A celebration of the Boston Red Sox's victory over the Oakland Athletics turned ugly on Saturday night as students gathered outside of the dormitories in the Southwest residential area at the University of Massachusetts, lighting fireworks and overturning two cars.
The UMass Police Department made two arrests during the riot. Kevin Raposo of Somerville, Mass. was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct. Vincent Robert Mazza of West Springfield, Mass. was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and inciting a riot. Neither is a UMass student.
The riot started after the end of the game, students said, to praise Red Sox outfielder Trot Nixon's game-winning homerun. The UMPD sent about 30 officers to the scene at 11:23 p.m. in an attempt to break up the destructive behavior.
"After the game ended, [the riot] started as a celebration," said Barbara O'Connor, chief of the UMPD.
The crowd continued to build, and officers requested that people move along, she said. Some members of the crowd then began to riot against the police instead of following instruction. O'Connor said officers had to take action.
Five officers were injured while attempting to disperse the crowd, including four who were hurt by rocks thrown by students, O'Connor said. Three students were injured as well, including one who was hit in the face with a projectile and lost some teeth, she said.
Students flipped over a gray Honda Prelude Special Edition and a red Toyota in Lot 50, which is located between John Quincy Adams tower and John Adams tower. The Prelude was flipped onto a gray Saturn with Massachusetts plate number "1833 NO." The Saturn's front windshield was smashed, and the front right corner of the car was damaged where the Prelude had hit it. A van was also parked in the lot, but was not visibly damaged during the riot.
According to John Tattersall, a freshman who watched the riot, the crowd was located in a different part of Southwest than where the cars were flipped. He said people moved to the lot during the riot specifically to flip the cars.
"All of a sudden, people were just like, 'let's flip cars,'" Tattersall said.
Joel Karas, a freshman, said the owner of one of the damaged cars watched as rioters flipped his car. The owner carried an aluminum baseball bat with him and punched one of the people who participated in overturning his vehicle, Karas said.
According to O'Connor, the Physical Plant estimated $20,000 of damage to the dining commons. Police estimate an additional $8,000 in overtime costs for the UMPD.
Fireworks were set off several times during the riot, especially near Coolidge Tower. A few loud explosives were detonated during the night as well.
At 1:30 a.m., many students had already left the riot, but a number of people remained in opposition to the police. The rioters threw glass bottles and rocks at the police officers. They also shouted offensive language at the police, calling them pigs and neo-Nazis.
"Shoot me, you f***ing bastards," yelled one student, as police shot rounds of their weapons into a crowd of students from several hundred feet away.
According to O'Connor, police discharged a type of paintball gun that shoots a ball filled with Oleoresin Capsicum, or pepper spray. This weapon is considered "less-than-lethal" in their force continuum, O'Connor said. Two sponge guns were also brought to the scene, although never discharged, she said.
The police held their position in lines at the north and south edges of the living area at around 1:30 a.m. The east and west sides were left unguarded and people came and went through these spots.
At 1:50 a.m., the police moved from their northern line, sweeping through the quad, turning right and moving down the stairs between Hamden and Berkshire DC. They met on the southwest corner of the living area for about fifteen minutes before continuing their patrol.
They proceeded back up the stairs into the main part of the living area at 2:05 a.m. People ran from the police as the officers moved in a coordinated fashion through Southwest another time. At one point, the police, having sped up, were told by one officer to slow the pace of their march.
A rioter ran across Lot 50 at 2:16 a.m. O'Connor chased him with the help of two mounted patrol officers. Other rioters cheered him on, encouraging him to run faster. The rioter reached the edge of campus, and police did not pursue him. Instead they returned to the lot.
Michael Gargano, the vice chancellor for student affairs and campus life, told students who were standing around to clear the area. He walked with some of the police officers throughout the night.
O'Connor said the police department will identify perpetrators and bring forth charges. She said Gargano would take "swift disciplinary action."
The police will use a video camera they have installed above JQA to aid them in identifying rioters. The camera was used during one other incident with no success, but O'Connor is still optimistic about its use in this situation.
"This time we'll take a much wider approach to try to get these people identified," she said.
Amherst Police Department was present for some of the riot. They were dispatched early on and left before 1:30 a.m. During their time on the scene, they pursued stone throwers who were allegedly participating in the riot from just outside of campus on Sunset Avenue, O'Connor said. APD was not available for comment.
Onlookers were in disagreement about the appropriateness of police action.
"The police were irresponsible in their actions," said sophomore Gregory Forfa, who was present at the riot.
"I don't ... blame the cops," said sophomore Devin Kelly, after observing police action during the incident. "They have to do what they have to do."
This was not the worst riot the University has seen, said O'Connor, but noted that this was still a riot situation.
"They're all bad," she said. "Certainly when you get people losing teeth and ... people throwing rocks and bottles at the police and turning over cars, it's not good."
By 3 a.m., police had cleared the area of crowd activity. The living area was quiet, and the police presence diminished.
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