Protesters at UC Berkeley occupied Tolman Hall today as part of a protest against the UC system’s recent decision to hike tuition, put on by a student-led group Students Against the Cuts Coalition.

At around 1:20 p.m., protesters, who began their march around campus starting at Sproul Plaza attempted to enter Tolman Hall, at which point one demonstrator allegedly assaulted an officer who was trying to block the crowd’s entrance.

At the beginning of the occupation, approximately 100 protesters were in the building. Participants spent the hours discussing issues from solutions to the tuition hikes and access to education for undocumented students.

At approximately 8:04 p.m., one protester was arrested in the halls of Tolman Hall. UCPD Lt. Marc DeCoulode later said that the demonstrator was the man who allegedly assaulted an officer.

Around 30 to 40 demonstrators were outside Tolman Hall at approximately 9 p.m. Some began throwing objects at officers stationed outside  and one protester broke a window before dispersing 15 minutes later. UCPD said that protesters were allowed to leave the building, but would not be allowed to return, but their exit was blocked by officers.

This was followed by those protesting outside chanting, “Let them out!”

At 9:44 p.m., protesters inside the building decided to disperse and said they would occupy the building again tomorrow starting at 10 a.m.

Two protesters were arrested in total, according to UCPD.

[youtube width=”500″ height=”369″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWnJB7Tdc8U[/youtube]