Posted on 10/22/2004 3:46:41 AM PDT by ninonitti
The sequence of events that led to the death of an Emerson College student began when a half-dozen officers on horseback were surrounded by rioting Red Sox fans on Lansdowne Street about 1:30 a.m. yesterday, witnesses said.
By the time armor-clad cops dispersed the crowd of some 3,000 in the shadow of Fenway Park's Green Monster, Victoria Snelgrove, 21, lay fatally injured. She had been struck in the eye by one of a number of pepper balls fired by police to quell unruly fans throwing bottles and bricks.
``The cops (on horseback) pushed in and the people closed in behind them,'' said Emerson student Brett Schweinberg, 18, who was struck by two pepper projectiles fired by police while trying to scale the Green Monster.
``They were surrounded by people and a bottle landed near a horse and it spooked it. It faltered and it got jittery and 30 to 40 seconds later, cops turned around and fired at a group of people about 20 feet to my left. People scattered except for one girl who was bleeding from the nose and mouth.''
A Herald reporter in the midst of the crowd saw revelry turn to mob mentality. Several people tried to scale the Green Monster, at least one of whom plummeted to the ground after being shot by a projectile.
Small fires burned, street signs were torn down and trash barrels were tossed about as police struggled to control the increasingly hostile crowd. Several cars became trapped by walls of people while drivers spun their tires and blared stereos - some with people riding on the roof. Several bottles were thrown, one of which reportedly struck a police officer, breaking his nose.
Theshot that killed Snelgrove followed a standoff between a cop on horseback and a young man wearing a gray knit hat. Standing by a bustling sausage cart, the man refused the officer's orders to move, prompting the officer to reach down and toss him to the ground. After getting up, the man hurled profanities at the cop and made several obscene gestures.
More bottles were thrown as at least one riot cop fired projectiles into the crowd, one of which apparently struck Snelgrove. She immediately fell to the ground while her friends tended to her, rubbing her head as blood streamed from her face. Horrified onlookers shouted ``get an ambulance'' as the girl drifted in and out of consciousness. One of the riot cops checked on the girl briefly. Approximately five minutes after she collapsed, mounted police cleared a path for an ambulance and the girl was taken away.
As cops cleared the crowd, one young man who had been standing near Snelgrove shouted at police, ``Are you happy? Murderers!''
One officer was stunned at the ferocity of the violence. ``I saw the horses surrounded,'' he said. ``It was like a vacuum. They got sucked in. I saw guys holding small trees they had pulled out of the ground like warriors. They were holding steel sign posts they had bent over and broken. We had to fight to get control.''
My error, Emerson is in fact in Boston. A friend of mine went there, and I don't believe it's close to where this riot happened.
Yeah. You're right. The police over-reacted and there was no danger at all.
Derntootin I'm right!
And what I'm right about is that some bobo cop decided to let loose with head shots in the general direction of a bottle tosser instead of wading in and clubbing the everliving bleep out of him.
You are one of those that needs their own words read back to them because they forget the nonsense they say if you allow them to. This is a HUGE lib trait, and you can call yourself what you like and post here 5,000 times but if you're a lib you're a lib. And you're not the kind of conservative that the conservative American revolution is about if you are really conserving the lib mentality!
You said: "What you don't seem to grasp is that the police had prior knowledge the mob would form."
You are being repetitive! I did not deny that the police had "prior knowledge" that a "mob" would form and begin to wreak chaos on the streets. The police were prepared enough to the point where the fault for the accidental death lies with the mutants who decided to destroy things and give the cops a hard time. I give police the benefit of the doubt since they put their lives on the line everytime they put on the uniform. Police training allows for simulation firing beanbag rubberbullet or pepper at crowds. You probably don't know sh!# about line of fire or how distance and movement can affect trajectory. Feet, inches and target movement matter. I give THEM the benefit of the doubt when they choose not to put themselves at extra risk than necessary, especially for a stupid football game mob.
"In my conservative world, I'd fire an employee that didn't properly prepare."
