The 12 pro-Palestinian protesters who were forcibly removed from a vacant building belonging to the University of California, Berkeley last week were arrested on suspicion of burglary, vandalism and conspiracy, according to a university spokesperson. 

Also, campus officials allege some of the protesters used crowbars to assault officers and many resisted arrest, so additional charges may be sought in the future, according to UC Berkeley assistant vice chancellor Dan Mogulof.

“The suspects blocked the north entrance to Anna Head with plywood and shields; they violently resisted arrest, using crowbars to hit officers and using their hands to resist arrest,” Mogulof said in an email. 

  • Law enforcement officers watch over detained pro-Palestinian protestors that were occupying the abandoned Anna Head complex near People’s Park in Berkeley, Calif., on May 16, 2024. (Grace Marion/Bay City News)
  • Law enforcement officers at the Anna Head complex near People’s Park after removing pro-Palestinian protestors that were occupying the abandoned building in Berkeley, Calif., on May 16, 2024. (Grace Marion/Bay City News)e
  • Law enforcement officers detain a protestor after issuing a dispersal order to the pro-Palestinian protestors occupying the abandoned Anna Head complex near People’s Park in Berkeley, Calif., on May 16, 2024. (Grace Marion/Bay City News)

On Wednesday, the group took over the Anna Head building on Haste Street between Telegraph Avenue and Bowditch Street to protest Israel’s ongoing invasion of the Gaza Strip, which was launched in response to a large-scale terrorist attack in October 2023.

School officials said that the group had sticks, pry bars and bolt cutters and that they cut fences, broke windows and spray-painted walls.

The effort to oust the protesters included officers from more than 20 different agencies, including UC Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda and San Mateo counties, Pacifica and San Francisco.  

The Anna Head building has sat unused and boarded up since a fire in 2022.

A spokesperson for the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a request for information on possible charges against the protesters.