Protest draws dozens at UC Berkeley for John Yoo's first day of classes

[Newsjock]

Source: Oakland Tribune

Protesters gathered at the opening of classes Monday to protest the school's continued employment of John Yoo, a UC Berkeley professor who gave legal sanction to the Bush administration's views on torture.

Between 70 and 80 people gathered near the Boalt Hall School of Law around noon and, after a series of speakers discussed torture from a number of perspectives, dipped their hands in red paint and marched into a classroom where they believed Yoo to be teaching this semester, organizer Linda Jacobs said.

Yoo was not in the classroom, so the group continued on to the dean's office and demanded to speak with him, Jacobs said. Police at the scene declared the group an unlawful assembly, at which point the protesters walked back outside, Jacobs said.

"There was a very heavy police presence, but no arrests," Jacobs said.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/49ers/ci_15794112

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Yes, the link is correct as of the original posting time. No idea why it's filed under "49ers."

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. Good for them!

It is a shame that there were not tens of thousands!

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

2. yaaaaah - war criminals should not teach

[EFerrari]

3. Go, Cal!

K&R

[notadmblnd]

4. Who would even sign up for one of his classes?

[EFerrari]

9. People who need the class to get their paper.

It must be a really tough time to go with your conscience right now.

[stevenleser]

5. Of all schools, this idiot chose UC Berkeley? I hope they never give him a moment's peace

I'm glad idiot, war criminal Yoo chose Berkeley, one of the most progressive schools in the US. I hope they protest him day and night.

[Mz Pip]

7. I think he was at Berkeley

before the torture crap. He has tenure so it will be tough to get rid of him.

[nyy1998]

6. I don't agree with Yoo's viewpoints at all

But I do feel like he has the right to teach his class peaceably. Maybe they could turn this into an opportunity to raise the level of discussion on the subject.

[Winterblues]

16. He has the "Right" to spend the rest of his life in prison

But he certainly does not have the "Right" to not be protested for his war crimes..

[nyy1998]

18. I'm not saying he shouldn't be protested for his actions

But not during his class. If I were the Cal Berkeley administrators, I would've tried to turn this into a discussion where Yoo would talk to the protesters and get a debate going.

[tomm2thumbs]

8. 'Yoo, Yoo, has got to goooo...' join in at will

[SpiralHawk]

11. Boo Yoo

Yoo Boo

[lonestarnot]

10. U C Berkeley! You always make me proud! You go!

[Solly Mack]

12. unlawful assembly

snort

[Anakin Skywalker]

13. Did They Chant "Yoo Suck!"?

:) Too easy, I know.

[LibertyLover]

14. I am reading The Dark Side by Jane Mayer

and if Yoo did half the things alleged in the book, he should be arrested for crimes against humanity, tried, found guilty and sent to prison for a very long time.

[jtrockville]

15. Apparently, Yoo still has to teach at an "undisclosed location".

When will he be hauled to der haag?

[gratuitous]

17. How very unsensible! They should be looking to the future

Why are they so fixated on the past? Didn't they get the memo that we're all moving forward now. The sensible liberals all agree that anything that happened between 2001 and 2009 just isn't worth worrying over. Wasted energy. Nothing to be done about it. It's not like the unfinished business of the 1920s gave us J. Edgar Hoover. Or the unfinished business of the 1950s gave us Richard Nixon. Or the unfinished business of the 1970s gave us Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney. Or the unfinished business of the 1980s gave us George W. Bush. So the unfinished business of the 2000s probably won't leave us any kind of legacy in the 2020s. And if it does, really, how bad could it be?

[Name removed]

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