top
East Bay
East Bay
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Tree Sitter's Accuser Taken For Assault

by There Is No LaLiLuLeLo
Austin D. White aka Drayco was handcuffed and taken by UC Berkeley police Monday during Food not Bombs. He had threatened three individuals, and assaulted a fourth. Austin White is the entire basis of the charges against Midnight Matt. The Muwekma Park (People's Park, Berkeley) tree sitter was forced down from the tree at gun point, after Austin White made the questionable claim that Midnight Matt tried to murder him. (In court, Midnight Matt faces a charge of assault with a deadly weapon.) Austin White made the claim that he himself was not a violent person.
White had threatened two separate individuals on the Free Speech stage, in a dispute around a pile of free bread. One man, a local Berkeley resident (non-homeless) had asked White to stop threatening him, and to back off, saying he would call the police. Bizarrely, white yelled "snitch", despite the fact he himself is currently in the process of having Midnight Matt prosecuted for a period of up to a decade.

The second person threatened by White ended up on the ground, yet still was being threatened. White had to be intercepted to prevent him from beating the man on the ground.

A third individual, a local activist, was threatened by White in the Food Not Bombs line itself. At this time the UC police had entered the Park and watched White yelling at the man.

A fourth individual, another local activist, was punched in the head literally in front of the police, who were just a few feet away from this incident. Subsequently, Austin White, the accuser of Midnight Matt, was handcuffed and placed in a UC police car.

After he was driven away, one Berkeley city police officer arrived at the scene. The UC police and the Berkeley officer swept the west end of the Park. As a result, two other people were arrested for unrelated, non-violent incidents.
§Correction: Battery, Not Assault
by There Is No LaLiLuLeLo
Correction to the story... The charge is battery, not assault as previously stated.

02/07/2011 03:48 PM PEOPLES PARK BERKELEY
PC 148(A) M OBSTRUCT PUBLIC OFFICER
PC 242 M BATTERY

All is quiet on the western front.
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network