Comments on: No charges in UC Chancellor’s home case http://www.berkeleyside.com/2009/12/15/no-charges-in-uc-chancellors-home-case/ News and notes on our city Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:50:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Thomas Lord http://www.berkeleyside.com/2009/12/15/no-charges-in-uc-chancellors-home-case/comment-page-1/#comment-519 Thomas Lord Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:07:00 +0000 http://www.berkeleyside.com/?p=1690#comment-519 That seems particularly odd. Nobody has offered any theory of defense for those arrested. Nobody is offering any explanation for not filing charges. If the issue were complete lack of evidence supporting the arrests, why isn't the defense attorney crowing and filing wrongful arrest suits? If a deal with the defense was struck, why is the defense attorney saying "They still have until the statute of limitations to file charges?" I can't help but notice that what happened here was that while the university and the police stood accused of violent over-reaction in the case of the Wheeler Hall occupation, suddenly (literal) outside agitators appeared for a second protest at which protester violence was incited. Regardless of who led these events, the Cal administration and the police got two victories here: (1) They now have an emotional (not logical) argument that the police did not over-react at Wheeler (or over-reacted only slightly). (2) They have an empirical "test of the waters" about how radicalized the students are, based on how many did or did not join in and on how students react to news of these events. Given those victories for Cal and the police, and given the puzzling absence of charges, I can't help but to think that this *resembles* a domestic counter-intelligence operation. I wouldn't be the first and its not like that kind of operation stopped with the exposure of COINTELPRO. That seems particularly odd. Nobody has offered any theory of defense for those arrested. Nobody is offering any explanation for not filing charges.

If the issue were complete lack of evidence supporting the arrests, why isn’t the defense attorney crowing and filing wrongful arrest suits?

If a deal with the defense was struck, why is the defense attorney saying “They still have until the statute of limitations to file charges?”

I can’t help but notice that what happened here was that while the university and the police stood accused of violent over-reaction in the case of the Wheeler Hall occupation, suddenly (literal) outside agitators appeared for a second protest at which protester violence was incited.

Regardless of who led these events, the Cal administration and the police got two victories here: (1) They now have an emotional (not logical) argument that the police did not over-react at Wheeler (or over-reacted only slightly). (2) They have an empirical “test of the waters” about how radicalized the students are, based on how many did or did not join in and on how students react to news of these events.

Given those victories for Cal and the police, and given the puzzling absence of charges, I can’t help but to think that this *resembles* a domestic counter-intelligence operation. I wouldn’t be the first and its not like that kind of operation stopped with the exposure of COINTELPRO.

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