Police end takeover of UC Berkeley's Wheeler Hall

BERKELEY, CA

Police arrested at least 41 people who were in the building.

The protesters that were in the building were comprised of both students and non-students, according to the university.

At 5:30 a.m. Friday, a group of students barricaded the doors of Wheeler Hall. Word of the takeover quickly spread as hundreds of students gathered outside to support them. Three protesters were arrested in the morning, including a teacher.

"At every level we have been betrayed by this university and we no longer make demands. We can take it ourselves," said one of the protesters.

There have been accusations by some of police brutality.

"They are using batons on them," said student Raul Hernandez. "They physically abused them and after that they arrested them."

"I am not aware of any of those forces being used," said UC Berkeley Police Lt. Alex Yaw. "Of course, we are evaluating all options right now and to resolve the situation peacefully."

For the past three days, students have protested a tuition hike approved by the regents. However, Friday's demonstration has been by far the most dramatic, calling police the aggressors.

"Constantly, as you can see behind us, they are locked in, holding each other," said student Opi Santos earlier in the day. "The students actually properly held down the building that should be their's and not the administration's."

A few buildings, including Sproul Hall, were locked down. But not every student agreed with what demonstrators were doing.

"Forcing students to not have classes, pulling fire alarms to force people out of the room," said student Justin Carley.

Extra officers were called in, including law enforcement from neighboring cities adding to the cost of overtime.

"Certainly, we have a number of officers out there and those are resources that are being devoted to this, absolutely," said UC Berkeley spokesperson Janet Gilmore.

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