Berkeley begins clearing longtime homeless encampment as appeals made in emergency hearing

By CBS Bay Area

Before the sun rose Tuesday morning, a sweep of Berkeley’s long-established and embattled Harrison encampment began.

Police tape and cruisers created a perimeter on Eighth Street as officers moved through the encampment, shining lights, waking people up and telling them to leave so city crews in hazmat gear could begin clearing the space.

For more than a year, the city has battled a group of advocates called the Berkeley Homeless Union in court. An attempt to clear the encampment in 2025 led to a temporary injunction after the union took the city to court. A judge recently finalized protections for certain union members with disabilities.

Yessica Prado, with the Berkeley Homeless Union, said that of the 26 people still living at the encampment, seven were protected from Tuesday’s sweep, while 19 others were still waiting to learn whether they would receive protection.

“Our expectations were that the city was going to follow the court order. Basically say, ‘Hey, who has a disability that would need some help?’ and we would go one-by-one assessing the situation, and if the person doesn’t have one, then you can go ahead and clean,” Prado said. “But they are not doing that, they are just moving in and clearing it out as fast as they can right now.”

Throughout the morning, Prado was on the phone with Anthony Price, the attorney representing the group in court. Price appealed for another temporary injunction of the sweep during an emergency hearing.

The judge decided against pausing the sweep but made clear that the union should be allowed to work alongside city staff and not be held behind a police perimeter, as was the case Tuesday morning.

CBS News Bay Area captured a tense moment between union representatives and police minutes after the judge made the decision allowing them past the yellow tape to observe. An officer told them to wait until police received the order themselves. Eventually, the representatives were allowed through.

As for the 26 people who were still living at the encampment, their futures remained uncertain.

Jacqueline Mendoza was rushing to clear the street around her space, hoping the city would allow her to stay.

“Stressful. Really stressful. Really stressful,” Mendoza said. “There really are no words.”

Leading up to Tuesday’s sweep, some business owners along the corridor spoke out in support of clearing the encampment. Robert Eppley, a small business owner whose sports car repair shop is located nearby, said he was relieved to see the city taking action.

“It’s not an easy situation for everyone involved but we are definitely happy the city is working on it.”

Several city officials were on hand during Tuesday’s sweep, but no one was made available for an interview.

Berkeley’s Mayor Adena Ishii provided the following statement:

“The Harrison Street encampment is being cleared, except for some vehicles still being addressed under separate legal requirements and those with pending disability accommodation requests. I want to be honest with our community: this was a long, complicated, painful process, and I understand it needed to happen for real health and safety reasons. However, I also want to be clear that clearing an encampment is not, by itself, a solution. It doesn’t end anyone’s homelessness; it just changes where the immediate problem of homelessness is visible. Our real goal, and the only thing that actually solves this, is getting people into long-term, stable housing. I remain committed to that work.”

For now, crews will continue their work clearing the Harrison encampment.

Prado said the Berkeley Homeless Union will do its best to help the people who lived there find somewhere else to go, but there remains significant uncertainty about what comes next.