.  Doug Buckwald, a supporter of the tree activists, said police took "all of the things we are using to express our point and try to further our cause," including informational material.  Buckwald said the protesters didn't intervene or attempt any direct action while their belongings were taken away.  He said the university's stay-away order against Marrion and other activist "is part of a strategy to keep people away from the site so the number of tree-sitters diminishes."  But Buckwald said he doesn't think the strategy is working because the number of tree-sitters increased from six earlier this week to eight today.  He said the tree activists "are committed to staying there until the university changes its plans."