Mass Arrests, Tear Gas, Sound Weapons used Against West Illinois University Students

Originally posted by LosLobos

Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler

It's not about a bunch of what if's and hypotheticals it's about what is.

One size never fits all. This world is full of what if's and hyptheticals. Thats why we have to apply a standard for our own lives and society at large. I would not want a group of ANYONE distrubing my sleep past a certain hour of the day. I would not want anymore setting fires and destroying the neighborhood I live in. I may not care about your neighborhood but I surely care about mine.

The world is full of what if's. Problem is, some what it's bug us more than other what if's?

So if someone wants peace and quiet in their life how will they find it in *party alley* of some major college/university in the area? In fact THAT PARTY only happens ONCE A YEAR and that area is for college students.

Here is a suggestion: Move to the boondocks or at least do some research before putting up cash. Save everyone a bunch of headaches in the future.

Originally posted by Xcathdra
reply to post by coldkidc

 

Heres an idea.. Dont get drunk and break the law... Easy as that.

Also, it doesnt matter if it happens every year or not. Dont break the law..

and aside from fearmongering and trying to draw a paralell that does not exist, what the hell does kent state have to do with unfderage drinking and breaking the law by rioting?

edit on 2-5-2011 by Xcathdra because: (no reason given)

you know it's only a matter of time until some sheep comes along bleating. you can count on the fact that this person would be screaming and crying along with us if he/she had been on the other side of the sounds cannons. you never touched alcohol or had parties with friends until you turned 21, Xcathdra?

Originally posted by BrokenCircles

Originally posted by TribeOfManyColours
'them' did not need to be there. Leave us alone

That's beside the point.

I am not saying the cops were right, but the drunken idiots did taunt them.

If the bear comes into your back yard, it is still not a good idea to poke sticks at it.

So what do you do? Let the bear wander around and maul all your friends?

Not really a good analogy. But if we're going to use animals, can we change it to a skunk? The colors are dead on, and the stench is too!

reply to post by RicoMarston


Actually in high school and college I partied my ass off. What I didnt do was to get drunk, destroy property, then blame the police for things getting out of hand. You can get drunk and have agood time without destroying property or causing a riot.

As I said before, the cops warned the students to disperse, and the students refused. Next step is to remove those student who failed to disperse, as wel as those who started fires, destroyed property, obstructed a public right of way, destroyed city property, tresspassed, disorderly conduct, failing to obey a lawful command, assault by throwing beer bottles at officers, etc...

As others have pointed out, the cops were around all day checking ID's for underage drinking. The Police presence then didnt cause any problems.

It wasnt until the drunk idiots decided to take it a step to far, which resulted in the police calling for backup.

If it was "just a party" there never wouldhave been a need to request county and surrounding agencies to respond. Some of you guys have no clue whatsoever how this topic works.

All you see are students breaking the law, and yet you argue its the cops fault.

The students did not exercise personal responsibility. They were able to exercise it in the past, as many of you pointed out this is a yearly event.

What was different this year? I would like to see if someone can answer that question.. What did the students do this year, that they did not do last year.

As far as the comments about what people saw - someone pointed I was not present, and I pointed out others werent present. So we are both right, which leads us back to the videos and news account. Your guys contention is the students were not causing a problem, and thats certainly within your opinion. My opinion is they were rioting.

Could care less if you agree with that assesment or not, nd you guys could care less about my view.

So there really isnt anything else to add to the thread.

reply to post by EarthCitizen07


Or the students could respect their neighbors who are not students by not rioting, causing fires and ripping up the neighborhood...

Here is a suggestion - drink responsibly and respect yourself enough not to be a drunk ass.

reply to post by coldkidc


Wow. Unbelievable. They're gonna teach these kids who's boss, huh? Almost comical to me when they lined up and started marching. I had to chuckle for a second. WTF.

reply to post by colbyforce


Its called a gig line and its done that way for a reason.

That sucks that they're using sound weapons now.


Well, lesson learned, WIU students: you need platoon-like structures, not just a huge mass of everybody-congregate-here-at-the-same-time kind of "structure"?

reply to post by coldkidc


Sound weapons are designed for a specific purpose....disperse crowds. If not this purpose, then what purpose would you like them used in?

