Chuck Darwin<p>UC Berkeley makes dead-of-night push to wall off storied People’s Park </p><p>The university launched the extraordinary operation — designed to double-stack metal cargo containers around the entire perimeter of the park — just after midnight. </p><p>On their arrival, police surrounded the park. </p><p>Inside, they were met by several dozen protesters, chanting, “Long live People’s Park” along with shouts of “Fight back!” </p><p>Some held out for hours in a makeshift treehouse and on the roof of a single-story building in the park.</p><p>By starting the exercise under the cover of darkness and during students’ winter break, university leaders hoped to minimize a conflict with activists adamant the park should remain open space, a living tribute to free speech and student activism. </p><p>The university planned to install the cargo containers over several days, banking on the massive metal structures to provide a more formidable barrier than the fences that protesters have easily breached in the past.</p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/Berkeley" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Berkeley</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/PeoplesPark" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PeoplesPark</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/activism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>activism</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/FreeSpeechMovement" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FreeSpeechMovement</span></a></p><p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-01-04/uc-berkeley-launches-operation-to-wall-off-peoples-park" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">latimes.com/california/story/2</span><span class="invisible">024-01-04/uc-berkeley-launches-operation-to-wall-off-peoples-park</span></a></p>