A man lies down in the street in front of police during a riot that broke out in downtown Salt Lake City the night before the 2002 Winter Olympics ended.
Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News
Posted on 02/25/2002 9:37:14 AM PST by Utah Girl
Associated Press labeled it an "unruly crowd" and "mayhem." Cable TV's MSNBC called it a "clash." CNN reported it as "Olympic partying turned violent" and a "beer brawl." Others just described it as a "disturbance."
A man lies down in the street in front of police during a riot that broke out in downtown Salt Lake City the night before the 2002 Winter Olympics ended. Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News |
Whatever you call the face-off late Saturday and early Sunday between police and alcohol-fueled partygoers on Main Street, both Salt Lake Police Chief Rick Dinse and Mayor Rocky Anderson say: Don't call it a riot.
"I know what a riot is, and this was not a riot," said Dinse, who formerly worked for the Los Angeles Police Department for 32 years and was involved in controlling the riots sparked from the Rodney King verdict of 1992.
"I anticipated far worse than this and far earlier," Anderson said. "This was certainly not a riot. That would be a vast exaggeration of the situation."
Still, according to state law a riot is defined as two or more persons who engage in "tumultuous or violent conduct" and thereby create a "substantial risk of causing public harm," commit an offense against a person or property, or refuse to comply with "a lawful order to withdraw."
Two weeks of peaceful celebrations did turn ugly on the second to last night of the Olympics as unruly crowds tossed beer bottles at officers, jumped on the hoods of cars and tossed street signs and barricades into buildings.
A helicopter and 200 to 300 local and federal officers in riot gear were deployed to disperse the crowds. Some of the officers were on horses. Twenty people were arrested late Saturday and early Sunday.
Dinse said the trouble began when Bud World at the Gallivan Center became too crowded and couldn't admit anyone else. Bud World was hit with a crush of people about 10:30 p.m. when about 30,000 revelers exited Salt Lake Olympic Square after the nightly concert featuring 'N Sync.
It is estimated there were 6,000 to 8,000 people at each of the two entrances to Bud World on 200 South and Main Street, Dinse said. Several thousand people who had been waiting in line a long time were unhappy with the decision to close early.
The police chief said officers became concerned when some females were being harassed by members of the unruly crowd. That's when police in riot gear declared the crowd an "unlawful assembly" and moved in.
A man winds up to throw a bottle toward oncoming police officers. A brawl broke out after doors to Bud World closed early. Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News |
"We sent officers in to basically rescue those females out of the crowd," Dinse said.
Thousands of people lined both sides of Main Street as officers formed a line and marched south on the east side of the road, pushing everyone back. As officers armed with billy clubs and guns with rubber bullets went down the street, some people yelled obscenities and threw rocks and bottles. At one point the chant of "USA" rang through the crowd.
"The cops came marching in and everyone got mad," said Brandon Bulough, who was hit the leg with a rubber bullet. "It was pretty crazy."
The officers continued to push the crowd south on Main Street. Even those waiting in line for TRAX were moved down the street. Dinse said officers helped families and those with young children find buses and TRAX cars without being injured.
By the time the crowd reached 300 South, rocks, glass bottles, beer cans and firecrackers were being thrown regularly. An officer was hit by a branch that someone had torn from a tree. A few officers suffered minor injuries, Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard said. One was treated for a twisted knee, Dinse said.
At that point, officers had been pushing the crowd south for almost an hour, Dinse said. Both Dinse and the mayor on Sunday praised police for showing what they called "tremendous restraint" in not firing rubber pellets into the crowd any earlier than they did.
"The officers showed total restraint in light of a tremendous amount of people trying to agitate them," Dinse said. "They took a potentially dramatic situation and made it nondramatic."
 People run as Salt Lake police begin firing rubber pellets into the crowd. More than 12,000 people were turned away at entrances to Bud World. Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News |
But when bottles started being thrown frequently at officers it was time to disperse the gathering in a different manner, Dinse said.
