Fri 16 May 2008
This link is a blog write up of last night’s events at Wesleyan. More coverage in other Wesleying posts.
Other coverage is here and here.
If you want to picture the scene, think a typical packed Fountain party on a misty night. Line the entire street with MPD cars. Both sides of the street were flanked with curious/bewildered students with digicams and camera phones, and right in front of the first MPD car in the middle of the road is basically a clusterf*** of maybe 50-100 people. It’s this cluster that’s doing most of the chanting/singing/clapping.
About five minutes later, the police formed a line and started moving forward with their dogs and firing their paintball guns. A canister of tear/pepper gas was fired into the air. At this point it was pure chaos–One person made a run for it and was promptly brought to the ground by five MPDs. Picture people screaming at the police, students physically restraining other students, and one of the arrested kids kicking a patrol car’s door so hard that it bent the frame from the inside and nearly knocked out the window. MPD began menacingly shining the laser guides of their tasers at people. Five students were apprehended for various reasons (I saw at least one running). Of these, two were tasered, and at least three were viciously attacked by the dogs. Many people suffered from the pepper gas because the wind blew it across the crowd, towards Church Street. There was a lot of coughing and people covering their noses and mouths with their shirts. At some point, maybe out of spite, someone went into a house and turned up the music even louder. Students began asking for badge numbers and for reasons for the police presence and why their friends had gotten arrested.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Yet another unfortunate college story that begins:
May 16th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Yet another unfortunate story that begins:
May 16th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Here’s the triggering event, according to the Wes blog linked above:
May 16th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
hwc,
we certainly don’t know (do we?) that the bottle thrower was drunk at all, much less “really, really drunk.”
May 16th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I would hope that ephs would be smart enough to actually leave (rather than confront the “bullies”) when “ordered” to do so.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
That is correct.
He (or she) may have been sitting on the curb at 1:00 am, sipping bottled water, and quietly reading Bible scripture when hit with an overwhelming urge to throw a bottle at the windshield of a cop car.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
hwc,
Do you think everyone there was drunk? Its certainly possible, I suppose, but I’d bet a bunch of people were there hanging out with their friends for one of the last times. I suspect you’re right that the bottle thrower was drunk, but I don’t think alcohol alone can explain the whole scene.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Nope.
Just enough to achieve critical mass and a chain reaction that caught up a lot of innocent bystanders.
Campus security had been trying to break up the crowd for quite some time before the Middletown Police arrived.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
If a college such as Wesleyan should weed out all its drunks, drug abusers, smokers, non-vegitarians, non-intellectuals, obscenity creators, insult hurlers, perverts, other emotionally defectives, law breakers and generally hyper-aggressives, it would have a student body comprised entirely of about 38 very passive, very boring people.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I think the outrage is much more over the action the police took, not whether or not action was justified.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
More important than the question of whether the students were intoxicated, is what exactly were the Middletown police smoking (or snorting, as the case may be) that they thought dogs and teargas were a good way to deal with an end-of-semester party?
This reminds me of the incident a couple of days ago when, during the NYU graduation ceremony at Yankee Stadium, police manhandled and arrested a student who tried to run the bases on the field.
Why exactly are we so unthinkingly devoted to suppressing youthful exuberance with force?
Oh, right, I forgot. Terrorism.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Wesleyan often has crazy stuff going down involving the student body and the police. And when I say crazy, I mean things like racial profiling and police dogs and other things. It’s quite unfortunate.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Frank:
But God forbid those 38 very well-behaved, albeit very boring, passive people, should be subjected to the “undesireable tone” and language, manners and generally Neanderthal-like behavior, of all the others.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
I don’t know why anyone should be outraged. They fought the law and the law won. Lesson learned.
May 16th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
The blogging of the campus meeting underway this afternoon is funny. Nothing like the righteous indignation of college students:
Party on, Wayne!
