The city of Berkeley has swept the 8th and Harrison streets homeless encampment. This morning, police and city officials descended on the controversial site with bulldozers and hazmat suits to evict 21 unhoused Berkeley residents following a court order from a federal judge stemming from a longstanding legal battle.
City-affiliated vehicles and Berkeley Police Department cars began arriving at the encampment a little after 6 a.m. Officers taped off the area in the encampment north of Ninth Street, where other city workers began disposing of objects on the road and the sidewalk.
Seven residents were granted a legal exemption based on ongoing negotiations for Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations, allowing them to stay at the site as the city swept the residences of those around them.
The city brought a bulldozer to dispose of larger objects such as trash cans. Sometime during the removal of belongings and trash, a small fire broke out that was later extinguished…