Judge Says UC Berkeley Can Oust All Tree-Sitters

BERKELEY, Calif. Oct. 29, 2007 (KGO) (KGO) -- UC Berkeley has permission to kick out all of the tree sitters. A state judge issued the ruling on Monday afternoon after a 10-month protest on the branches of an oak grove next to Memorial Stadium.

"I was sleeping woke up they grabbed my shoes before I could say that's mine," said Lola the tree sitter.

ABC7's Alan Wang: "And this happened how many times?"

Three or four times," said tree sitter Lola.

Lola the tree-sitter may have more to contend with others than UC campus police snatching her shoes. A court ruling on Monday gave UC Berkeley the right to remove all tree-sitters, their ground support and anyone participating in the protest even if it doesn't know their names.

The previous ruling affected only one tree-sitter, David Galloway, because he's the only protester the university could identify.

"So in other words, people like me who drop off food and supply the tree-sitters might be economically in danger of damages," said protester Zachary Running Wolf.

ABC legal analyst Dean Johnson says the ruling strengthens the university's stance.

"If they're acting in combination or concert with the people up in the trees, they can be cited for contempt of court, they can be fined a-thousand dollars, they can be put in jail for up to five days and they can wind up paying UC's attorneys' fees for doing that," said ABC7 legal analyst Dean Johnson.

If it does flex its muscle, the university says it will inform the tree-sitters before it takes action, but no official notice has been posted yet.

Since last December, the tree sitters have been protesting a proposed sports training facility. Cal would have to cut down this oak grove to make way for the center.

There's a separate lawsuit against the university. Three plaintiffs, including the city of Berkley are suing to stop the university from building the sports facility on the Hayward fault. That decision is expected to come down sometime in November.

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