Occupy Berkeley Report

Robert Hass, professor of poetry and poetics at the University of California, Berkeley, and former poet laureate of the United States, describes the incident at Berkeley where police jammed billy clubs into the guts of peacefully protesting UC Berkeley students, where he and his wife were both innocent bystanders caught in the attack and injured. Excerpt:

NONE of the police officers invited us to disperse or gave any warning. We couldn’t have dispersed if we’d wanted to because the crowd behind us was pushing forward to see what was going on. The descriptor for what I tried to do is “remonstrate.” I screamed at the deputy who had knocked down my wife, “You just knocked down my wife, for Christ’s sake!” A couple of students had pushed forward in the excitement and the deputies grabbed them, pulled them to the ground and cudgeled them, raising the clubs above their heads and swinging. The line surged. I got whacked hard in the ribs twice and once across the forearm.

And, you can’t say Berkeley students aren’t creative.

On Thursday afternoon when I returned toward sundown to the steps to see how the students had responded, the air was full of balloons, helium balloons to which tents had been attached, and attached to the tents was kite string. And they hovered over the plaza, large and awkward, almost lyrical, occupying the air.