And am I supposed to believe that they're just kids and they shouldn't be treated this way?

Need I remind you that the average soldier is around 20/21 and they suffer far worse.

These are non-lethal means to disperse crowds from a distance and if the students were congregating and breaking the law, then they are well within their rights to use these items. The last thing I would want is officer happy to wander into a groups of students, tell them to disperse and then get hit with a bottle or worse, inciting the rest of the police to take more violent action against the students.

reply to post by unbanable123


Not buying your story. This is your first post ever on ATS. I smell eau de disinfo agent all over you.

Originally posted by Xcathdra
reply to post by coldkidc

 

Care to explain to us what a riot is?

That was partying I saw there. If you want to see riot, look at some youtube scenes from Greece.
What they did there was fachist and unspeakable to the mass.
Is the u.s. going down the drains?

reply to post by bsbray11


LOL.. so you guys bitch that the police used excessive force, and now your bitching they used sound weapons against the people..

Which is it..

Okay, all of you hand-wringing posters are completely right. The cops need to lose all the hi-tech new toys and go back to the old crowd control methods - two warnings and a hail of lead. How does that work for you?

As I said before, you guys dont have all of the facts on what occured.


The Dirty Western - Wheeler Block party

A blog that has all of the other info the media did not report, in addition to more videos of what occured.

Statement from the head of Western Illinois University on the incident

As has occurred at other universities that have had similar issues with unauthorized off-campus events, a small percentage of our students tarnished the reputation of our outstanding University community by their actions at the so-called "Wheeler Street Block Party."

According to the Macomb Police Department, approximately 104 citations were issued to 89 individuals as of May 1. Of those, nearly 50 percent were non-WIU students, and several more nonstudents engaged in yesterday's inappropriate and illegal behaviors. The vast majority of our nearly 11,000 Macomb campus students does not participate in such events and truly represents the high caliber of students we have at WIU.

Law enforcement personnel were present in the vicinity throughout the day. It was only after emergency medical personnel began treating dangerous levels of alcohol intoxication and when participants began engaging in dangerous activities, including vandalizing property and throwing bottles and other objects at local law enforcement officers who were not in protective gear, that the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System Mobile Field Force, comprised of officers from throughout the state, was called in for crowd control to ensure the safety of all present. The University supports the law enforcement agencies in their attempt to ensure the safety of our students and our community.

Those students who were arrested will also face disciplinary action from the University. It is sad that those individuals have such little respect for themselves, their community and their university, and that they, along with visitors to this community, can tarnish Western Illinois University's reputation.

We will continue to work with our community and law enforcement to prevent events of this magnitude from happening again in the future.

Sincerely,

Al Goldfarb
President
Western Illinois University



Posted By: WIU, University Relations
Phone: (309) 298-1993 * Fax: (309) 298-1606

Sound weapons can be turned up and then they can liquify your brain.
It can be just as leathal...

I know I am off topic.
How is it possible that I just have posted but I "was on ATS 5 minutes ago"??????????
2nd

Originally posted by Xcathdra
reply to post by EarthCitizen07

 

Or the students could respect their neighbors who are not students by not rioting, causing fires and ripping up the neighborhood...

Here is a suggestion - drink responsibly and respect yourself enough not to be a drunk ass.

edit on 3-5-2011 by Xcathdra because: (no reason given)

Fine. Answer this question: How many times in the past did riot police get involved in suppressing "college frat parties gone wrong"? ...approximately! I don't hate law enforcement-far from it, I just have a bad feeling *america is shoot first and ask questions later*.

I would expect this kind of behavior in nicaragua or honduras with a brutal right wing dictatorship, but in america there are NOT that many socialists and/or communists to beat up on. Correct?

reply to post by notsofunnyguy

How is it that Arabs rebelling against their dictators is encouraged by this administration, but college students having a party get attacked by riot police?

Maybe because they are rioting, and the tax-payers there (who pay for the police and security services) would wonder why on God's green earth their house was allowed to be set on fire by a bunch of rampaging children.

This is insane!

This thread does display a certain lack of cognitive function, yes.

TPTB have this "If you see something, say something" program.

I love this "TPTB" nonsense. It's the easiest way to identify paranoid schizophrenics who can't comprehend anything happening without the involvement of the shadow government.

