huge block party on fountain celebrating end of finals; psafe was hanging out for a while trying to clear people out of the road.
then 10 middletown police cars came
they’re lined up on the street now
(seriously! 10!)
nice cop huddle going down, chatting with psafe. mpd is carrying huge paintball guns. everyone is just kind of standing on the side of the street, yelling and watching
“i think that the spectacle of having so many cop cars is having the opposite of the intended effect. like, all the parties are still going on”
clapping and cheering
11 cop cars now.
car alarm going off. everyone’s watching from houses. a nice psafe guy told us to leave the area/stand back. lots of cameras/videocams out
party is STILL going on. 2 more cop cars looks like they came from the other direction but it could be the ones from before. people dancing in front of psafe cameras and chanting.
Smoke bomb in the middle of the street
K9 unit just showed up.
Dogs barking, megaphone order to disperse. Mace brandished. General Disarray. Continued bustle of people. Please send any photos not taken with phone to wesleying@gmail
student quote “what better way to leave wesleyan? it’s a spectacle…”
crowd sings the fight song. go wes…?
beautiful yet menacing german shepards. chomping at the bit.
Dogs walking up and down the street. National anthems, paintball guns shot!!!!
STUDENTS FIRED UPON. pellets apparently bounced off ground, dogs chasing students, officers in tow.
Angry students yelling at PSAFE to get police out of here. Pepper spray dispersed. Some violent words. Students restraining other students.
STudents yell about fucking pigs, dogs chasing more people.
Drunk people yelling really, really irately about their rights. “can’t even breathe because of that shit they put in the air” car alarm goes off again. Students apparently under arrest.
One wesleying reporter has to vacate due to asthma.
More shots. Some kind of laser sighted weapon.
*DO THEY HAVE TASERS?????*
Student bebing put in squad car right now. Arrested, yelling “I’m fucking bleeding!!!”
Neither students nor police handling this particularly well.
Someone chanting “Glo-bal war-ming!” -> WTF?
another student under rrest, more docile.
kicking out the window of a fucking cop car, one in the car is kicking. pain compliance tactics being used.
Broke the frame of the cop car door, though not the window. Some SLC punk shit right there. Screaming about pigs continues.
Laser guided weapons are in fact TASERS. be-fucking-ware.
Dudes with hats arrive, PD from another town most likely, or state police. First arrested student driven away, presumably to jail.
Students asking for badge numbers. very know-your-rights mentality being enacted here. Someone is filming. People asking why, etc. etc.
PSAFE still on scene. Sirens in distance. No more car alarms.
Jose Chapa definitely on some students minds, yelling. One arrested student apparently pepper sprayed and then had dog released on him while he was down. Also, paintball gun/ beanbag pain compliance devices definitely fired.
Also, confirm that the dudes with hats are the staties.
2:45 am: computer died for a sec. running off power from a woodframe. cops have left fountain street proper; cluster of cars with lights on still on church. two ambulances. at least 3 student arrests. party on fountain: still going (music from houses, people on street). people walking to police dept, roth’s house. don’t know how much of this is hearsay so take it with a grain of salt: two students tasered, one in ER(??? one of the arrested students was def bleeding from the head) Psafe doing PR, amiably talking with students, saying basically no mutual respect shown between MPD and students. tell students to treat police with respect, express dismay @ alleged improper uses of force. nice psafe guy just came by to make sure we didn’t need medical assistance, telling us how to get rid of pepper spray.
“that was the most fucked up thing I’ve ever seen”
“Roth came to fountain, he didn’t say much but for people to come tomorrow and file complaints to his office”
didn’t mention this earlier: the first guy who got arrested was chased down the street and tackled by at least 4 mpd.
final count was 16 cop cars (mostly mpd, a few staties at corner of fountain and church). 2 dogs. we hear people got bitten but not sure
music is over now. a few clusters of students still on street talking about what happened
it’s late, i’m going to get off this porch.
(i know my name is on this post but it was me and will switching the computer back and forth)
goodnight
PUT YOUR VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE. PUT YOUR PICTURES ON FACEBOOK. EMAIL US: WESLEYING@GMAIL.COM
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Edit (Justin, 3:06 AM): NBC30 and WTNH are on the scene.
We’ll post updates throughout the night, as we receive news.
