Unruly Gathering at Wesleyan University Results in Five Arrests

Police say they arrested five students at Wesleyan University who were part of a large crowd on campus that lashed out at police early this morning.

[Charles]

This article fails as a balanced news story. Without a single student source, it only represents only one side of a complex situation.

[AGAIN]

Our Future Leaders?????

[Middletown Joe]

Just another whiny bunch of misguided, entitled brats who want to be like mommy and daddy when they spoke of college protests and sticking in to the man.

Hey losers the 60's and 70's are done. Pack up your belongings, the year is done with. Go home to your nannies and have your parent's lawyers start talking with the university to let you twits in next year. Perhaps a sizable donation will get you sorry butts admitted or next year.

[SOPHOMORE AT WESLEYAN]

This was an outrageous and unprecedented attack. Outdoor parties occur regularly at Wesleyan when the weather gets warm enough, and on a block of over 40 senior houses with large back yards, a crowd of 200 is not "unruly" or even close to a mob... its average.
The cops are rarely called to break up such parties and students always make their way home... campus safety can get the job done on their own, they were probably just (in their minds) making a statement because they know the week leading up to graduation will have many more (well-deserved!) parties.
I know at least 4 people were bitten by police dogs, only 2 of them hospitalized. dozens of students this morning have scars from tasers, pellets, and people had to get medical attention from reactions to the tear gas.
It was ugly and TOTALLY out of line. Middletown Police department has a tense relationship with Wesleyan students these days after some serious issues of police brutality in the past years... Officer Clarke of Middletown is notorious for his breach of civil liberties. Please write a more balanced article, and do your homework. You have a responsibility to tell the truth.

[Caterwauler]

Strange that Middletown Joe is from Wallingford.

He's right about one thing. This riot was not a protest.

He's wrong about the protests of the 60's and 70's. They changed the world. If you don't believe it Joe, then tell me about the last time you saw a "Whites Only" water fountain, or a statue honoring Richard Nixon, or you had a conversation with a woman who was thrilled in her role as "housewife."

The kind of name-calling Joe practices never solved a thing, but maybe it makes Joe feel big.

[alice bowie]

Liberal art majors on the ruckus!!!!

How funny.

Did Thad, Bunny, Biff, Chauncey and Contessa sniff a beer cap and get buzzed?

I can't wait until they get into the real world.

[alice bowie]

OBTW..........

I worked in Middletown for 10 years near WU. Was never impressed by the student body.

They never wore shoes or shaved the arm pits.(Gorilla's in the mist)

Our leaders..........

[whoa is you]

SOPHOMORE AT WESLEYAN says: I know at least 4 people were bitten by police dogs, only 2 of them hospitalized. dozens of students this morning have scars from tasers, pellets, and people had to get medical attention from reactions to the tear gas.
Officer Clarke of Middletown is notorious for his breach of civil liberties.
Maybe all you Peter Pans should call mommy and daddy and cry to them. Welcome to the real world. You do the crime, you do the time. Nobody here to protect you sorry a**es. Too bad. The next time one of the b*tches on campus is assaulted or one of the Peter Pans gets pummelled, DON'T CALL THE POLICE.

[JIM]

Caterwauler wrote:

Strange that Middletown Joe is from Wallingford.
He's right about one thing. This riot was not a protest.
He's wrong about the protests of the 60's and 70's. They changed the world. If you don't believe it Joe, then tell me about the last time you saw a "Whites Only" water fountain, or a statue honoring Richard Nixon, or you had a conversation with a woman who was thrilled in her role as "housewife."
The kind of name-calling Joe practices never solved a thing, but maybe it makes Joe feel big.

It says you're from Pompano Beach Florida too, you idiot. Welcome to the Topix forum, where it doesn't actually show where you're from.

Hint: I'm not from Willimantic either.

[Meh]

Meanwhile, I'm sure many people bought crack elsewhere in Middletown, someone's car got broken into and there was probably other less exciting, but more needed places for officers to be.

Middletown and it's visions of what they want downtown to be utterly DEPENDS on Weslyan students. I think the last thing you want to decide to do is cause friction. College students of any school are inherently rowdy and one would be fool to state that 19 or 20 years old, you hadn't ever done the same. You keep them in one place and keep them from driving (contain them)- that's the best you can do. There's more diplomatic ways to disperse a crowd of college students without beating them down.

[Middletown student]

Hey Joe, I really don't think it's about us sticking it to the man. It's mostly about us reacting to 11 police cars pulling up to fountain street with paintball guns, dogs, tasers, and smoke bombs and attacking friends. By the way, it just so happens to one of my friends who went up to the police car WITH HIS HAND UP IN THE AIR, got tased just for walking up. Excessive force? No, it obviously must be because we're all rich. I would be more cautious as to how you fit us students (2500 of us) into the tiny stereotypes of yours.

[Meh]

alice bowie wrote:

OBTW..........
I worked in Middletown for 10 years near WU. Was never impressed by the student body.
They never wore shoes or shaved the arm pits.(Gorilla's in the mist)
Our leaders..........

