Some Protesters Come Down, Another Arrives
On June 25, 2008 two protesters voluntarily descended from the trees. Both were arrested for violation of court orders and promptly released from jail as part of an agreement made between them and the UCPD. The two stated they did not leave because of lack of supplies and were confident that the remaining protesters would remain until they won.
On July 1, 2008 four more protesters left the grove, leaving three protesters still in the trees. At 11:00 pm three of the tree-sitters were seen on the ground, at which point the UCPD arrested one of them for trespassing and violating a court order, causing the other two to take refuge in a nearby tree. Assistant Police Chief Mitch Celaya talked to the two tree-sitters for a couple of hours, at which point they agreed to come down. One of the protesters who was talked down did so with the condition that they would be allowed to make a video statement. Another protester came down later in the day after indicating that she might have an undetermined medical condition that would require treatment. RunningWolf said that she collapsed three times once she was on the ground. RunningWolf blamed the conditions on the long exposure to the elements, lack of food and water, and lack of sleep due to the lights the police set up surrounding the grove and the noise from the generators needed to power them. The university said they were happy that their strategy to get the tree-sitters to leave the grove was working. RunningWolf said that the remaining protesters would remain in the trees until at least 2008-07-17, when Judge Miller was expected to make a final ruling.
On July 6, 2008 new protester Jeff Muskrat, carrying a pack with supplies, scaled the fences surrounding the grove and joined the three remaining tree-sitters. Jeff Muskrat climbed the fence after a message was posted on indybay.org which called for "'Ninja's' with climbing experience to break the lines and sneak into the grove". The new protester said that he had not previously been a member of the tree-sit, but supported their goals and so drove down from Oregon to join them. On July 14, 2008, Jeff Muskrat climbed down from the trees due to a death in his family. He was subsequently arrested for violating a court order, trespassing, vandalism, and possession of marijuana. His arrest outraged supporters of the protesters who thought the agreement with police had been that he would not be held in custody. The university however stated that they had told the people holding the protester that they had no objection to him being released once charged, which was expected to happen later that day.
The university, which had been providing 1,200 kilocalories (5,021 kJ) of energy bars per protester per day while preventing outside supply of the tree-sitters, said they would increase the amount to 1,800 kilocalories (7,531 kJ) while also taking the new protester into account. The new rations were provided in the form of United States Coast Guard rations, and not the Clif Bars which had been previously provided. While the new rations were described as less palatable, the university stated they still met daily nutritional needs.
Read more about this topic: Berkeley Oak Grove Controversy, Tree-sit
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