UC-Berkeley occupiers arrested, removed

BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 21 (UPI) -- University of California-Berkeley protesters who occupied a campus building to protest skyrocketing tuitions have been arrested and removed, observers said.

Police on Friday escorted 40 protesters out of UC-Berkeley's Wheeler Hall, 11 hours after they had barricaded themselves into the facility to draw attention to a 32 percent jump in tuition instituted by the school's Board of Regents to help plug a $535 million budget gap, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

As more than 2,000 supporters chanted outside Wheeler Hall, Alameda County, Calif., sheriffs deputies removed the protesters and indicated they would be charged with misdemeanor trespassing offenses, the newspaper said.

The occupation, capping three days of campus protests, began at 6 a.m. Friday when the demonstrators entered the second floor of the building. The Chronicle said two were arrested immediately for burglary. They protesters reportedly issued demands that the tuition hikes be rescinded and 38 custodians whose jobs were cut be restored to the staff.

UC-Berkeley spokeswoman Janet Gilmore told the newspaper that school officials "share the frustration" of the occupiers, but "at the same time we're disappointed that they had taken this action."