Pat Dollard | Young Americans

They were literally hurling buckets of their own shit at the people below them…

We should just drop leaflets into Berkeley warning all good law-abiding Patriotic Americans to get out as fast as they can, then wall the place off and drop a MOAB on them pukes. Arborists were sent in to cut the tree sitters ropes causing them to exit the trees while cops stood by, but as they approached, the tree sitters started hurling buckets of their own excrement at arborists and cops…

BERKELEY — After tree sitters hurled buckets of human excrement at arborists who cut traverse lines and removed wooden platforms Tuesday, the raucous day came to a head when a tree sitter bit an arborist so hard he was sent to the hospital with an arm wound.

The woman was removed from the trees and arrested.

In preparation for a judge’s decision today, arborists hired by UC Berkeley on Tuesday climbed into the oaks and cut down ropes and traverse lines and removed buckets of human excrement that had been stockpiled by the tree sitters.

University officials had vowed not to remove any of the six to 12 tree sitters in the trees and they kept their word for much of Tuesday.

But about 5:40 p.m. an arborist trying to remove a line asked a female tree sitter to move away from him and his cherry picker. Instead, she moved closer and bit the man on the arm, said university spokesman Dan Mogulof.

She was pulled into the cherry picker and arrested. Her name was not available but she could face charges of trespassing and assault. Mogulof said the woman was one of the tree sitters who tossed human waste at an arborist, a move that could bring further charges.

Tree-sit supporters tell a different story. They say the arborists banged into her several times with their machinery and that her screams could be heard in the grove as more than a hundred supporters watched below. Supporters say the woman, who goes by “Millipede,” was wrestled onto the platform of the cherry picker and lowered to the ground.

Using a crane and the cherry picker, at least five professional arborists and 40 UC Berkeley police officers converged on the oak grove about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday — just a day before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller is expected to rule on lawsuits that could bring the 18-month tree-sit to an end.

“It’s really unfortunate it’s come to this,” said Mogulof. “The university has tolerated 280 violations (from tree sitters and supporters), including weapons, assault and battery. We’re doing everything we can to ensure this comes to a safe but certain end.”

Tuesday was not the first time the university has removed tree sitter’s supplies, including food. But it was the first time the tree sitters attacked police, arborists and others on the ground with human waste.

“(The protestors) have been saving their waste and using it to attack people whose only job is to protect this community,” Mogulof said. “We’re putting pieces in place to make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to stay.”

University officials say they removed the lines, tarps and platforms for safety reasons. At least three people have fallen from the trees, injuring themselves since the tree-sit began in December 2006.

The tree sitters are protesting the university’s plan to build a $125 million sports training center on the grove site. The university has pledged to plant three trees for every one that is removed, but protesters say that about 40 trees cannot be adequately replaced because of their age and size.

Tree-sit leader Zachary Running Wolf called the university’s move Tuesday a “hate crime,” and others were clearly outraged about the university’s actions.

A man who identified himself only as “Squirtle” said he was standing on a line in a tree when it was cut.

“They cut it and luckily I had my support line above me,” he said. “I threw piss all over them (because) they are trying to break the law. They almost killed me.”

Late Tuesday, longtime tree-sit supporter Redwood Mary sent out a statement saying the tree sitter’s safety was imperiled by the university’s actions.

“Today’s raid on the historic Oak Grove Tree Sit at the Memorial Oak Grove adjacent to the Cal football Memorial Stadium was a violent assault on the tree sitters and the local community’s efforts to save these trees, to protect the Native American site and enforce Berkeley’s Ordinance that protects these trees from being destroyed,” the statement said.

UC Berkeley is facing three lawsuits from the city of Berkeley, the Panoramic Hill Association and the California Oak Foundation about the sports training project, which opponents worry will bring more traffic and noise. The suits also say that the sports center will be unsafe because it will be built near the Hayward fault.

A trial for the lawsuits was held in October and a ruling was expected in January. But Miller delayed her decision by asking for additional written information and arguments in court. The deadline for her decision is today. A decision in UC Berkeley’s favor would give them the right to remove the trees — and the tree sitters — right away.

But, in reality, the tree sitters fate doesn’t depend on Miller’s decision. A separate ruling issued in October by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Richard Keller said tree sitters must come down or face a $1,000 fine and five days in jail.

Before Tuesday, UC Berkeley had never removed people from trees, but they have taken steps to make tree-sitting more difficult.

Since the tree-sit began, UC Berkeley has spent $375,000 on police, lighting, fencing, and other items related to the protest, Mogulof said. The university last year put up two chain-link fences to prevent people from going in and out of the tree grove, but tree sitters have set up an elaborate rope and pulley system to get food, water and other supplies into the grove.

On Tuesday, UC Berkeley police blocked off the street to traffic on Piedmont Avenue at Bancroft Way as the scene around the oak grove grew. There were about 40 tree-sit supporters, more than a few dozen UC Berkeley police standing sentry along the chain-link barricade, and several television crews ready for any action. The tree sitters held a candlelight vigil late Tuesday.

“This is it. This is the endgame,” tree-sit supporter Matthew Gillam said. He pledged that “these trees aren’t going nowhere,” before the group broke into a chorus of “We shall not be moved.”

Oak Grove supporters are expected to gather early this morning to await word of the judge’s decision. The grove is located in the 2000 block of Piedmont Avenue in Berkeley, one block north of Bancroft Way.

(Inside Bay Area)