[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-12-23/bay-area/30549930_1_tents-berkeley-police-protesters]
The last of the Bay Area's major Occupy camps ended with a whimper Thursday afternoon when Berkeley police cleared about 20 tents from Civic Center Park as a smattering of protesters looked on quietly.
Police and public works crews picked up tents, sleeping bags, banners and other trappings of the once-booming Occupy movement, which until a few weeks ago was attracting crowds in cities throughout the Bay Area to protest economic injustice.
Berkeley's Occupy camp, which started in early October, at one point had at least 107 tents and 150 or so protesters.
The resigned mood at Civic Center Park was a far cry from the maelstrom of tear gas, vandalism and mass arrests that marked the end of Occupy camps in Oakland and San Francisco a few weeks ago.
Most of the 150 or so protesters at Civic Center Park left voluntarily Wednesday when city officials warned that police would start enforcing the no-camping law in public parks within 24 hours. By the time police arrived at the park Thursday around 1:30 p.m., only 20 or so tents remained.
"We're tired - a lot of us have been up all night," said Larry Silver, 58, who had camped at the park since it sprouted in early October. "But the Occupy movement will keep happening no matter how often they try to suppress it."
Berkeley's decision to clear the camp was due to an uptick in violent crime at the park after an influx of demonstrators from the defunct Oakland and San Francisco protests. In recent weeks, the camp had seen two sexual assaults and more than 50 citations for drugs, weapons, fights and alcohol-related incidents, Berkeley police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said.
The first sexual assault occurred Nov. 26 when a man armed with a dagger entered a woman's tent, masturbated and prevented her from leaving, Kusmiss said. The second was an attempted rape in a tent Tuesday night, she said. Suspects in both incidents were arrested.
The end of Occupy Berkeley was not entirely without conflict. Around 12:30 a.m. Thursday, two men were arrested for public drunkenness and resisting arrest when they approached the nearby police station with gas masks, a crowbar and canisters, Kusmiss said.
Two hours later, police used batons on protesters who had surrounded public works crews attempting to clear the park, Kusmiss said. No one was arrested or seriously injured.
A half-dozen tents remained in the park Thursday afternoon because their owners were present when police swept through. But police are likely to remove those tents when the park closes at 10 p.m., officials said.
"The park is next to a high school, City Hall - this is a place people visit. It's our responsibility to keep it safe," Kusmiss said.
The few remaining protesters vowed to keep the Occupy movement alive.
"I'll be back here every f- day. This is my life," said Eric Westcott, 27, who'd been camping at Occupy Berkeley for two months. "This is a fight against the capitalist system. It's a con game. We are not going away."
Cincinnati (left) and Raven Lighthall take belongings from a campsite as crews remove refuse.
Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle
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