Seven people were arrested early Thursday morning at Berkeley's People's Park as fencing was put up in preparation for a controversial construction project to build housing for students and formerly unhoused people on the public park.
Fencing and double-stacked shipping containers will continue to be installed over the next three to four days and surrounding streets will be closed off for about six days, according to a university spokesperson.
Opponents fought the University of California, Berkeley's plan to build on the site when construction began in August 2022, but they were dealt a setback when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill last year that was unanimously backed by the state Legislature to exempt the university from a requirement to consider alternative sites for the project.
The arrests Thursday morning were for trespassing, with two also arrested for failure to disperse, according to the university. They were cited and released after being booked into jail.
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An appeal on the university's construction project is still being heard by the state Supreme Court, but the university said it has the legal right to close off the construction zone while the case is litigated.
"Given that the existing legal issues will inevitably be resolved, we decided to take this necessary step now in order to minimize disruption for the public and our students when we are eventually cleared to resume construction," UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, our planning and actions must take into account that some of the project's opponents have previously resorted to violence and vandalism, despite strong support for the project on the part of students, community members, advocates for unhoused people, the elected leadership of the City of Berkeley, as well as the Legislature and governor of the state of California," Christ said.
The plan calls for building housing for 1,100 students and a separate building with 100 apartments for low-income, formerly unhoused people, but activists have fought against the displacement of unhoused people currently living in the park and development on a green space.
The plan would preserve 60% of the 2.8-acre park's green space and the park would remain open to the public. People living in the park have been offered transitional housing.
Video posted to social media showed trees being cut down and carried by heavy machinery overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.
Community activists said on Thursday that they are not about to let the park be transformed. The park has become a symbol of activism since people took control of the park in 1969.
"It was born in a time of social struggles, social justice against the Vietnam War, against racism, and it remain connected with that. And that struggle for justice to a struggle for nature to keep space, to keep the open space for people. All of that is with this park meant," said community activist Osha Neumann.
Neumann chronicled the park’s significance in a mural next to the historical landmark. He says the university has been waiting for the moment to seize it back.
“So, they are building a Trump-style border wall with containers around the park. That’s what they’re doing. Walls are not a solution and people will go through those walls,” he said.
Nearby streets will be closed for a few more days, so crews can access the property. In the meantime, some protesters told NBC Bay Area Thursday night that they plan to be at the park.
"It’s important to show the university that housing and profit is not more important than the people’s lives, who have been living here," said Sarah Bornstien.
