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A dozen people were arrested Thursday night after a mass police presence cleared a condemned UC Berkeley building of anti-Zionist protesters.
Police officers in full riot gear from 20 regional law-enforcement agencies descended on the Anna Head complex, near People’s Park and two blocks south of UC Berkeley’s campus, to forcibly remove demonstrators who had occupied a building there since Wednesday afternoon to protest Israel and the war in Gaza.
The protesters entered the building with “sticks, pry bars and bolt cutters,” according to an alert on Wednesday from UC Berkeley, which said the group had broken windows, cut fences and spray-painted walls. Images on social media showed antisemitic and anti-Zionist messages, including swastikas and language equating Zionism with Nazism.
New graffiti spray-painted in red on the exterior of the building stated “our house” and “This is 4 Hind,” referring to Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old girl who became a symbol of the Israel-Hamas war when she was killed in Gaza in January. “Avenge Al Shifa” was spray-painted on plywood boards near the building’s double doors. In March, the Israel Defense Forces raided and destroyed Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza. Hamas was using the hospital to store weapons, hold hostages and connect to the terrorist group’s vast network of tunnels, according to the IDF.
University spokesperson Dan Mogulof said the situation at the Anna Head complex escalated on Thursday when police issued a dispersal order, which led to confrontations between officers and protesters.
Protesters blocked the north entrance to the complex with plywood and shields and resisted arrest by using crowbars to strike at officers, Mogulof said. He confirmed that one enrolled UC Berkeley student was among the 12 people arrested on suspicion of burglary, vandalism and conspiracy to commit a crime. There were no reported injuries, but university police are reviewing video footage and investigating attacks on officers.
According to the Berkeley Scanner, protesters were given a 30-minute warning to leave the premises or face arrest and the use of tear gas and pepper spray.
Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín confirmed on X that the Berkeley Police Department was not on the scene. Tear gas was banned in Berkeley in 2020 during nationwide protests over police brutality, but the UC Police Department, which coordinated the action, is still allowed to use the chemical on its property under its use of force policy.
Mogulof told J. on Friday that Berkeley UCPD Chief Yogananda Pittman called in reinforcements from 20 agencies across the Bay Area, including from the California Highway Patrol and police departments in Oakland, San Francisco, Colma, Pacifica, Burlingame and Foster City, because she felt that a large police presence was necessary.
Elana Auerbach, an organizer with Berkeley Jewish Parents for Collective Liberation, a left-wing group with ties to the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, criticized the use of force.
“I condemn the police violence at the current Pro-Palestine occupation at Anna Head. I fully support the call for a free Palestine and a ceasefire. Upholding the principle of ‘never again’ means advocating for justice and peace for all,” Auerbach, who is running for Berkeley City Council, posted on X.
Anti-Israel and anti-Zionist demonstrations have taken place at UC Berkeley for months, including the riotous shutdown of an Israeli speaker in February and the takeover of campus areas such as Sather Gate and Sproul Plaza. A tent encampment on Sproul Plaza established April 22 was cleared earlier this week following negotiations between a pro-Palestinian coalition and university administrators.
Mogulof said the protest group that took over Anna Head was separate from the one at Sproul Plaza.
“We confirmed with the leadership of the group behind the Sproul steps protests that they did not initiate that action [at Anna Head],” he said.
He also noted the student group at Sproul did not violate the law, while the group at Anna Head “broke the law from the very beginning [and] engaged in violence, meaning vandalism and break-in and entry.”
According to reports, the protesters who occupied Anna Head were unhappy with the end of the Cal encampment and with the agreement between the student group and the university.
Following the removal of the protesters, workers were seen boarding up the building and removing objects left behind.