About 12:30 a.m., officers at 300 South and Main Street fired rubber bullets into the crowd, causing many people to make a mad scramble west on 300 South. Police tried to divide the crowd by pushing some people south on Main Street and others east and west on 300 South.
A Deseret News photographer, who was caught in the push southbound, was hit in the stomach with a billy club by one officer while taking photos of the dispersing crowds in front of the Federal Courthouse near 400 South. The blow also shattered the photographer's flash.
Opening fire seemed to fuel the crowd's anger. Some people began jumping on the hoods of cars while others threw signs and barricades into buildings and into the street.
"Things like this don't happen in Utah," said one appalled young woman from North Carolina.
Officers moving west on 300 South ran at the crowd while firing more rubber bullets to push them back faster. Police chased the crowd to West Temple and then pushed them north again. Dinse said an estimated 40 rounds of rubber bullets were fired during the melee.
Ian Booth was taking pictures of the police when he was hit by a rubber bullet. "The cop told everyone to leave, then I took a picture and they started firing at the ground and the bullet ricocheted into my leg," he said.
Twenty people were arrested, mostly on charges of failing to disperse, public intoxication and assaulting an officer. Eighteen of those arrested were adults, and two were juveniles. The majority of those arrested were Utah residents. Dinse said at least one Canadian was arrested.
Additional arrests may be made as officers investigate three reports of assaults on police officers, Dinse said.
With the exception of minor bruising and welts caused by the rubber pellets, there were no reports of anyone in the crowd suffering serious injuries, Dinse said.
Police were tallying the damage to the city Sunday. Dinse said there were several broken store windows and reports of three parking meters being ripped out of the ground. Three Salt Lake police cars were reported damaged, he said.
Dinse said police were investigating a report of a private vehicle being attacked as it was trying to leave the area.
Many people complained police were randomly shoving and firing at innocent bystanders. Some said police overreacted.
"We're always looked at as the ones who started it," Dinse said. "There would have been far more problems if we hadn't (taken action)."
Dinse admitted the police's lack of enforcement of the state's open-container law in downtown Salt Lake City during the Olympics was partly to blame for the mayhem.
"In hindsight, I would say that there's no question alcohol had an impact on the actions of the crowd," Dinse said. "The fact of enforcement is a matter of logistics."
Dinse said it was difficult for officers to enforce the open-container laws with so many people drinking. Amid worries of terrorism and violent protests, police chose to focus on more serious security concerns and let open-container violations slide.
 Officers wrestle a man to the ground during mayhem in Salt Lake City. Twenty people were arrested. Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News |
"If I had my druthers I would not have allowed that to occur," Dinse said, adding the open-container law would be strictly enforced on the final day of the Olympics. Bud World closed at 5 p.m. Sunday.
By early Sunday morning police were still patrolling downtown, watching for groups gathering outside. City cleanup crews worked double time to clear the streets of broken glass, empty beer cans and other debris.
Anderson characterized the mayhem as an isolated incident that shouldn't distract from the overall success of the Games. "I don't think you've ever seen a more peaceful celebration with this many people. This was extremely peaceful."
Prior to Saturday's incident, Anderson said there had only been five arrests for Olympic-related disturbances.
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge called the incident "unfortunate" but added it was "not a Games-related issue."
Mitt Romney, president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, dismissed the incident as an aberration.
"There were 200 to 300 people who had a few too many and needed to be sent home, and they were done so with dispatch," Romney said. "You're going to have some celebrations when alcohol is concerned late at night, and that's not something that was part of the Olympic experience."
A similar problem with celebrants was experienced on the final night of the Summer Olympics in Sydney when more than a million people jammed its Olympic area.
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Unless the population has completely been de-balled.
Waiting for Beer would make me upset too.
I avoid airports and crowds like the plague.
Yikes, is right.
Destination: Long lines. LOL
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