You are not properly prepared to represent conservative thought on this website; especially when you call for firing people that have put their necks on the line just because you want to be a "compassionate conservative" . If your daughter dies in a riot, don't blame the police while you "support" them, blame the rioters.
Egalitarian ideas distort our perception of the present and, in addition, mutilate our vision of the past. -Nicolás Gómez Dávila
You need castigation because you have been very childish. I'm not being too harsh with you; lest we forget that you call for firing someone over ridiculous reasons! This is far from about giving the police "a pass" because in order to even talk that way you have to go beyond some lamenting article about the result of a situation caused by the bad behavior of spoiled girls and boys who will do far more harm in the future than merely rioting.
Yup. A Boston DJ this morning said he witnessed the events, and he said that it was a full-blown riot. Mostly BU students, I reckon.
Police have one of the most difficult jobs that exist. A police officer is expected by most to be an expert: driver, marksman, negotiator, psychologist, attorney, wrestler, sprinter and, in this case, horseman. ...oh, and don't lose your temper or let all that adrenaline get to you when people start throwing things and shooting at you.
This was a horrible incident, and I'm certain that the officer feels terrible that it happened. That's no reason to dump the whole bucket of blame on one of the people who were trying to save the peace. When you're in the middle of a riot, some bad things are going to happen!
I agree with your last statement. But why hold a nation/state accountable for the actions of a handful of stupid people, eh?
Monitoring? No, they require policing. If they want to conduct themselves in ways that as you say translate to behaving worse than wild animals, or as I say, simply behaving violently uncivilly, then they can be expected to pay the price for such behavior. I don't see why the 99+% of the civil behaving world that cannot justify setting vehicles on fire, breaking store front windows, looting, etc. and whatever it may have been, simply as a result of their team winning the pennant.
Heck, if everyone around the country at home alone behaved like that every time our team won we'd be justified running over to our neighbors' houses, setting their cars on fire, throwing things through their windows, etc.
Common sense, decency, civilty, being able to celebrate without committing criminal activities should not be a difficult thing to do.
In fact, I'll say this; that if my team EVER won and I found myself outside the bar where I just watched the event in the city where it occurred, and I saw people rioting and setting vehicles on fire, I'd put some distance between me and them simply for fear that they may be about to draw the wrath of the enforcing authorities.
I think it speaks volumes, negatively, about any group of people that cannot celebrate without damaging their environs in any way. Get drunk, scream, wave your arms, but frankly, if you really need to set a car on fire, then you need some serous counseling! Sorry to say...
This situation is tragic as I've said. But it shouldn't, although it will, hamstring the ability of the authorities to enforce and police such behavior. Best case: She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Worst case: She was one of the participants which it does not appear she was. It's a downright shame. But if she had applied some common sense and gotten away from such a group, then it never would have happened!
As well, if kids 16-18 can't drive properly, don't limit the privileges of those whose parents do care and who drove responsibly like me and my friends growing up. Take the licenses from those that violate the law for five years!
Never happen b/c of all the bleeding heart attorneys who care more about making a buck than what's conducive to civility, common sense, and fairness.
Give it up the Boston Police have already admitted they screwed up. And as for the American Revolution, do you remember the Boston Massacre? That was what partly the colonists were fighting against.
Very sad for girl and family but I heard college kids on news saying how it could and should have been handled in a different manner! You couldn't pay me a million to be a cop - no one takes responsibility - they're throwing bottles and when something bad happens it should have been handled differently!! To quote Curt Shilling "Grow Up!"
What, Bostonians have a "tradition" of ignorant stupidity?
"The police were in full right to control and disperse the crowd. My beef is in the way they did it."
Mine, too. Any group of idiots who riot because their team won or lost should be dealt with using live ammunition.
Think of it as a "team entry" into the Darwin Awards.
Roman soldiers don't take kindly to having rocks thrown at them.
Actually if the cop didn't follow proper procedure I'd settle for involuntary manslaughter.
I suppose you also believe in Santa Claus. What do you expect the cop to say......."yeah my partner over there was suited up in body armor and decided he'd teach those punks a lesson with his new "non-lethal" pepperball gun"?
Cynics are always SUCH a joy.
LOL Ho ho ho
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