I understand the police communicated pretty effectively with bullhorns advising the crowd to disperse. I’m picturing this student standing in the middle of the road “communicating”. What’s the over/under on the number of times he called them “effin’ pigs” during said communication?
Yeah, dude. Go figure. Drunken party of several hundred in the middle of the road at 1:15 AM. Who would expect somebody to call the police? Baaaaawaaahaaa. Welcome to the real world.
That’s touching. Unicorns. Puppies. Dewdrops. The whole nine yards.
May 16th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Wait. What’s this I hear? A lone voice of reason on the Wesleyan campus?
Ya think?
Here’s a tip. Not to generalize, but it almost never pays to throw a beer can at police car.
May 16th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Good grief, hwc…get over yourself. You are such a ham!
May 16th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
here’s another tip:
when one student throws a beer can, don’t respond with pepper spray and teargas of hundreds of students.
(oh, and “effin pigs”? hwc, you’re showing your age with your slang, lol)
back to page eight of 30!
May 16th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
That’s just appeasement talk, rory. If a beer can lands on a police car and is not responded to with tasers, teargas, and attack dogs, the terrorists will have won.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
FM, a ham? Decode that for me.
I think HWC has a point in that students were culpable, and probably very uninterested in listening to the cops.
However, the cops are the responsible party here, and it looks like they overreacted. Couldn’t they have gotten somewhere by arresting people 1 by 1 for disturning the peace?
I have no legal knowledge, but that sounds better.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Probably.
But, look at it from their perspective. They are out-numbered by as much as 10 to 1 and under attack from flying beer cans in a situation that is out of control. Plus, truth be told, the probably hate “the little brats”.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Will:
I’ll tell you what “ham” means, if you tell me what “disturning” means.
Just kidding.
Maybe you are ‘pulling my leg’, but if not-
From Random House-
ham: 3. to act with exaggerated expression of emotion; overact
(It’s a common theater term for someone who takes up the entire stage, “eats the scenery”, so to speak)
May 16th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
HWC: One beer bottle thrown. One.
FM: Ah - no I wasn’t pulling your leg, and should have thought about looking it up.
dis·turn
/dɪˈstɜrn/
[di-sturb]
–verb (used with object)
1. to interrupt the quiet, rest, peace, or order of a spinning object; unsettle.
2. to interfere with a spinning; interrupt; hinder: Please do not disturb me when I’m spinning this top.
3. to interfere with the arrangement, order, or harmony of spinning objects; disarrange: to disturb the tops on her desk.
4. to perplex; trouble: to be disturned by strange behavior that doesn’t act cyclical.
–verb (used without object)
5. to cause disturbance to someone’s sleep, rest, etc. on a spinning object: Do not disturn.
[Origin: 1175–1225; ME disto(u)rnen, disturnen < AF disto(u)rner, desturner < L disturnāre to demolish, upset a spin, equiv. to dis- dis-1 + turnāre to confuse]
May 16th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
The funniest Wes blog entry yet. A true clash of two worlds with a student lecturing the officer on consistitutional law and the officer offering more practical advice:
What we have here is a “failure to communicate.”
May 16th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Goddam over-indulged, self-centered, pain-in-the-ass brat wouldn’t survive a day on the mean streets - much less a day in Baghdad.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
I’ll agree on that point. Also, which cops draw the night shift?
May 16th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Will: According to several reports I read (it was more “skimmed”), there were other beer bottle or can throwing incidents, including earlier in the night and later in the night. YMMV.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Thanks.
Frank, I’m reminded of this quote from a favorite Williams prof, which says a lot about the environment that some students are in.
“I may not know much about the world, but I do know something about academics.”
May 16th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Will:
Per comment #23
LOL, wonderful…we must see this side of you more often. Dick would be so proud! “Disturn” will, from now on, be an ‘appreciated’ part of my vocab.
