The general strike at UC Berkeley may have started slowly, with a smattering of classes taking place on chilly Sproul Plaza over the course of the morning. But by noon, the protest was in full swing.
More than 1,000 chanting, singing, sign-waving students and faculty members spilled down the steps of Sproul Hall and crowded the balcony of the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, where protesters had hung red placards spelling out the word "ACTION" in bold black letters.
A chant of "Hey, hey, ho, ho, police violence has got to go," kicked off the so-called Open University, a reference to a protest last week that was broken up by baton-wielding police officers.
Dan Mogulof, the university's executive director of public affairs, said the Sproul Plaza crowd numbered about 1,200. Berkeley's enrollment is about 35,000.
"A lot of students are opting to participate," Mogulof said, "but a lot are opting to go to class. There are a lot of teach-outs here. Work is getting done. It appears for the most part that classes are continuing."
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