Posted on 02/24/2002 12:24:59 AM PST by badfreeper
SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - Rubber bullets were fired as about 50 riot police struggled to control a rampaging crowd in central Salt Lake City, venue of the Winter Olympics, police said Sunday.
The crowd of young people had broken several shop windows, Reuters eye witnesses said, and started throwing rocks and bottles at the police.
They went on the rampage shortly after midnight when police tried to stop them drinking at a temporary bar set up for the Olympics. An area was cordoned off by police cars, the witnesses said.
Helicopters hovered overhead with searchlights on as a series of running battles took place.
The hotel housing the International Olympic Committee was cordoned off by troops carrying automatic weapons.
"There's 2,000 angry people heading this way," a police officer in the hotel said.
The center of the city has been flooded during the 17 days of the Games by crowds enjoying Olympic events, concerts and a party atmosphere.
Saturday night, the last before the Games closes, there was an edge to the atmosphere with groups of youngsters, many drunk, filling the sidewalks.
Normally there are strict regulations governing the sale of alcohol in Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah state.
He also rode a bicycle backwards and walked around with an ax handle.
I still remember those signs everywhere, "This is Maddox Country". Didn't Bo Callaway end up winning some election in Colorado?
Many times one who has imbibed too much of the Devil's brew with end up praying before the 'porcelain god'.
So you tell me, is Salt Lake City the place where "blue laws" were invented and that continues to be the only jurisdiction in America where such laws and ordinances exist and are enforced?
Law-abiding Baptists and other Christians have played key roles in the rightful establishment of laws throughout the South and elsewhere which prohibit the consumption of alcoholic beverages on the Sabbath.
However, it appears that it is de riguer on the FR to side with a bunch of drunken out-of-town rioters over a legally constituted government and the people it represents when the "M" word appears in print.
I can assure you that the good Irish and Italian cops of Chicago, NYC, Boston, and elsewhere rightfully would have dealt with this situation in a more "direct" manner.....
Would I like to see such laws in my area? I'll take a fifth, I mean the fifth on that question.
And that god's name is Raaaaaaalph!!!
And he drives a Buuuuuuuuuuuiiiiick!!!
According to the local authorities what actually happened last night was that the beer garden was filled, the operators closed the gates to prevent over-crowding, those on the outside threw a hissy fit, and the cops moved in to prevent injury to innocent by-standers, and property damage.
You can read the local version at http://www.deseretnews.com.
FWIW, I'm a native of Utah, not a Mormon, but I do appreciate the relative absence of drunkenness on the streets of our capitol city. And the last time I checked our Constitution still gives states the right to pass laws reflecting the views of the majority of the residents.
Hmmmm.... so is it safe to assume that if the local Baptists established laws requiring church attendance on the Sabbath that you would think that was just fine too?
Sound more like last call should have been sooner.
CNN Correspondent Rusty Dornin spoke to CNN's Miles O'Brien about how the disturbance got started and how police reacted.
CNN: I guess, Rusty, you could call this a Bud fight.
And the right to drink is covered in which provision? I forget.
The law you envision most certainly would be adjudged unconstituional in a heartbeat, but I notice that blue laws still remain on the books after several decades despite any constitutional challenges that may have be brought before the courts. Not even the "predominant culture" (not my words) in SLC has or would consider establishing such an odious law.
FWIW, my personal opinion of blue laws is that they do indeed suck and fly in the face of the sacred principle of free agency, given that the consumption of alcohol has not been a crime since the repeal of Prohibition. If imbibing is not a crime or even a moral offense (unless one has specifically covenanted with the Lord to abstain = personal choice not to be imposed on others), it seems wrong to dictate the specific times when such can take place. If alcohol consumption was considered by society to be enough of a public safety and health menace (I believe it is, for me and mine), the electorate and its duly-elected representatives would have abolished it.
Sadly, they have not. But rather than throwing rocks at those who choose to imbibe, I avoid driving on New Year's Eve if at all possible and stay on the alert for impaired drivers whenever I drive. That does not qualify me as one who is superbly righteous, but is, in my view, a practical approach to personal safety. Thanks for the reply.....
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