Rosebud Abigail Denovo (born Laura Marie Miller) (? - d. August 25, 1992) was a 20 year old street activist who had previously been involved during the 1991 riots at People's Park in Berkeley, California. She was arrested and released after police allegedly found gunpowder at a campsite she shared with a boyfriend in the Berkeley hills. She was pending trial on those charges at the time of her death.[1]
On August 25, 1992, Denovo broke into the residence of Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien on the UC Berkeley campus at 5:50 am, triggering a silent alarm that summoned the University of California Police Department (UCPD), who escorted Tien and his wife safely off the premises. The UCPD then sent five Oakland Police Department officers and dogs into the house, and the officers shot and killed Denovo after she allegedly lunged at them with a machete. Though the machete was in her possession, the police version remains highly controversial. The autopsy indicated that at least one of the bullets entered her from the back, but that could have happened when she was trying to attack another officer.
Denovo's killing triggered further protests as some believed that the police entry was contrary to customary police procedure. Normal procedure when an armed, disturbed person is in a house, but not endangering anyone, is to negotiate with the person from the outside. Some felt that the police had to act because Denovo did not communicate after breaking into the house. People also criticized the UCPD and the OPD because the officer who shot Denovo had been the subject of previous citizen complaints alleging excessive force, but jurisprudence does not allow past actions to be used as evidence against current action. While many complained and protested, no one could ever prove police misconduct.