In what was called Battle for People's Park or “Bloody Thursday”, on the 15th May, 1969, students and members of the “counter-culture" fought against the police in Berkeley, California, who had fenced the park off in the middle of the night.
Frank Bardacke, a participant in the park's development, stated "A group of people took some corporate land, owned by the University of California, that was a parking lot and turned it into a park and then said, 'We're using the land better than you used it; it's ours'".
Michael Delacour stated, "We wanted a free speech area that wasn't really controlled like Sproul Plaza was. It was another place to organize, another place to have a rally. The park was secondary."
The university's Free Speech microphone was available to all students, with few if any restrictions on speech. The construction of the park involved many of the same people and politics as the 1964 Free Speech Movement.
Local landscape architect Jon Read and many others contributed trees, flowers, and shrubs. Free food was provided and community development of the park proceeded. Eventually, about 1,000 people became directly involved, with many more donating money and materials. The park was essentially complete by mid-May
Police killed a bystander, James Rector, & wounds 60 others, including Alan Blanchard, blinded for life. Seventeen days of street fighting ensued, capped by a march of 30,000, where another 150 demonstrators are shot & wounded.
Ronald Reagan then the governor of California considered the creation of the park a direct leftist challenge to the property rights of the university and says “If there has to be a bloodbath then let's get it over with. No more appeasement”.
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