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Monday, February 6, 2012

The U Mass Superbowl “Riot” That Wasn’t « Student Activism

The U Mass Superbowl “Riot” That Wasn’t « Student Activism:

The U Mass Superbowl “Riot” That Wasn’t

No time for a full treatment of this right now, but can I just point out something?

There wasn’t a Superbowl riot at U Mass last night.

The AP story on last night’s events on campus says there were no hospitalizations, and no property damage. A university spokesperson says there were a few fistfights, but all thirteen of the student arrests were for either disorderly conduct or failure to disperse.

Why the “failure to disperse” arrests? Because fifteen minutes after students gathered in a main residential quad on campus, police told them to go home. They used horses, dogs, and smokebombs, cops to clear the area, and busted folks who wouldn’t leave.

This wasn’t a riot, it was a street party, and from everything I’ve seen the big drama all