Rally at Berkeley Park Erupts Into Riot; 12 Arrested

What began as a nighttime rally commemorating the 20th anniversary of the battle to save People’s Park ended in a violent early-morning rampage Saturday in which 3,000 young people looted dozens of stores, set off numerous bonfires and overturned two firefighting vehicles.

Twelve people were arrested and six demonstrators were treated at Alta Bates Hospital for minor cuts and bruises. An unspecified number of police officers and firefighters suffered minor injuries.

Police reported that 28 businesses had been damaged and at least 10 stores had been looted of thousands of dollars of merchandise. Protesters also smashed windows and threw burning debris into a Bank of America building.

“They stole everything,” said Max Abesera, manager of Western Store, a department store on Telegraph Avenue, the main thoroughfare between People’s Park and the south side of the University of California campus. Abesera said rioters stole dozens of digital watches, personal stereos and portable compact disc players.

“What do we have to do with People’s Park? I just run a store,” Abesera said.

The demonstration began about 9 p.m. Friday with a torchlight vigil organized by First Day of Spring, a coalition of homeless people, university students and activists that is devoted to preserving People’s Park, a haven for the homeless and a symbol of the ‘60s, said Michael Delacour, a 51-year-old Berkeley activist and coalition organizer.

“It’s a Berkeley tradition,” said Delacour, who encouraged rally-goers to bring torches to the vigil.

The vigil was meant to commemorate the death of James B. Rector, a People’s Park demonstrator killed 20 years ago Friday by a shotgun blast fired by an unidentified Alameda County sheriff’s deputy.

Delacour noted that Friday night’s park rally also came on the birthday of assassinated civil rights leader Malcom X, on the eve of a full moon and in the midst of final examinations week at the university. Others said the occasion was a way to show solidarity with Chinese student demonstrations in Beijing.

“It’s Beijing in Berkeley,” a university student who declined to give his name said.

300 Started March

After watching a documentary film about the protests in the ‘60s, about 300 protesters marched up Telegraph Avenue toward the university, which owns the park and plans to build a dormitory complex on the property. Hundreds of people joined the crowd or came out to watch.

Reaching the campus, protesters made an about-face and began marching against traffic to the intersection of Telegraph and Dwight avenues, where they set off bonfires fueled by newspapers and wood debris.

When firefighters arrived to put out the fires, waves of demonstrators blocked their passage. Some stood in front of fire hoses to keep the bonfires burning.

The standoff lasted nearly an hour before a group of protesters wrestled a hose away from firefighters. About 50 Berkeley police officers in riot gear attempted to break up the demonstration.

Protesters threw rocks and bottles at police and overturned two fire vehicles, setting fire to one of them. As police began using their night sticks, protesters dispersed, setting fire to telephone poles, bulletin boards and whatever else would burn.

‘It Was Embarrassing’

“We were as disorganized as they were. It was embarrassing to be there,” said Berkeley Police Officer G. C. Dvorak. “We didn’t have enough people and we were out of practice with this kind of demonstration.”

By midnight, some protesters began smashing shop windows and looting merchandise. Dozens of protesters were seen carrying off bundles of clothing from a Miller’s Outpost, a chain clothing store, and vases from a gift and curio shop.

“At the beginning there seemed to be a purpose,” said Frank Truncale, who witnessed most of the riot and had come out to show support for preserving the park. “But then things just started to get out of hand.”

“I just came down last night to party,” said a 17-year-old from Alameda who saw the protest on a news broadcast. The youth said that he did not participate in the looting but that he set off some bonfires.

After seeing the riot on television, some members of the Telegraph Avenue Residents Assn. tried to minimize the looting. “We tried as best we could to stand in front of shops to keep people from taking merchandise,” said Peter Tannenbaum, an association member.

Police chased protesters for several hours before the rioting wound down around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Late Saturday, half a dozen officers continued to patrol the shops along Telegraph Avenue, advising storekeepers to keep their doors shut until morning.

Riots a Tradition

Nearly every spring, a riot flares up in Berkeley. Last spring, a riot took place after police forced out a group of squatters who had illegally taken over a university-owned house. In the spring of 1986, an anti-apartheid rally turned into a melee between police and demonstrators and resulted in numerous arrests.

The People’s Park riots, which began after the university cracked down on people living at the park, erupted May 15, 1969. After three weeks of rioting, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan sent more than 2,000 National Guardsmen to quell the disturbance. More than 1,000 people were arrested and 169 civilians and police officers were injured. Rector was the sole fatality.