On September 22nd at UC Berkeley, between 100 and 200 students marched from a rally in front of Sproul Hall and entered Tolman Hall to protest austerity measures cutting public education throughout the state of California. Demonstrators entered the lobby of the building only to be met by police batons and pepper spray.

Police claim that pepper spray was used in response to someone grabbing a magazine clip from one of the officers, but at least one witness says that these were two separate events, and that the magazine clip was only found later after a police officer dropped it.

Students were able to hold room 2308 and other parts of the first floor through the afternoon and into the evening until police evicted them from the building. Two protesters were arrested. The arrested students are seeking financial support to help cover the cost of posting bail.

The occupiers released a statement which reads in part: "We’ve come together today to call for a halt to the destruction of our public schools, and to insist that education be universally accessible and free. But today we are not simply pressing demands; we’re also working collectively to reclaim our campus, to make it a little more public and a little less estranged from us. Starting this afternoon, we’re opening up a university building to be used as an organizing and educational space; for teach-ins, film screenings, planning meetings, and whatever else we students, workers, and debtors at large decide will help us more effectively resist austerity."

Read more | Video | Occupy California | Reclaim UC

See also: UC Berkeley Republicans to hold racist, sexist 'bake sale' September 27th