Photo by Reginald James/TheBlackHour.com

If you’ve been following the woeful state of California’s public university system, you know there’s been some major protests about budget cuts that are decimating the schools’ previously stellar reputation.

Last Thursday, on March 4, thousands of demonstrators gathered at Oakland City Hall in support of public education funding. When a group splintered off for a march across Interstate 980/880, Cameron Burns, 18, a freshman at Berkeley, followed them with his Flip camera as a reporter for The Daily Californian.  

Burns found himself in the middle of a chaotic scene when riot police advanced on the protestors. He was tackled and handcuffed as one of 150 people arrested by Oakland police. He was charged with “obstructing a public place and unlawful assembly” and spent 20 hours in jail. Burns says he repeatedly told police he was a journalist, but he couldn’t prove it because he didn’t have his press pass.

Daily Californian staff, university officials and a state senator are working to get the charges dropped since Burns was working as a journalist during the melee. Still, he says he has “no regrets.”

Here’s Burns’ video of his experience at the protest. It’s too bad he didn’t get any video of the actual arrest because it would have made his piece.

Article via The Daily Californian