Tree-sit
The tree-sit was initiated and led by Zachary RunningWolf, a community activist and former Berkeley mayoral candidate. RunningWolf said that construction of the athletic center would be "a hate crime; we call it Guantánamo Berkeley". He also has said that the Illuminati and the Masons are conspiring to build the center because "the grove is at the intersection of compass lines connecting the Haas School of Business (money) with Alcatraz (state violence) and the Lawrence Berkeley lab that gave America nukes".
The protest ran from December 2, 2006 to September 9, 2008, and was the longest urban tree-sit ever.
In September 2007 the university reported that there had been 155 violations and 98 arrests or citations in connection with the protest. By April 5, 2008, the protest had also generated more than 200 police reports, most of which were filed against the protesters.
As of November 2007 the university had spent $125,000 for private security guards at the grove, $100,000 in covering costs incurred by the University of California Police Department (UCPD) that were not part of their normal on-duty operations, and $117,000 in building two fences around the grove. As of April 5, 2008 the cost to UCPD had reached $300,000.
Read more about this topic: Berkeley Oak Grove Controversy