Berkeley Police Arrest and Release 52 Demonstrators

University of California campus police Wednesday arrested 52 protesters occupying an administrative building at the Berkeley campus on charges of trespassing. The police later released the group of demonstrators which included 34 U.C. Berkeley students.

After participating in a noon anti-Reagan rally, the protesters occupied the building and drew up a list of 24 demands, including terminating the campus ROTC program, stopping university research on nuclear weapons, and increasing university support for campus child care.

Three rallies in three days have taken place in Berkeley--a march Tuesday night that stretched throughout the city in protest of Reagan's election, a demonstration Wednesday that featured speakers from the Berkeley City Council, the city's mayor and the head of the Berkeley student government, and a rally that took place yesterday in support of the 52 arrested protesters.

The University met Wednesday with representatives of the protesters and offered to set up discussion meetings, Ray Colvig, U.C. Berkeley spokesman, said yesterday.

Leaders of Wednesday's noon rally did not organize the sit-in, Colvig said, adding that the participants in the occupation "were not a coalesced group in any sense."

Colvig said he could not predict whether there will be future campus activity but added that "there is not much evidence of any really serious organizing."

Michael Litchman, president of Berkeley's student government and a speaker at Wednesday's rally said yesterday that the level of activism on campus is high and that he expects it to remain that way. He added that the election of Reagan was a stimulus to political protest because "Reagan defines what everyone hates."

"Everyone is really excited here," one Berkeley student said yesterday, adding, "We had Reagan as governor a few years ago and we know what it's like."