3rd Occupation, Day 2: Quiet at UC Lot

The third occupation of a UC Berkeley lot in Albany by Occupy the Farm urban-farming activists entered a second day Sunday with the urban-farming activists continuing to defy university orders against trespassing.

The occupiers had not been expected to spend Saturday night at the plot but to conduct two daylight-only occupations on Saturday and Sunday. But tents were seen on the plot Sunday morning, and one of the activists told Patch that about 20 members of the group spent the night.

A Patch visit to the site at 1:40 p.m. Sunday found about 15 members of the group at the site. One of the occupiers said the group planned to break camp late Sunday and not spend another night.

No UC police were visible when Patch was there.

On Saturday about 50 Occupy supporters re-entered the property at San Pablo Avenue and Monroe Street next to University Village after having being evicted by UC police the previous Monday following a two-night camp-in occupation.

On May 11, nearly 100 Occupy the Farm activists marched from City Hall to the plot, which UC Berkeley has proposed to development as commercial retail property, anchored by Sprouts Farmers Market. They planted crops, which the university plowed under after evicting the protesters.

On their re-entry on May 18, members of the group broke ground and sowed seeds in the newly broken sod as well as the area plowed by UC. One occupier said members of the group intend to visit the plot periodically to water the planted area.

Occupy the Farm staged a three-week occupation and crop-planting a year ago on the Gill Tract agricultural research field, which is near the site occupied the past two weekends. They were evicted by campus authorities.

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