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UC Police Assert Private Control Over Gill Tract
For Immediate Release
May 14, 2012
May 14, 2012
UC Police Assert Private Control Over Gill Tract
Farmers Respond: Farmland is for Farming
This morning, over 100 police officers armed with projectiles, batons, and pepper-ball guns descended on the Gill Tract Farm to attempt to force an end to efforts to reclaim the Gill Tract for community use.
The land, which is owned by UC Berkeley's Capital Projects Development arm, was reclaimed by Occupy the Farm on April 22 and has been used for community-friendly farming education for the three weeks since. Today, using all the power at its disposal, the University of California has reasserted its control over the land.
"This land has been fought over for decades," said Anya Kamenskaya, a spokesperson for the Gill Tract Farmers Collective. "UC needs to let go of control and supervision of this land. For decades, it has fenced off this land from use by the community. Today's show of force is merely another in a long history of the UC's rejection of community access to this prized piece of farmland."
Using a mixed force made up of eight UC campus police forces, along with Alameda County Sheriff's Department, police blocked traffic, barricaded the Gill Tract, and arrested nine people. Two of the arrestees had entered the farm after the raid began, to water plants. Seven additional people were arrested while watching the police operation from San Pablo Avenue.
UC representative Dan Mogulof incorrectly told media that ten people were sleeping on the land at the time of the raid. However, the Gill Tract Farmers Collective ended its encampment on the morning of Saturday May 12th by moving all camp infrastructure outside of the Tract. No one was camped on the land when the police force surrounded and enclosed it. Consistent with agreements made with faculty and adjunct research scientists over the past three weeks, every effort was made by the Gill Tract Farmers Collective to make room for the need to plant their research crops.
The Gill Tract Farmers Collective has called for a reconvergence at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave., at 5 PM tomorrow, Tuesday May 15th.
Farmland is for Farming!
###
Farmers Respond: Farmland is for Farming
This morning, over 100 police officers armed with projectiles, batons, and pepper-ball guns descended on the Gill Tract Farm to attempt to force an end to efforts to reclaim the Gill Tract for community use.
The land, which is owned by UC Berkeley's Capital Projects Development arm, was reclaimed by Occupy the Farm on April 22 and has been used for community-friendly farming education for the three weeks since. Today, using all the power at its disposal, the University of California has reasserted its control over the land.
"This land has been fought over for decades," said Anya Kamenskaya, a spokesperson for the Gill Tract Farmers Collective. "UC needs to let go of control and supervision of this land. For decades, it has fenced off this land from use by the community. Today's show of force is merely another in a long history of the UC's rejection of community access to this prized piece of farmland."
Using a mixed force made up of eight UC campus police forces, along with Alameda County Sheriff's Department, police blocked traffic, barricaded the Gill Tract, and arrested nine people. Two of the arrestees had entered the farm after the raid began, to water plants. Seven additional people were arrested while watching the police operation from San Pablo Avenue.
UC representative Dan Mogulof incorrectly told media that ten people were sleeping on the land at the time of the raid. However, the Gill Tract Farmers Collective ended its encampment on the morning of Saturday May 12th by moving all camp infrastructure outside of the Tract. No one was camped on the land when the police force surrounded and enclosed it. Consistent with agreements made with faculty and adjunct research scientists over the past three weeks, every effort was made by the Gill Tract Farmers Collective to make room for the need to plant their research crops.
The Gill Tract Farmers Collective has called for a reconvergence at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave., at 5 PM tomorrow, Tuesday May 15th.
Farmland is for Farming!
###
For more information:
http://www.takebackthetract.com
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Free speech expressed from the other side of a 4-lane road is enough for UCPD pigs to declare an unlawful assembly and very roughly arrest seven people.
Those arrested on the sidewalk today should sue UCPD for violating their Constitutional rights.
Those arrested on the sidewalk today should sue UCPD for violating their Constitutional rights.
For more information:
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video/724...
As the University use the cops and bulldozers to destroy food crops and the farm a courageous OtF farmer attempts to water the crops until chased by bacon off the farm.
For more information:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsotfventm0...
Selling Gill Tract is just the beginning of the current board of UC Regents and the University administrators dimantling
if Californian Higher education. They already sold the Richmond field station, on the shore of the East bay, to BP for use as a Bio Fuels laboratory. They are planning on selling the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden at UCLA.
UCLA school of business has already been handed over to Blackrock for management. Locally they are encroaching on land reserved for ecological study above UC Berkeley in Strawberry Canyon.
http://www.savestrawberrycanyon.org/
if Californian Higher education. They already sold the Richmond field station, on the shore of the East bay, to BP for use as a Bio Fuels laboratory. They are planning on selling the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden at UCLA.
UCLA school of business has already been handed over to Blackrock for management. Locally they are encroaching on land reserved for ecological study above UC Berkeley in Strawberry Canyon.
http://www.savestrawberrycanyon.org/
For more information:
http://www.savestrawberrycanyon.org/
The audacity of Occupy to take over public property is too much. Who do they think they are? And so, so violent. All of those farming implements are no doubt weapons in disguise. You have violated the sacred private property rights of the Trustees of the University of California. Even though we are non-violent, kind, generous and liberal ones – we must send our thug armed to the teeth cops to remove you (violently if necessary) to protect “our” private property rights. Remember – anything you do is violent and anything we do is just protecting property rights which of course justifies anything and therefore is really non-violent.
We have asked Mr. John Yoo of our Law School to help us develop a procedure where we can violate all of your rights while appearing to be a progressive, legitimate, open-minded, upholder of human rights. Yes, it is our “human right” to use any force necessary to remove you from the private property of the people’s university – The University of California.
Also, since it really doesn’t fit our controlling interests, we the Trustees of this University, have decided to completely privatize this place and change the name to the Goldman Sachs/British Petroleum Institute for Higher Learning. All admissions administration will now be outsourced to Richard Blum investments for a very reasonable fee of $500 million per year. Low income students from California (or anywhere else) no longer need to apply. Thank you.
P.S. – we have also negotiated a new deal with PG&E to cut energy use on our campuses. This lowered carbon foot print for the university will only cost us $100 million more per year and will be paid for by tuition increases and further harassment of unemployed former students who cannot pay student loans.
We have asked Mr. John Yoo of our Law School to help us develop a procedure where we can violate all of your rights while appearing to be a progressive, legitimate, open-minded, upholder of human rights. Yes, it is our “human right” to use any force necessary to remove you from the private property of the people’s university – The University of California.
Also, since it really doesn’t fit our controlling interests, we the Trustees of this University, have decided to completely privatize this place and change the name to the Goldman Sachs/British Petroleum Institute for Higher Learning. All admissions administration will now be outsourced to Richard Blum investments for a very reasonable fee of $500 million per year. Low income students from California (or anywhere else) no longer need to apply. Thank you.
P.S. – we have also negotiated a new deal with PG&E to cut energy use on our campuses. This lowered carbon foot print for the university will only cost us $100 million more per year and will be paid for by tuition increases and further harassment of unemployed former students who cannot pay student loans.
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