It was an unusual protest, even by the standards of a city that has experienced hundreds of them over the decades.
A Leap Day demonstration this past Thursday at the shipping container wall around People’s Park in Berkeley continued a tradition of using leap year’s extra day for protest. But in addition to the usual banners, chants and music accompaniment from a small marching band, there were… slingshots.
Organizers from the Slingshot Collective launched seed bombs — solid dirt balls filled with seeds — over the double-stacked shipping containers and into the now-former park using slingshots, both store bought and homemade.
“People go to a lot of boring protests, and this is an alternative and we are protesting real issues,” volunteer James Palmer said during the event. The Slingshot Collective has hosted a Leap Day protest every four years since 2000, according to Palmer.
The Leap Day protest began at the corner of Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue, with demonstrators marching to Chase bank to protest their climate policies and support for the “Cop City” development in Atlanta, Georgia, before making their way to the perimeter of what was formerly known as People’s Park.
“With the shipping containers, obviously we can’t push them over, we can’t get over them,” Palmer said. “We wanted to figure out a way to express our displeasure, not only at what’s happening, but at the ridiculous overreaction of building a wall like this.”
“We wanted to figure out a way to express our displeasure, not only at what’s happening, but at the ridiculous overreaction of building a wall like this.”
James Palmer, protester
A recent Berkeleyside report that found UC Berkley spent upwards of $4.4 million dollars on security at the site, “…which is like a crazy overreaction to basically a small number of Berkeley hippies,” according to Palmer.
“We are the people who they’re worried about, the people that they’re trying to keep out, and we’re not dangerous,” Palmer said.
Protesters like Elisa Smith are hopeful that the community that centered around People’s Park will find a new home.
“The park, it’s all ages, all colors, all genders, all economic backgrounds, all together and that kind of breaking of bread that can happened in common space — it’s something magical at the park,” Smith said. “These days it’s like a real lucky thing to have a place where we’re all together, just all walks of life.”
Although the protest was peaceful, community members who did not appear to be present for the march to the location began spray painting shipping containers as the event came to a close. No arrests were made, but officers took photos and video of at least two adults and one child using spray paint on the containers.