But carry on, all. Back to the truly important issues of just how many bottles were thrown and who is really at fault.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
The Gawker weighs in:
Some of the comments on the Gawker and the mainstream media outlets in Conn. are brutal. Like this one:
May 16th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Ah, yes, nothing is quite as amusing as a fellow human being made to suffer a tear-gas attack. Very droll, hwc. They deserve it for going to an “annoying liberal-arts college”, eh?
May 16th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Ronit:
What I find fascinating (and humorous) about the whole situation is the total disconnection between the indignation of the students and the perception of the wider community.
This same disconnection led to confrontation last night and drives the commentary.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
re # 32: So of course you can well understand why certain ephbloggers (and ccers) fail to take you seriously (if at all).
May 17th, 2008 at 12:08 am
These whirling dervishes were having a party throwing beer bottles, cans, catcalls, epithets, slurs, love bombs, revealing poses, and a host of attractive attributes. We could in all probability agree that this love fest will remain an endearing memory within the pages of the 2008 Wesleyan yearbook: “The price of evening out on Fountain Street.”
I find the police and the students at Williams to be cordial and tame by comparison.
Examine the calm and collected demeanor of the police at Smith College when their carnivorous “Lesbos Vixens” true to their “esprit de corps” rioted recently with voluptuous passion as they hurled themselves noisily upon their guest speaker.
Have a great summer everyone! Do the Can-Can!
“faiS de beaux reves, je pense tout le temps a toi”
May 17th, 2008 at 12:13 am
hwc:
It is enlightening to find out( FINALLY),…what amuses you.
And, I must say, it is such a…(probably) fleeting and somewhat perverse pleasure…to see you target a school other than Williams.
As far as your theory of what is driving the commentary? I think you speak for yourself, in that regard.
May 17th, 2008 at 12:20 am
I don’t think all the little darlings at Wes are any different than at other annoying liberal arts colleges and universities. I’ve never heard of a college student yet who isn’t righteously indignant that the local police would dare come onto their campus to enforce the laws of the state.
May 17th, 2008 at 12:34 am
“Fais de beaux reves…” Indeed.
Astute, and possibly, revealing comment, DB. The likes of which places you, (IMO) in the JT category.
Not positive yet…only time will tell [...]
May 17th, 2008 at 1:01 am
Why did you delete my comment?
Because it was rude or obnoxious or off-topic or trollish. We delete comments all the time. We welcome deletion suggestions from readers. Our goal is to create an Eph conversation, an on-line analogue to all the discussion and debate which occurs in the classes and dining halls of Williams. Sharp comments and pointed rebukes are welcome. If you think that someone’s argument is stupid or racist or pathetic, then write that (and back it up). But (true) comments like “Dave is ugly” will be removed. The truth is no defense against a charge of bad manners. (Source)
(Comment edited out by Will Slack ‘11; it was trollish indeed)
May 17th, 2008 at 1:32 am
Mr. Broadband:
Your first comment led me to believe you were ‘playing a part’, similar in style, to another commentator.
I was wrong…which was made clear by your second comment. And you, in turn, are very mistaken about me. That said, please don’t ever address me again.
As far as the acronyms go…you can find your answers on the internet.
May 17th, 2008 at 2:54 am
frosh mom:
I can’t believe he just wrote that. There’s no excuse for that, whatsoever.
May 17th, 2008 at 4:53 am
This has more to do with the exuberance of youth than it does with town/gown. Parties involving young people being broken up by police… nothing new. I know it sucks, we all have rights, but when the police approach you and you are part of a street party/house party/celebration dance/”fountain party”/ mob… whatever, do the right thing and leave.
One thing I can say, without a doubt… if you took the number of underage drinking incident at Williams College throughout the years, and the response of the police in Willaimstown, it has been very light. Williams College protects it’s students from the law. Many major universities have actual police forces that arrest students for possession, public intoxication… etc. Williams has a “middle man” in the form of campus security, that basically keeps the peace, puts the interests of the school first and keeps students out of jail. Not a bad deal, really.
