Friday, August 29, 2008

On August 27th at around 10:30am, "at least seven" police officers from the UC Berkeley Police, Alameda County Sheriff and the FBI entered the Long Haul Infoshop in Berkeley with guns drawn, broke down every door, and stole all computers on the property. Computers taken included those used by the Slingshot Collective and East Bay Prisoner Support as well as the public computer room which provided on-line access for those otherwise unable to afford it. Police also broke into cabinets, cut locks, and went through mail.

People began to gather and demanded that the police show a warrant, which they didn't do until they were finished ransacking the building, and they didn't allow anyone involved with the space in to observe that the warrant was being executed to the letter. Both CopWatch and The Berkeley Daily Planet were there to cover the incident. The police stated that the computer equipment "may have been used to commit a felony." This is the first time there has been a raid since the infoshop opened 15 years ago.

The UC system, a powerhouse in the military-academic-industrial complex, faces treesits against expansion plans at UC Berkeley as well as nearby UC Santa Cruz; vivisectionists employed at both campuses have also faced protests (see 8-18 & links).