Dec. 4, 1964: 59 years ago, Dec 4 1964, police arrested 801 students who had been [...]
59 years ago, Dec 4 1964, police arrested 801 students who had been occupying UC Berkeley’s Sproul Hall. 2000 students had taken over the hall (which they declared the “Free University of California”) in protest of the UC’s move to expel four leaders of the Free Speech Movement
The Free Speech Movement began in response to a UC ban on political speech, which was implemented after local business interests pressured the university to stop its students from participating in civil rights actions https://t.co/4lYdn5RI3i
The 4 students facing disciplinary action were being punished for participation in the demonstrations that kicked off the Free Speech Movement in early October. After petitions failed, students decided “to stop the factory from running,” declaring a strike https://t.co/7RqAik6JZ7
After a demonstration on December 2 at which FSM leader Mario Savio gave his famous his famous “bodies upon the gears” speech, thousands of students occupied Sproul Hall, which they held through the following day
At the “Free University of California,” graduate students taught “freedom classes” and organizers screened Charlie Chaplin films (they had hoped to screen Jean Genet’s “Un chant d’amour”). Grad students in some departments recognized the strike, refusing to teach their classes
Around 2 am on Dec 4, police, called out by Governor Brown, began to arrest student occupiers. After a 13 hour standoff, 801 students were arrested. Crowds massed at Santa Rita Jail to support the arrestees, and bail was quickly raised by sympathetic faculty members
The following day, about 70% of students participated in a student strike, and a number of professors cancelled classes in solidarity. In January, the UC removed its most onerous restrictions on political speech, opening the floodgates of student political activity