You know the party is over when the police form a line and start moving towards you with dogs, firing paint ball guns, and using pepper spray.
May 17th, 2008 at 5:04 am
“Wesleyan public safety officers requested Middletown police assistance in dispersing a crowd of about 200 students gathered on Fountain Avenue at about 1:30 a.m. Friday, according to a press release from the Middletown police department.”
The school called the police. I find that tidbit, very interesting. Must have been one hell of a party!
May 17th, 2008 at 5:06 am
Hello there, FM -
I missed that, whatever it was, but I want to add that I am sorry it happened. I know it must have been really bad if the comments were deleted here.
You haven’t mentioned what your children are doing this summer, but I hope that you will be able t see them often and that it will be a great summer for all of you.
May 17th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Will:
Thank you. Suffice it to say, lesson learned.
Apologies to JT for the (indirect) insult. I thought for a moment there…well no, I guess I didn’t think…
And thanks Will, hwc, and Larry, for your quick chivalry.
(sigh) It just may be time for more work, less blog.
[...]
FM
May 17th, 2008 at 10:39 am
The Wesleyan Argus has accounts from the two guys who were arrested with the heaviest charges at the Fountain Street Riot.
Get this. Both were the victims of just horrible luck. Poor babies. Turns out both of them threw their beer bottles innocently at a lawn and, gosh this is rotten luck, there just happened to be policemen standing in the direction of the lawn! Can you believe that? If it weren’t for bad luck, they wouldn’t have any luck at all.
And the brutal policemen were totally unjustified in misinterpreting the casual toss of beer bottles in their direction as a provocative act, just like they did when another little precious missed the lawn with a casual toss and nailed the windshield of the first police car with a beer bottle. What’s the matter with these policemen?
May 17th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Time to deflate, all around.
May 17th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
You know…I kind of agree with hwc. Throwing a beer bottle at a police officer/car is actually a pretty big deal. Maybe it’s not a tear gas, dogs, and paintball guns big deal…but you can understand why the police were upset.
Now all of that said, I think this does highlight how while Williams may have a ways to go in Town-Gown relations, we’re definitely on the “good relations” side of the spectrum. I can’t imagine this event happening at Williams largely because for the most part, Williams students are respectful of Campus Security and WPD. Sure, nobody likes being told to disperse, but the couple of times I saw that happen at Williams, students quietly (and unhappily) went about their ways.
May 17th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
No question, we do fine in this measure.
The only annoying police related bit for us that I’ve seen is related to noise. Several people, one who lives more than a mile away, like to call in a lot if the tranquility of the Berkshires is at all disturbed on a weekend night.
May 17th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
“Williams College protects it’s students from the law. Many major universities have actual police forces that arrest students for possession, public intoxication… etc. Williams has a ‘middle man’ in the form of campus security, that basically keeps the peace, puts the interests of the school first and keeps students out of jail.”
Welcome back, PTC — I know you’ve been “gone” a while. You may have missed the discussion here and the reporting in The Record about the WPD now requesting that Williams Security hand over responsibility with regard to student drug usage/possession directly to them. Several students were recently arrested by the WPD and stand to face charges in the Berkshire Court system (if they haven’t already) as a result.
May 18th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Is the college going to comply and hand kids over to the PD for possesion? Drinking? I think that is a mistake. It hurts trust and trust is why young people are willing to call authority when they get into trouble.
There must be liability involved. I see no other reason for the College to take such an action. Has everyone forggoten what it is like to be 19?
May 18th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Recent discussion here, PTC:
http://www.ephblog.com/2008/04/21/reefer-madness/
I have no idea what the liability involved would be.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
“…there was no shortage of story lines to be found in the events leading up to Wesleyan’s 176th commencement on Sunday.”
Yup, I’d say they have recovered well from recent “events”.
That said, my thoughts and prayers are with Senator Kennedy and his family.