Protesters stop construction at Berkeley’s People’s Park

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE and OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A group of protesters broke through an 8-foot chain fence erected Wednesday around Berkeley’s historic People’s Park and faced off with police officers standing guard as a construction crew began work on a controversial student housing project. The park was cleared overnight and a new fence was put up after an Alameda County Superior Court judge on Friday ruled that the University of California, Berkeley — the site’s owner — could move forward with its plan to build student housing despite local groups suing to stop it. About 100 university police guarded while protesters chanted and occasionally threw things before construction stopped.