Oh yeah- totally valueless. From Wikipedia:

"Wesleyan alumni have achieved prominence in all fields, including a U.S. Supreme Court Justice; National Book Critics Circle Award, Orange Prize, Pulitzer Prize, and Pushcart Prize winners; recipients of MacArthur Fellowships and the Presidential Medal of Freedom; Academy, Tony, Emmy Award, and Super Bowl winners; and accomplished alumni in academia, art, business, acting, film, and television, journalism, law, literature, medicine, the military, music, politics, religion, science, and sports."

[Wesleyan Watcher]

Well, it must have been a pretty bad scene for campus security to take the unusual step of calling in the police. And the students must have resisted for the police to call in reinforcements from the state police AND two neighboring towns.

Can't wait to hear more coverage.

Really, is there a right to loud parties in the wee hours of the morning that was "violated" by those brutal cops? Drunk kids out of control get what they deserve.

[Matthew Leddy]

This clear abuse of state power should frighten any American.
I attended this event, and the police have wholly misrepresented it to make their despicable actions seem more justified.
This event was a free, backyard reggae concert, with at most 125 people in attendance. The police decided it somehow constituted a "riot" when the concertgoers didn't feel like leaving the backyard after Wesleyan's Public Safety abruptly canceled the show.
The inordinate amount of force used on my friends (pepper spray, k-9 units, tear gas) for an innocuous and nonviolent concert is a testament to the unconstitutional and illegal abuse of power that is sadly endemic in our law enforcement institutions.
As they've shown time and time again, the police are not protectors of personal liberty, but the enemies of it.

[Matthew Leddy]

Hey Middletown Joe (hailing from Wallingford)...you obviously have no idea what you're talking about in your empty rant. Did you even read the article? It wasn't a whiny protest, dumbass, it was an unprecedented display of police brutality with literally no justification. Nobody's impressed by your bullshit and it's not that amusing to read someone inaccurately bash a group of kids they know literally nothing about despite how clever you find yourself.

[LMHtfd]

alice bowie wrote:

OBTW..........
I worked in Middletown for 10 years near WU. Was never impressed by the student body.
They never wore shoes or shaved the arm pits.(Gorilla's in the mist)
Our leaders..........

Alice, have you ever gone to college? Most colleges are not Ivy League, and most students are not old money. You seem to be resentful of college students. It would be interesting to know why. yes college students can be arrogant, but so can anyone in that age group. Don't generalize because you had to work a job while they seemed not to have a care in the world. Reality catches up to everyone eventually.

[Wesleyan Watcher]

Sorry, but concerts at 1:00 a.m. are not a constitutionally protected right! It is obvious it was a disturbance of the peace. You have no right to loud concerts and large, disorderly gatherings. Students should have just exercised sensible judgment and walked away. And being intelligent, they would have if their judgment was not impaired by drugs and alcohol.

[Less Than Sympathetic]

Caterwauler wrote:

Strange that Middletown Joe is from Wallingford.
He's right about one thing. This riot was not a protest.
He's wrong about the protests of the 60's and 70's. They changed the world. If you don't believe it Joe, then tell me about the last time you saw a "Whites Only" water fountain, or a statue honoring Richard Nixon, or you had a conversation with a woman who was thrilled in her role as "housewife."
The kind of name-calling Joe practices never solved a thing, but maybe it makes Joe feel big.

The location tags are random. I've never been in Andover my whole life.

[local]

Matthew Leddy wrote:

This clear abuse of state power should frighten any American.
I attended this event, and the police have wholly misrepresented it to make their despicable actions seem more justified.
This event was a free, backyard reggae concert, with at most 125 people in attendance. The police decided it somehow constituted a "riot" when the concertgoers didn't feel like leaving the backyard after Wesleyan's Public Safety abruptly canceled the show.
The inordinate amount of force used on my friends (pepper spray, k-9 units, tear gas) for an innocuous and nonviolent concert is a testament to the unconstitutional and illegal abuse of power that is sadly endemic in our law enforcement institutions.
As they've shown time and time again, the police are not protectors of personal liberty, but the enemies of it.

Ahhhhhhhh..........the liberal elite speak up. Go whine to someone who cares. Furthermore, it is YOUR OPINION that the police action was was illegal. There is a distinct difference between one's opinion and reality.

[Middletown Res]

I know that the thought of a hundred or so college kids having a party on their last day of school on a block of ALL senior houses is really outrageous, and I am relieved that 13 police cars were called in to break it up.
Sounds like total chaos, those spoiled brats... wanting to drink a beer with their friends and listen to free music on their last day? Really? WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE???
Dogs, tasers, unwarranted violence and arrest--- hey, do what you got to do to wrestle a Bud-Liht from the hands of a young, exhausted 20-something year old.
...Those of you posting who are defending police actions or getting a cheap laugh out of the violence against these students need your own slap in the face. College may not be the real world, but most of us lived in it for 18 years before getting here, and are returning to it for the summer in a matter of days. We are not stupid. In fact, many of us are quite smart. It got out of hand, and the police responded to 100+ college kids having a party on their own turf with an OUTRAGEOUS excess of force.
I appreciate everyones concern for those injured, really, your questions and statements of support have moved this student body.