UC Berkeley treated our resident Cal parakeet, “Fresh,” to quite a spectacle yesterday–and we’re not talking about the performers for Pilipino Cultural Night who were practicing a heartfelt rendition of Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” on Dwinelle Plaza, directly across from his perch.

No, Fresh had a gang of angry supporters by his police-lined fences on Sunday afternoon. Among the riled up company was our favorite all-purpose protester, Zachary RunningWolf–tricked out in his usual impeccably-selected anti-American t-shirt.

The Clog happened to be there when the grandmother-pushing and subsequent nonsensical yelling began. “White males kill their mothers!” declared one angry woman, repeatedly, after police forcefully prevented an elderly woman from giving Fresh a little nourishment.

One guy eventually snagged a heroically symbolic arrest after throwing a chain of water bottles to the Wheeler Hall treewok.

One of the bottles fell, however. A cop promptly picked it up and emptied it in silent revenge. Cue the cries of “YOU BASTARD!”

And then it got boring.

Apparently, RunningWolf was also there to protest against the university’s ownership of Native-American remains. Yes, at a tree sit. We don’t even know what tree-people are protesting anymore. Development? The lack of affirmative action? The last season of “The Wire”? Pick a cause, any cause– ’cause every protest has an element of anti-everything: anti-cops, anti-democratization, anti-shower.

Such is the multi-purpose nature of a tree-sit–in Berkeley, at least.

Image Source: Patrici Flores
Earlier: News from the Tree Front: ‘Fresh’ Makes Like a Cat and Scrambles