Berkeley police and some Occupy Berkeley protesters clashed Thursday morning around 12:30 am as police tried to clear a path for a public works truck.
Protesters rushed a public works truck that was parked in front of the Berkeley police department on Martin Luther King Way. Some of them jumped into the back of the truck to retrieve belongings that had been confiscated earlier by police. They pulled out a duffle bag, a traffic cone, and other small items.
A number of police officers who were inside their headquarters then rushed outside to stop the protesters from overwhelming the truck, which by that point had driven into the street and was stopped at a red light. A number of protesters suffered minor cuts and bruises after being struck with police batons.
This was not the expected eviction of the Occupy Berkeley camp at Civic Center Plaza. A number of tents remain in the park.
You can watch the confrontation starting around minute 18 on this USTREAM video.
