Berkeley Marine Corps Recruiting Center protests: Difference between revisions

[[File:Backs of Police and Code Pink.JPG|thumb|right|Code Pink demonstrators in front of Berkeley City Hall on February 12, 2008.]]

 

On January 29, 2008, the Berkeley City Council passed a series of motions concerning the recruiting center. The most controversial motions ordered the city clerk to draft a letter calling the Berkeley Marines "unwelcome intruders" and another motion gave Code Pink a parking permit on Wednesdays and a noise permit. The motions drew national media coverage. Some veterans groups and conservatives were angered by the motions. National and state laws were drafted to remove funding for Berkeley. The Berkeley City Council changed the wording in the letter February 13, 2008 to remove the most controversial wording and communicate support for the troops but opposition to the war. On the previous day, 2000 protesters at its peak gathered outside city hall to protest against and in support of the motion. The national media coverage of the matter significantly declined following Berkeley's amended language. Legislation backed by [[Republican (US)|Republican]] members of Congress concerning removing earmarks continued through the legislative process, though with little chance of passing, and Move America Forward launched a new advertisement criticizing the Berkeley City Council. Code Pink continues to collect signatures to put a measure on the ballot to remove the recruiting center.

In January 2007, the Marine Recruiting Center for the northern [[Bay Area]] relocated from [[Alameda, California|Alameda]] to downtown Berkeley in order to be closer to the [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref name="Protests again">{{cite web|url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/04/MNHGSJ9N8.DTL|title=Code Pink finds Marine recruiters in Berkeley - protests begin|accessdate= 2008-02-24|last=Jones|first= Carolyn|date= 2007-10-04|work= [[The San Francisco Chronicle]]}}</ref><ref name="DC Protests Follow">{{cite web|url=http://www.dailycal.org/article/26463/protests_follow_recruiting_center_to_berkeley|title= Protests Follow Recruiting Center to Berkeley|accessdate= 2008-02-05|last= Kwong|first= Jessica|date= 2007-10-17|work = [[The Daily Californian]]|publisher=Independent Berkeley Students Publishing Company, Inc.}}</ref> There were no protests until late September 2007 when protests outside the recruiting office began. Code Pink and [[Grandmothers Against the War]] were among the first groups to protest. Code Pink said it would protest the recruiting center every Wednesday.<ref name="Protests again"/>

 

 

On January 29, 2008, Code Pink began collecting the 5,000 signatures necessary to qualify a city measure for the ballot that would require public hearings before military recruiting offices could open near schools.<ref name="Group"/> Former Marine Staff Sgt. Bill Hamilton, who was involved in several altercations with protestors, told the SF Chronicle that the recruiting office was only for recruiting college not high school students.<ref name="Group"/>

25,000 people wrote to city leaders urging them to rescind the letter.<ref name="Lawmakers"/> Some members of the city council regretted their vote after the motion passed. Councilwoman Betty Olds said she was ashamed of her vote.<ref name="Group"/> On February 4, 2008, Council members Betty Olds and Laurie Capitelli called on the council to rescind the letter to the Marines and to declare that Berkeley was against the war but supported the troops.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/05/BAHVUS06B.DTL|title= In Berkeley, push to rescind letter to Marines|accessdate= 2008-02-16|last= Jones|first= Carolyn|date= 2008-02-05|work= [[San Francisco Chronicle]]|publisher= [[Hearst Communications]]}}</ref> On February 12, 2008, the council met to reconsider the Marine Corps Recruiting motions. On this day, at its peak, 2,000 protesters gathered outside city hall, with one group protesting against the city council motion that included [[Move America Forward]], and the other, consisting mainly of Code Pink, protesting in support of the motions.<ref name="Send"/> The two sides faced each other with police separating them on Martin Luther King Jr. Way; both sides exchanged songs, chants, flag waves, yells, and obscenities. The protest lasted 24 hours, ending at around 1:00 am on February 13.<ref name="Lawmakers"/> There were four arrests.<ref name="Send"/> The City of Berkeley spent $93,000 in police overtime on February 12 as part of a large police presence to keep the peace.<ref name="OT">{{cite web|url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/16/BAK4V3QAI.DTL|title= BMarines protest cost $93,000 for police OT|accessdate= 2008-02-17|last= Jones|first= Carolyn|date= 2008-02-16|work= [[San Francisco Chronicle]]|publisher= [[Hearst Communications]]}}</ref>

 

On February 13, 2008, after four hours of debates and public comment that included over one hundred speakers, ending at 1:30 am, the Berkeley city council decided 7-2 not to send the letter they had asked the city clerk to draft to the Marines. The new letter written by Mayor [[Tom Bates]] and Council members Max Anderson, Linda Maio and Darryl Moore affirmed "the recruiters' right to locate in our city and the right of others to protest or support their presence." The new letter also stated that Berkeley did not support "the recruitment of our young people into this war" but "deeply respect and support the men and women in our armed forces."<ref name="Lawmakers">{{cite web|url= http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_8260944|title= Lawmakers won't back down following Berkeley council's vote retracting statement to U.S. Marine recruiters|accessdate= 2008-02-17|last= Bender|first= Kristin|date= 2008-02-14|work=[[San Jose Mercury]]|publisher= [[San Jose Mercury News]]}}</ref> The council decided 5-4 not to offer an official apology, but some individual members of the council expressed regret.<ref name="Send">{{cite web|url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/14/BAM9V1H00.DTL|title= Berkeley will not send Marines "unwelcome intruders" letter|accessdate= 2008-02-16|last= Jones|first= Carolyn |author2=Heredia,Christopher |author3=Rubenstein, Steve|date= 2008-02-14|work= [[San Francisco Chronicle]]|publisher= [[Hearst Communications]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/14/BAM9V1H00.DTL|title=Council Begins Discussions of November Tax Measure|accessdate= 2008-02-19|last=Scherr|first=Judith|date= 2008-02-19|work= [[The Berkeley Daily Planet]]|publisher=}}</ref>

 

 

==After council reversal==

 

On February 20, the Associated Students of the University of California at Berkeley passed a resolution against the Berkeley City Council's rhetoric and methods against the Marine Corps recruiting center. The resolution also urged the City Council to submit a letter of apology to U.S. servicemen and women. While mostly a symbolic measure, the resolution nonetheless shows the historically anti-war campus voices support for the troops and adds pressure from Berkeley residents.<ref>Kunert, Chad. "A Resolution Against the City of Berkeley’s Positions Concerning the Marine Recruiting Station." The Associated Students of the University of California at Berkeley website. 12 February 2008. The Associated Students of the University of California at Berkeley. 26 June 2008. [http://www.asuc.org/documentation/view.php?type=bills&id=1139]</ref>

 

==References==

 

{{Protests against the Iraq War}}