PLEASE SUBMIT VIDEOS/PHOTOS to wesleying@gmail.com. Requests for anonymity will be respected.
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Edit (Justin, 3:37 AM): WTNH will be live from Middletown Police Headquarters for their 5:00 AM broadcast.
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Edit (Mad, 3:42 AM): A student sends us a whole picasa album full of pictures.
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xue 3:39 am: will just called. there are dozens of wesleyan students at the middletown police department right now. if you go down right now to file a complaint, you’ll be in good company. also, ANYONE WITH PHYSICAL WOUNDS FROM A POLICE ALTERCATION SHOULD GO DOWN TO THE POLICE DEPT TO GET PHOTOGRAPHED AND DOCUMENTED.
mtown police dept:
222 Main Street
Phone: (860) 344-3200
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Edit (Justin, 4:09 AM): NBC30: “We’ll be there live this morning.”
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xue 4:24am: added inline pictures from becky’s set. text has not been changed and will not be changed.
all you fucking assholes apologizing for the police need to get beaten to death with a tactical baton. these comments make me sick. gripping coverage though!!!
all you fucking assholes apologizing for the police need to get beaten to death with a tactical baton. these comments make me sick. gripping coverage though!!!
http://picasaweb.google.com/BeckyofDoom/20080516MiddletownPoliceAlso, the PSafe Officer I asked said that legally they are required to assist the MPD in any way they require once called. They were following the “chaos/riot” procedure according to him.
http://picasaweb.google.com/BeckyofDoom/20080516MiddletownPolice
Also, the PSafe Officer I asked said that legally they are required to assist the MPD in any way they require once called. They were following the “chaos/riot” procedure according to him.
i would really like to know what PSAFE was doing this whole time. do they just have to roll over if the MPD tells them to? Does anyone know, legally, what the relationship between the two are?
i would really like to know what PSAFE was doing this whole time. do they just have to roll over if the MPD tells them to? Does anyone know, legally, what the relationship between the two are?
Since when is a public street campus? yes, the houses are university owned, but they are part of a greater community that the MPD are there to keep safe/within laws.From this it seems like the situation just got way out of hand. A lot of people, alcohol and the release of four years of stress can get a bit out of control. Yes we can work hard and party hard. But we can also respect the police. From what I’m reading here it seems like the police WAY-overreacted, but that doesn’t mean that people have the right to disrespect them and fight arrest. I feel bad for the people who were arrested, but kicking out a cop car window? yelling at the police? exacerbating the situation? come on people, aren’t we smarter than this?Respect is a two-way street. If you want the police to be reasonable with you, you have to be reasonable with them.
Since when is a public street campus? yes, the houses are university owned, but they are part of a greater community that the MPD are there to keep safe/within laws.
From this it seems like the situation just got way out of hand. A lot of people, alcohol and the release of four years of stress can get a bit out of control.
Yes we can work hard and party hard. But we can also respect the police.
From what I’m reading here it seems like the police WAY-overreacted, but that doesn’t mean that people have the right to disrespect them and fight arrest. I feel bad for the people who were arrested, but kicking out a cop car window? yelling at the police? exacerbating the situation? come on people, aren’t we smarter than this?
Respect is a two-way street. If you want the police to be reasonable with you, you have to be reasonable with them.
3:24at least 3:13 had a point, you’re just being offensive and using bigoted, homophobic language. shame on you.
3:24
at least 3:13 had a point, you’re just being offensive and using bigoted, homophobic language.
shame on you.
word, 3:13… who do you think you are you slimy bastards??? if you want to party, there are places for that called “bars” “clubs” and “discos”. this is not your germany love parade and gay parade. you got whatcha deserved, you little idiots. shame for you wesleyan alumni! shame for wesleyan!
word, 3:13… who do you think you are you slimy bastards??? if you want to party, there are places for that called “bars” “clubs” and “discos”. this is not your germany love parade and gay parade. you got whatcha deserved, you little idiots. shame for you wesleyan alumni! shame for wesleyan!
We just finished our undergrad career, what are we expected to do? Sit back in quiet repose? Cheers with wine coolers and call it a night at 11PM?Get real.
We just finished our undergrad career, what are we expected to do? Sit back in quiet repose? Cheers with wine coolers and call it a night at 11PM?
