Rosebud Denovo

Rosebud Abigail Denovo (? - d. August 25, 1992), known as Rosebud, was a 20 year old protester who was killed by police during a break-in of the Chancellor's Mansion at the University of California, Berkeley. She had previously been involved with 1991 riots at People's Park in Berkeley, California. She had been arrested the previous summer after police found explosive devices at a campsite she shared with a boyfriend in the Berkeley hills. Her trial was pending on the charges at the time of her death.^[1]

Break-in and death

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 officers, with dogs, into the house, where they shot and killed Denovo after she went for them with a machete.

Previous incidents

At the time of her campsite arrest, police had also found a list of potential targets, including several university officials. In addition to explosives were crossbows, arrows, a copy of the Anarchist's Cookbook, which contains instructions for making homemade bombs, and a journal tied to her that made threatening references to Chancellor Tien.

She had been arrested during summer 1991 for trespassing and vandalism on campus property, and for carrying concealed weapons and attacking police officers at protests at People's Park over volleyball court construction.

Responses

Park activists and street people expressed doubts about the official story, though no findings were made of improper police procedure or misconduct.^{[citation needed]}

Further reading

• What Really Killed Rosebud?, Claire Burch, Regent Press Publishers (Berkeley) (2001), ISBN 091614769X

References