That said - a program designed to encourage people to report suspicious behavior is not really all that bad of an idea. Americans have a bad habit of presuming anyone who looks like they know what they are doing is supposed to be doing it, and should be left alone. Does anyone recall the program: "It takes a thief?"

Similarly - I can scope out power sub-stations all day, hang around where the B-2s pass over US-50 highway on final approach to Whiteman for way longer than I should... you all are literally lambs to the sacrifice of anyone who actually wants to put for the effort to harm you. Encouraging you to be a little less trapped in your own little bubble and to pay a bit of attention to what is going on outside of your own selfish existence is the best security measure this country could take.

We need one of our own. "If you see a uniform, smash a uniform".

This is the kind of talk that is simply stupid - and seeing how many stars you have gotten for this post worries me.

I wear a uniform. I'm not going to give you some tale of sacrifice and woe - I do it because I want to and because it puts me in a position to protect the people I care about... people like you - I really couldn't give a rat's behind about.

You sit there and encourage the attack of another person simply because of the job they have.

If you're going to act like the enemy - you're going to be treated like the enemy. In all honesty - the moment you raise arms against me, that means you're no longer civilian - you're a combatant and to be addressed on an equal level. Non-lethal? I couldn't care what you're rallying about or what kinds of ideals you hold. You got out of line and started being destructive - you were being addressed as civilians by using non-lethal weapons. Now you want to threaten my life and the lives of my fellow uniformed members? To hell with you.

I'm not an unreasonable person. I am not necessarily pleased with our government at this time. However - I am not about to trade a bunch of corrupt politicians for a pack of raging delinquents lead by what can only be described as war-lords.

As I said before, go look at youtube and type in any college name and riot and see what comes up.. Also, more info from the county newspaper.

Partygoers clash with local police Annual Wheeler Street Block Party turns violent

Apparently the agression started with beer bottles being thrown at EMS

Macomb, Ill. —


Saturday’s Wheeler Street Block Party left police officers bruised, hundreds of partygoers teary-eyed from pepper spray and resulted in dozens of arrests.

In the wake of the chaos, city officials are commending law enforcement for their work, while droves of students are questioning the lengths police went to in restoring order.

According to Macomb Police Chief Curt Barker, an estimated 3,000 individuals attended the event, which began to turn ugly around 6 p.m. Saturday.

It started with a small fire on the corner of Wheeler and Albert streets. Then a stop sign was dug up and thrown into the flames to loud, drunken cheers.

It was about that time, Barker says, that local officers decided the street party was over.

Barker said city officers, along with McDonough County Sheriff’s deputies, WIU officers and state police began walking Wheeler Street, asking the hoards of partygoers to get out of the street.

Barker said EMS paramedics were treating multiple victims of alcohol poisoning and setting up makeshift medical stations at the Wheeler and Albert intersection, as well as Wheeler and Charles streets.

“As they were doing that, they began receiving all kinds of beer bottles being thrown at them and they were overwhelmed,” Barker said. “That’s when they requested to bring in the mobile field force, which we had back in reserve.”

“This is two years in a row where people have been throwing beer bottles and individuals are highly intoxicated,” Barker said. “This year, there were really a lot of beer bottles being thrown...The crowd was getting extremely aggressive. The more alcohol they consumed, the more aggressive they got.”

He added that several police officers were hit with bottles and bruised, but there were no serious injuries.

read the article for the rest of the information. It details where officers were telling people to go inside, and people refused the commands.

Originally posted by notsofunnyguy
So what do you do? Let the bear wander around and maul all your friends?

Not really a good analogy. But if we're going to use animals, can we change it to a skunk? The colors are dead on, and the stench is too!

Wouldn't a pig be more appropriate than a skunk?

I did not say it was right.
I did not say I agree with what happened.
I did not say they deserved what they got.

If you really want to, you can misinterpret my statement, and turn it back around on me. That will not change the fact that the drunken idiots were taunting the cops.

Regardless of the situation, it is never a good idea to taunt anything that is in a more powerful position than you are.

i.e. poking sticks at the bear.
i.e. shouting "*%^# The Police!!! %^# The Police!!! %^# The Police!!!"
^^Both = Bad Idea