Get real.
why do we need to grow up? we’re 22!why can’t we work hard and play hard?why can’t we also fight to party on campus?
why do we need to grow up?
we’re 22!
why can’t we work hard and play hard?
why can’t we also fight to party on campus?
not true. the amount of apathy in our generation is astonishing–get behind something. what were we protesting then? the right to party? in a street? I’m sure that isn’t written into any constitution, and you need to grow up and realize that constructive action doesn’t occur while shitfaced in the middle of fountain.
not true. the amount of apathy in our generation is astonishing–get behind something. what were we protesting then? the right to party? in a street? I’m sure that isn’t written into any constitution, and you need to grow up and realize that constructive action doesn’t occur while shitfaced in the middle of fountain.
oh, shut the fuck up 3:04 am.college students should be able to party, too.i’m sure we would complain just as loudly if 16 cops came to bust up the physical plant rally/divestment office/sean bell protest.
oh, shut the fuck up 3:04 am.
college students should be able to party, too.
i’m sure we would complain just as loudly if 16 cops came to bust up the physical plant rally/divestment office/sean bell protest.
rumor has it a bottle was thrown at a cop, which is what started the whole mess. reports are of pepper spray that you can still smell in the air, state troopers, MPD, and PSafe cars down at Cross/Fountain, and definitely the tasers.
rumor has it a bottle was thrown at a cop, which is what started the whole mess. reports are of pepper spray that you can still smell in the air, state troopers, MPD, and PSafe cars down at Cross/Fountain, and definitely the tasers.
Are there any pix or vids up yet? If so, where?
Are there any pix or vids up yet? If so, where?
WE DO NOT LIVE IN A BUBBLE. WESLEYAN IS PART OF MIDDLETOWN. REAL WORLD LAWS APPLY HERE TOO. LETS FIND A CAUSE AND GET BEHIND–SOMETHING BESIDES GETTING DRUNK, STANDING ON FOUNTAIN AND YELLING FUCK THE PIGS. WE ARE SMARTER THAN THIS.
WE DO NOT LIVE IN A BUBBLE. WESLEYAN IS PART OF MIDDLETOWN. REAL WORLD LAWS APPLY HERE TOO. LETS FIND A CAUSE AND GET BEHIND–SOMETHING BESIDES GETTING DRUNK, STANDING ON FOUNTAIN AND YELLING FUCK THE PIGS. WE ARE SMARTER THAN THIS.
wait can someone tell us the full story that Mike reported? (unless its exactly what was blogged, than never mind)
wait can someone tell us the full story that Mike reported? (unless its exactly what was blogged, than never mind)
thanks for documenting this Xue
thanks for documenting this Xue
no shit this is going to become a big deal.
no shit this is going to become a big deal.
Ok, so… isn’t this exactly why the police shouldn’t be allowed on campus?
Ok, so… isn’t this exactly why the police shouldn’t be allowed on campus?
WTF!?
WTF!?
This is going to become a big deal.
This is going to become a big deal.
Sounds like I chose a good day to go home…P.S. Great coverage, Xue. Gripping.
Sounds like I chose a good day to go home…
P.S. Great coverage, Xue. Gripping.
the worst part is psafe pushed us out of the backyard and onto the street
the worst part is psafe pushed us out of the backyard and onto the street
This is absolutely fucking insane. And I’m sure the icing on the cake is going to be Roth giving the MPD some medal of honor. Somebody should go rob something downtown just to prove what a horrible allocation of force this is.
This is absolutely fucking insane. And I’m sure the icing on the cake is going to be Roth giving the MPD some medal of honor. Somebody should go rob something downtown just to prove what a horrible allocation of force this is.
xue all of us sitting here in haslab are sitting here refreshing the page.xue you are awesome
xue all of us sitting here in haslab are sitting here refreshing the page.
xue you are awesome
say whaaa? is that really necessary? it’s not a battle, do they need that many weapons/dogs/cars? Is there no other place in town where all of that attention could have been put to better use right now?
say whaaa? is that really necessary? it’s not a battle, do they need that many weapons/dogs/cars? Is there no other place in town where all of that attention could have been put to better use right now?
Whoa wait…what? Are you serious about the smoke bomb?
Whoa wait…what? Are you serious about the smoke bomb?