I couldn't help but wonder why the demonstrators in Berkeley deployed only one tripod. Simultaneous deployment of multiple tripods at key intersections around the city would have forced the police to scatter their forces. But I guess nobody thought of that, either. Two portable sound systems, mounted on bicycle trailers, pounded out excellent beats. Soon the cheery glow of a bonfire had most people dancing around a pile of smashed-up newspaper vending boxes.
Most newspapers make a better source of kindling than they do of information.
After a good long while the cops moved in and drove people back with threatening gestures. They were firm but restrained. No doubt they had heard about the Czech policemen who had been set on fire by molotov cocktails earlier in the day and didn't want to provoke a similar fate for themselves. The protesters withdrew to the opposite side of the intersection and regrouped. They immediately built a second bonfire, even as a fire truck was moved in to foam the first bonfire out.