Protesters damage Calif. university leader's home

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December 12, 2009

The Associated Press Associated Press Sat Dec 12, 2009, 04:58 PM EST

BERKELEY, Calif. — Eight people were under arrest Saturday after protesters broke windows, lights and planters outside the home of the chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley.

University spokesman Dan Mogulof said 40 to 70 protesters also threw incendiary devices at police cars and the home of Chancellor Robert Birgeneau about 11 p.m. Friday. There were no fires or injuries.

The protest at the chancellor's home came late the same day that police arrested 66 protesters at a campus classroom building that was partially taken over for four days.

The protesters are demonstrating against state funding cuts that have led to course cutbacks, faculty furloughs and sharp fee increases.

"The attack at our home was extraordinarily frightening and violent. My wife and I genuinely feared for our lives," Birgeneau said in a statement issued through the university.

The eight were arrested on suspicion of rioting, threatening an education official, attempted burglary, attempted arson of an occupied building, felony vandalism, and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

They include two Berkeley students and one from the University of California, Davis, Mogulof said. Of the remaining five, four had San Francisco Bay-area addresses, while one is from Brooklyn, N.Y. Their ages ranged from 20-41. At least three are women.

"This is what it looks like when a student group gets hijacked by an extreme and violent element in its ranks," Mogulof said.

An Associated Press freelance photographer saw at least four broken decorative light globes, overturned vases and plants, and shattered terra cotta planters. At least two windows were broken, one boarded over, the other shattered in a spider web pattern. Birgeneau was in his living room, but did not speak to reporters.

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