Sept. 9, 2008

Watch UC Berkeley Press Conference

BERKELEY - The last four protesters climbed down from their perch atop a redwood tree outside Memorial Stadium early Tuesday afternoon, peacefully ending a 21-month tree-sit to protest construction of UC Berkeley's new student-athlete training center.

The protest ended after workers erected a scaffold encircling the 100-foot-tall tree, reaching up to the few remaining branches at the top where the tree-sitters had taken refuge. UC Police Chief Victoria Harrison negotiated with the protesters throughout the morning from a basket suspended by a giant crane, eventually securing their agreement to end the protest without injury. The four men descended one by one to the scaffold's top platform, where they were met by UC police and led away in handcuffs.

Look for additional stadium updates on the NewsCenter at berkeley.edu.