On the morning of August 1, 1991, about
twenty activists, hoping to stop a joint
University of California (UC) and City of
Berkeley plan to develop People’s Park, were
arrested as bulldozers cleared grass and soil
for two sand volleyball courts. By that evening, police and Park “defenders” were battling in the streets over whether work on
People’s Park could proceed. Rioting around
the Park continued for the better part of a
week. Police repeatedly fired wooden and
putty bullets into crowds and reports of
police brutality were widespread (including
the witnessed beating of a member of the
Berkeley Police Review Commission). But
neither did protesters refrain from violence,
heaving rocks and bottles filled with urine at
the police.1
