SAN FRANCISCO “”mdash; University of California police arrested 13 people and used pepper spray to subdue aggressive demonstrators Wednesday morning outside of the UC Board of Regents meeting at UC San Francisco.
An estimated 300 people picketed the front of the building to protest a proposed 8 percent fee increase and changes to UC retirement benefits.
UC spokesman Pete King called the showing “sizable but not unprecedented.” When the board approved a 32 percent increase at UCLA last year, UC students organized a sit-in at Campbell Hall, and riot police drove back crowds with Tasers and nightsticks.
Wednesday’s demonstrators dismantled police barricades and entered into physical altercations with police about half an hour into the meeting.
The largest confrontation took place in the community center parking garage, when a UC police officer at a security post in the garage drew his gun for protection after protesters rushed and battered him.
The officer was later disarmed by a UC Merced student and injured by his own baton, said UCSF Police Chief Pamela E. Roskowski.
The student was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
Of the 13 who were arrested, 11 were students. There were no UCLA students who were arrested or involved in the protest. UCLA students at the UC Regents meeting made peaceful protest a priority, skipping the picketing to listen to discussion in the meeting, said Todd Bowen, Undergraduate Students Association Council director of advocacy.
Bowen, a fourth-year international development studies student, wore a sticker across his mouth with the words “Stop Fees” as a symbolic gesture. He said UCLA representatives will participate in more aggressive protest if student concerns are not heard.
“We’re hoping we don’t have to escalate it,” Bowen said.
A group of UCLA students, including USAC President Jasmine Hill, left Los Angeles Tuesday night in a pair of vans to attend the meeting.
The board will vote on an 8 percent fee increase Thursday. No action will be taken on the proposals for UC’s retiree health and pension programs until a special meeting in December.