October 21, 2004
Somebody Isn't Coming Home
Thousands of college students poured into the streets of New England last night to celebrate the Red Sox first American League pennant in 18 years.
One didn't come back alive:
A college student died Thursday of a head injury suffered in a clash between police officers and a crowd of Red Sox fans who poured into the streets outside Fenway Park to celebrate their team's victory over the New York Yankees.
Victoria Snelgrove, a 21-year-old journalism major at Emerson College, was among 16 people hurt in the revelry in Boston. The injured also included a police officer.
Most of the injuries were minor, but Snelgrove suffered a severe head wound as police tried to subdue the crowd, authorities said. Mayor Tom Menino told WBZ-AM that she was struck by a "non-lethal weapon," but he did not elaborate.
David Procopio, a spokesman for the district attorney, said the office is investigating whether the student's injuries "were sustained in any way during crowd control measures."
This version of the story, which includes some original reporting from the Boston Globe that says the student was struck by a "bean-bag" bullet as Boston Police struggled to re-gain control of the streets around Fenway Park in the immediate aftermath of the Red Sox victory:
Menino told the news media this morning that he was considering banning the serving of liquor in bars in the Fenway Park area once any World Series game gets underway.
He also said he was considering banning still and television cameras from inside bars in the Fenway Park area during games because he felt they contributed to inciting the crowds, mostly young people. He described what had happened as "'senseless''.
Reaction shots from bars inside the city of the visiting team have become a standard part of sports broadcasts come playoff time. Maybe it's time to re-think that strategy.
Over a thousand police officers had to be pressed into service to break up the crowds.
Television news reports from the scene showed one SUV on fire, youths throwing waste barrels and others items at buildings and signs. Some fans climbed on roofs and there were reports of fans falling to street after trying to climb up onto Fenway's Green Monster. Others were shown climbing street signs.
WCVB-TV reported that police had estimated between 60,000 and 80,000 people had converged on the Kenmore Square-Fenway Park area and most appeared to be students.
Unfortunately, the rioting wasn't limited to Boston, as college kids throughout New England used the win as an excuse to run rampant across their campuses:
About 5,000 people flooded the Southwest residential hall complex at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. UMass Sgt. David White said 29 people were arrested. One UMass police officer was injured while making an arrest.
At UMass-Dartmouth, about 2,000 people were dispersed by police using stun grenades and several arrests were made.
Stun grenades? Are we talking about Dartmouth or Fallujah? This is downright embarassing.
In New Hampshire, police made about 15 arrests as crowds got out of hand near Plymouth State University. Police said crowds swarmed the campus and surrounding neighborhoods.
And at the University of Vermont, more than 1,000 people gathered, setting fires, toppling light poles and fences and tipping a van on its side. No injuries were reported.
And you can bet that whether or not the Red Sox win or lose the World Series, that these same yahoos will be out in force to tear up the streets when the time comes.
UPDATE: Here's some photos and an eyewitness account.
Folks, riot police, stun grenades and bean-bag bullets are normally only used in times of severe civil disorder. What happened last night is a disgrace to Boston and all of New England.
And as I said earlier, whether or not the Red Sox win or lose the World Series, something like this will probably happen again. If not, it will only be due to the deployment of riot police in the sort of numbers that will create a massive drain on local police budgets across New England -- money and resources that those municipalities can ill-afford.
UPDATE: Drudge is fronting the story now, but he links to this combined AP/Boston Globe story from this morning, back when the college student who was shot last night was still alive.
Click here for a Live Journal account and some (blurry) photos. Thanks to Bryant Durrell for the link.
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» Dateline: Kenmore Square from dykstraNet
Our dykstraNet correspondent on the street, Alexis, has submitted this report via email:
Wow!
so the sox won and after the game, me and a couple of friends walked
down to Kenmore square and ended up being in the middle of the riots -
I have n... [Read More]
Tracked on October 21, 2004 05:50 PM
Note that the riot police were out before the game, equipped with stun grenades and bean-bag bullets and clearly authorized to use them. So who was the bright boy who made that decision? Quite honestly, I don't think it's all that bright to fire bean-bag bullets at people who are climbing a wall -- it converts them from people who might fall to people who will probably fall. Maybe it's my libertarian side speaking but I simply don't trust Menino's decision-making and a lot of what I've heard smacks of media hype.
I mean, take a step back. For all the damage and rioting, there were only 16 people injured out of 80,000? The vast majority not seriously? That is not exactly a disaster area. Is it good? Nah, not even close, and it pisses me off that a bunch of rowdy college students are using my team as an excuse to behave poorly. The car thing has got to end. But still.
Also, I was in a bar in Fenway during game seven of the 2003 ALCS. There was no chance of rioting after the game; there was no desire to riot. Despite that, every media outlet in Boston is eagerly speculating that there will be riots even if the Sox lose.
I personally think the media's driving this one. A reporter interviewed one of the kids who set the SUV on fire. Great: give him the publicity he wants. And now a hundred other idiots know how to get on camera.
Posted by:
at October 21, 2004 07:59 PM
By the by, there's another eye-witness account with (bad) photos here:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/being_homeless/657834.html
More damaged car shots. Sigh.
Posted by:
at October 21, 2004 08:01 PM
BPD is infamous for this type of decision making. I've heard many a story about riots and the over eager Boston cops who inflame the situation.
Posted by:
at October 22, 2004 10:10 AM
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