Berkeley Cops Clash With Student Occupiers

Things got ugly at UC Berkeley yesterday, when students tried to set up an Occupy encampment on campus against university orders. No sooner had students set up their tents than dozens of cops in riot gear descended on them, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. When students linked arms around the tents, the cops lashed out at them with their batons—as seen in this video spotted by Raw Story.

In the clip, the protesters hold the line, chanting “Stop beating students!” But police eventually did break through and take down the tents, arresting six students and one faculty member. By evening, the tents were back up, and police again arrived—this time armed with bean bag guns—and after another violent scuffle again took down the tents. The school issued a statement saying that students could protest in the plaza 24-7 for a week, but couldn’t use tents or sleeping bags. (More Occupy Wall Street stories.)