BERKELEY, Calif. -- The protest against the grand jury decision to not indict a police officer for killing Eric Garner in New York City has been an interstate movement from the beginning. Now for the first time it has shut down one of the nation's busiest chunks of Interstate freeway.
The I-80 runs from New York to San Francisco, and on its final approach to (or first approach from) the city by the Bay, it runs past Berkeley (a statue commemorating the free speech protests of the 1960s overhangs the freeway), Oakland and Pixar HQ in Emeryville. All of that was impassable for several hours Monday night, when several hundred Garner protesters from an estimated total of more than 1,500 blocked all westbound and eastbound lanes in the faces of riot police -- and block a train on the nearby Amtrak corridor for good measure.
That's a whole lot of rush hour red on the I-580/80. #berkeleyprotests pic.twitter.com/CltTqgAc3G— John C. Osborn (@bayreporta) December 9, 2014
The red line of traffic on satellite maps soon spread:
Damn good thing I didn't need to drive anywhere tonight #berkeleyprotests pic.twitter.com/QNcNMX9LHe— Chris Taylor (@FutureBoy) December 9, 2014
In the town of Berkeley, which likes to think of itself as peaceful above all else, there was an electric charge in the air, coupled with a nervousness about the whole thing -- after all, the normally placid local cops had donned provocative riot gear and attacked protesters the night before, and a tiny minority of self-described anarchists had tagged along, smashing windows and doing a spot of looting at the Radio Shack.
Some residents seemed to be spoiling for a fight. "Radicals often say that the best education is getting the shit beaten out of you by police," a local writer and musician who calls himself Robert Eggplant told Mashable.
The protesters "saw police brutality firsthand this weekend, and I think it's added a lot of spunk," he added, carrying a sign that read "Bill this mess to Darren Wilson," the Ferguson cop who was not indicted by another grand jury in Ferguson.
But the town did itself proud in the nonviolent manner of its protesting Tuesday. There was, as the locals say, a certain chillness to the vibe. Although they were by no means universally loved and blocked many a homecoming, the freeway protesters were met with smiles and offers of bottled water from many of the drivers they'd stopped.
Wow. This photo is incredible. #Berkeley #ShutItDown #ICantBreathe pic.twitter.com/pyAcHoJndF— Chantel Trujillo (@ChantillyyyLace) December 9, 2014
They also took up serenading the cops:
Protester singing to police line at pedestrian bridge over blocked freeway #ferguson #ericgarner #berkeleyp... https://t.co/kQbbjfbgwu— Vivian Ho (@VivianHo) December 9, 2014
The scene on the Amtrak side of things was similarly placid:
Protesters just chilling in front Amtrak train #ferguson #ericgarner #berkeleyprotests pic.twitter.com/qItIQ6wFZB— Vivian Ho (@VivianHo) December 9, 2014
And then there was the character known widely as Marshmallow Guy, who drove home his message of peaceful protest by tossing marshmallows into the mouths of protesters:
How Berkeley could these protests be? Spotted earlier tonight handing out marshmallows #berkeleyprotests pic.twitter.com/Oh5vO7mmIY— Jessica Guynn (@jguynn) December 9, 2014
Of course, you don't just get to shut down a freeway with impunity (nor is it entirely safe: one woman going into labor while stranded on the freeway, although emergency services were later able to rescue her).
A large number of police cars just swarmed onto the 80/580 freeway #berkeleyprotests pic.twitter.com/i9qZWrwVOa— Berkeleyside (@berkeleyside) December 9, 2014
The police were less jittery than the previous night, but they meant business -- with locally-mandated beanbag bullets.
RT violentfanon: Cops cleared us from freeway, hitting people with batons & shooting beanbag rounds. #Berkeley #... pic.twitter.com/VQ9yJvaJnp— Berkeleyside (@berkeleyside) December 9, 2014
And yet, when the inevitable arrests came? Well, they were received pretty peacefully by the protesters, too. They started queueing up.
Protesters being arrested, forming orderly lines. Hope they get rides back to #Berkeley :) #berkeleyprotests pic.twitter.com/kRAlfUVB3Z @bhngyn— Paula Chertok (@PaulaChertok) December 9, 2014
California Highway Patrol spokesperson Officer Daniel Hill said a total of 216 people were arrested for charges of resisting arrest, creating a public nuisance and obstructing another’s right to free travel.
"The California Highway Patrol is sworn to protect the peoples’ right to peacefully assemble and demonstrate," CHP said in a press release. "However, the freeway is not the place to express one’s opinions."
At about 10 p.m. local time, the center of protest shifted southward, to Emeryville. Most of the 2,000 protesters had dispersed by that point. But they were emboldened, and mulling another attempt at I-80 shutdown:
Hundred or so protesters left in Emeryville, seeking another freeway to shut down #ferguson #ericgarner #be... https://t.co/FwfhXNICio— Vivian Ho (@VivianHo) December 9, 2014
Those who were arrested and placed in a "kettle" holding area were equally emboldened, and still able to get the word out.
Group is kettled, protesters on the other side of the police line sing Jingle Bells #berkeleyprotests pic.twitter.com/nNlGhCS1lt— Jessie Lau (@jessielau93) December 9, 2014
Yes, I'm tweeting in handcuffs. No stopping me. #Berkeley #BlackLivesMatter #FTP #KettleAtRoss pic.twitter.com/IWiphyXfwd— Not Frantz Fanon (@violentfanon) December 9, 2014
Of course, the evening had not been entirely casualty free. There was this burrito, for one thing.
Some woman just yelled, "Food not bombs!" and threw a damn burrito at the cops. Oh lord. #berkeleyprotests— Tiffani Ashley Bell (@tiffani) December 9, 2014
And the Amtrak commuters had better bed down for the night.
The Amtrak's not going anywhere tonight... #blacklivesmatter #berkeleyprotests #icantbreathe A photo posted by Tara Prangell (@taraprangell) on Dec 12, 2014 at 12:58am PST
Update, Tuesday, 1 p.m. PT: The initial version of this story used early reports that 2,000 protesters were involved in shutting down the freeway. Here's what California Highway Patrol spokesperson Officer Daniel Hill told Mashable Tuesday: "Though upwards of 1,500 people were present at the various protests in Berkeley, only a small fraction of them made it onto the freeway. We estimate numbers between 200-300 that were actually on I-80."
Patrick Kulp contributed to this report.