San francisco tree sitters

Ending an epic battle over the fate of a grove of trees near the University of California, Berkeley's football stadium, four tree-sitters have descended from their perch atop a redwood tree. The last two tree-sitters came down from the redwood shortly before p. All four were handcuffed and led away by police. The descent was the culmination of a tension-filled day on campus marked by scuffles between police and protesters on the ground.

Several ground protesters appeared to have been arrested. This morning, crews hired by the university began to construct scaffolding around the redwood tree where the sitters have been living. The scaffolding quickly grew and soon crews and police had reached the level of the tree-sitters' main platform.

The tree-sitters moved upward to avoid the crews as university Police Chief Victoria Harrison tried to negotiate with them from a metal basket hanging from a crane where she stood with several colleagues. Around p. The protest began last Dec. It's unclear exactly how many tree-sitters there are, or whether they are students or outsiders.

Many rotate in and out at night and wear masks, and they usually give false names. Although some just spend a few hours in a tree to show solidarity, others seem to hang out for days or weeks, helped by supporters who hoist food, water and reading materials to them in buckets and haul out trash, excrement and other waste.

Notable milestones have included an appearance by conservationist Sylvia McLaughlin, 91, who briefly sat on a tree platform in January. There have been two nude photo shoots, and two sitters have fallen, breaking bones. The next big development in the case could be a ruling, expected soon, on lawsuits filed by the City of Berkeley and others challenging the building plans.

They argue the athletic center would be environmentally and seismically unsound, which campus officials deny. The judge hearing those lawsuits previously issued an injunction banning construction while the case is pending. Campus officials say a new gym will allow the school to move athletes out of cramped and dilapidated quarters in Cal's year-old Memorial Stadium.

The tree-sitters, who were arrested early Tuesday afternoon at the end of a month-long protest at a grove of trees on the site where the university plans to build a new sports training facility, are scheduled to return to Alameda County Superior Court on Monday for pretrial hearings. Eisenberg said he thought the tree-sitters with the lowest bail amounts would be released from custody Thursday but those with higher bail amounts might have to remain in jail at least a few days longer.

Schuck faces more charges than the other tree-sitters because he faces an additional misdemeanor criminal contempt charge for allegedly violating an order to stay away from the tree grove after he was arrested in April for occupying a redwood tree in Sproul Plaza on campus. Prosecutor Josefa James agreed to the bail reduction.

In asking for a lower bail for Colocho, defense attorney Carol Strickman said he's a former New York University student, used to work for the New York Times and has worked in the computer field. Eisenberg said he doesn't think that Colocho worked as a reporter for the New York Times but he understands that Colocho did layout work for the newspaper.

Gonzales Rogers refused requests to release Colocho, Pena and Resendez on their own recognizance because they don't have strong ties to the Bay Area.