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Spring celebration sparks riot
Sunday, April 18, 2004 Posted: 8:50 PM EDT (0050 GMT)
AMES, Iowa (AP) -- A yearly festival near the Iowa State University campus turned riotous early Sunday when more than 1,000 people vandalized cars, broke storefront windows and tore down street lights, police said.
Officers broke up the crowd with tear gas and arrested about 30 people on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to assaulting a police officer, police said.
About 20 people received treatment for minor injuries at a nearby hospital, mainly for skin and eye irritations from the tear gas.
There were no estimates of property damage Sunday afternoon, but police said the damage was "extensive."
Officers responded to a call around midnight that a group of people at the annual student-organized Veishea celebration was getting out of hand and arrived to find a crowd of several hundred people flowing into the street.
People from the crowd began throwing bottles and cans at police, and yelling "riot, riot!" police said in a news release. Festivalgoers tore down street lights and road signs, set trash bins on fire, rolled parked cars, broke storefront windows and attacked cars, police said.
Police let off tear gas but the crowd did not completely disperse until around 5:30 a.m.
Some at the scene said police behavior escalated the situation.
"The left side of my face is burning up. We didn't do anything. We were just walking away with the crowd," said Andrea Seminara, a junior at the school.
The Veishea celebration, begun in 1922, is an acronym contrived from the names of various schools at the university. It has had disturbances before.
The university barred alcohol from being served at the event after a man was killed in the hours after the 1997 celebration. Neither the victim nor his two assailants were Iowa State students.
There were several riots after Veishea celebrations in the late 1980s and early 1990s, said university spokesman John McCarroll.
Although alcohol sales are banned, many students live in the immediate area and drinking is prevalent.
Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy issued a statement saying the university will assess whether the Veishea celebration should continue, and if it does, what changes should be made.
"We simply cannot tolerate violence and destruction," he said.
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I understand the concept of "mob" psychology, but I can't REALLY understand how people can do things like this.
For example, I would feel too sorry for the poor schmuck who owned any given car to smash it or over turn it.
The closest I've personally come to such a situation was as a clinic escort back during the Operation Rescue days in the early 90's, but that was a completely different atmosphere with different motivations.
So, have any of you been caught in a sports/party/whatever riot?
And if so, did you engage in destructive behavior, and if so, why?