A 2006 graduate of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School has been arrested for her involvement in a protest on the campus at the University of California, Berkeley.
Laura Thatcher, 21, was taken into custody after police responded to an incident at the home of UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau over the weekend.
About 40 to 70 protesters, voicing objections to UC budget cuts and student fee increases, threw lighted torches at police cars and the chancellor's residence on the north side of campus. Police said windows, lights and planters were damaged in the incident.
No fire or injuries were reported.
Thatcher, a resident of Rolling Hills Estates and an undergraduate art student at the University California, Davis, was taken into custody late Friday with seven others. The group was charged with rioting, threatening an education official, attempted burglary, attempted arson of an occupied building, felony vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.
When reached by phone, her mother declined comment on the incident.
Thatcher is being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, Calif, and her bail has been set at $132,500.
Although the eight protesters were originally scheduled to appear in court today, their arraignments have been delayed while the Alameda County District Attorney's Office continues to review evidence, according to news reports.
Birgeneua was asleep at the time of the incident and his wife called police.
"These are criminals, not activists," Birgeneua said in a statement. "The attack on our home was extraordinarily frightening and violent. My wife and I genuinely feared for our lives."
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the incident an act of terrorism.
"California will not tolerate any type of terrorism against any leaders, including educators," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "The attack on Chancellor Birgeneua's home is a criminal act and those who participated will be prosecuted under the fullest extent of the law."
For months, students from UC and California State University schools have protested student fee increases and program cuts.
Earlier Friday, more than 60 students were arrested for trespassing after a four-day occupation of a classroom building on the UC Berkeley campus.
According to news reports, Thatcher was arrested in mid-November along with dozens of other protesters after refusing to leave an academic building at UC Davis.
A UC Davis spokesperson said university officials have not yet decided if Thatcher and another UC Davis student arrested after the incident, Julia Litman-Cleper, would be able to continue their studies at the school.
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