Today in Labor History May 15, 1969: Police fought students in the Battle for People's Park at the University of California Berkeley, California. The battle was over a small strip of land that the students had claimed as community commons. Governor Ronald Reagan sent in National Guards to reclaim the Park. Police gunfire killed a bystander, James Rector, and wounded 60 others, including Alan Blanchard, who was blinded for life. Street fighting continued for 17 days. Another 150 demonstrators would be shot and wounded. The battle for the park has continued ever since, with the university continuing to claim ownership and threatening to turn the park into everything from units of student housing to a parking lot. The defenders of the park have done numerous direct actions over the past 55 years to defend the park, provide mutual aid, provide free food and clothes to unhoused folks, and offer community classes. In 1992, cops shot and killed Park Defender Rosebud Denovo, after she broke into the basement of the residence of UC Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien. As recently as 2024, the cops have attacked, beaten, and/or arrested park defenders. Also in that year, the California Supreme Court sided with the University and its plans to build student housing on the park. In 2025, the university announced that the new housing would be named after Disability Rights activist Judy Heumann.
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