VEISHEA riots of 2004: from within the mob
Sunday, April 18th, 2004So. My first night in the new house has proved… interesting, to say the least. I just came back from VEISHEA and Welch Avenue. For the last four and a half hours, I’ve been watching the riots.
Here’s the story, as best as I’ve been able to piece together from all I saw and that which I heard. And, as one of the ~very~ few sober people in a crowd numbering thousands, I suppose that’s the best anyone can hope for.
It started, I’m told, on Hunt street around 11:30pm, when two large parties were busted at around the same time. Those parties became one large, angry party, which migrated to Welch Avenue (the center of VEISHEA festivities) while screaming such classic phrases as “Fuck the cops.” People started throwing empty beer cans, then full beer cans, then beer bottles at the police, who were wearing heaving padding but not riot gear. Finally, the crowd started throwing trash cans. One of the cans was lit on fire. The police started shoving people back, and someone stood up to them. The police brought him down, and several arrests were made. Justin and I arrived a few minutes afterwards, ignorant of all which had occurred, simply because we were bored at home and wanted to see something of VEISHEA.
For fifteen minutes or so, the police were pre-occupied with keeping the crowds away from the center of Welch. Justin and I, who were stuck on the internal edge of the circle, heard a crowd roaring further down Welch. Justin, who was decidedly ~not~ sober, took off to investigate. I took off to make sure Justin didn’t do anything stupid. Because we’d already been physically pushed back by the police attempting to maintain order, he was feeling a bit aggressive.
We reached the crowd the same moment the police started using tear gas. They marched down Welch Avenue, six abreast, spraying gas as they went. That was the first time in the evening I was sprayed with an overwhelming amount of gas. By the time we went home, I’d been sprayed a total of six times. My eyes are painfully red. Others got it worse. One man, who was less than ten feet from me when the police first used gas, collapsed and later had to be carried out by paramedics. At this point, Justin and I began planning escape routes any time we stopped moving for more than a few seconds. We used them more often than not.
The police pushed the crowd down Welch to Lincoln Way, which in hindsight probably wasn’t the best idea. The gassed crowd now intermingled with the original crowd, producing a mob (I’d estimate at) at least three thousand strong. Justin and I circled around through the parking lots to get a view from the back of the crowd. When we reached the back, the police pushed us down Lincoln way by spraying more tear gas, and most the people ran, only to return a few minutes later. For the next hour, this became our pattern: the police would spray tear gas and rush the crowd. We’d back away, wait until they retreated, and retake our positions. By this time, Lincoln Way was overrun with people. Traffic was blocked in either direction as far as I could see.
The crowd grew more aggressive as people realized the police were mostly bluffing. Suddenly, a large group pulled down a street light at the corner of Lincoln Way and Welch. The police , sensing a change of tension in the roar of the mob, resorted to tear gas grenades, throwing them into the center of the largest groups. Again, in hindsight, this probably wasn’t the best tactic. Someone grabbed one of the grenades and threw it back at the police, only to be cheered by thousands. Once people realized such feats were possible, it became a game of sorts. I saw one man, standing a few feet away in the median of Lincoln Way under the Welch stoplight, grab three grenades which landed at his feet and throw them back to the police. This game continued for around half an hour. Suddenly, half a dozen police appeared in full riot gear and charged the crowd. They successfully pushed the majority of the crowd back a block, from the Welch intersection to Hayward. The mob, far from cowed, grew more aggressive. Within minutes, groups pulled down several more street lights and dragged them across Lincoln Way, stopping traffic entirely. Other groups pulled street signs out of the sidewalk and threw them towards the police. A fire was started in a stationary trash receptacle. The police charged again, this time throwing tear gas grenades into the retreating masses, pushing us back another block in order to clear the road. Within minutes, they’d lost the block again, and the remainder of the street lights were pulled down, as well as the majority of the street signs. Most lay strewn across Lincoln Way, and glass from the street lights was everywhere. Most of the cars that pushed through the crowds left with flat tires from the debris.
The police doubled their riot ranks and charged again, throwing grenades ahead of us, making retreat painful yet necessary. They also cut power (or power was cut) to most of Lincoln way, throwing the mob into darkness. Most the crowd was pushed back another block, to the corner of Stanton. There, things really started to get out of hand. Several dumpsters were set on fire and sent rolling down Lincoln way. I saw one flaming dumpster hit a parked minivan, smashing several windows. The owner, who was leaning against the hood in a protective gesture, could do nothing but watch. With flaming dumpsters and street signs, the majority of the crowd retook the blocks they’d lost. Another group, I’m told, broke into the Taco Bell at the corner of Stanton. Stone was torn out of a wall outside Friley and smashed upon Lincoln Way, adding to the debris. I saw one such brick (or something of similar size) go through the front window of Mayhem, the comic book store. A large group tried to overturn a car, but only succeeded in pushing it into the street. A truck tried to push its way through Lincoln way, only to be rammed with a flaming dumpster. He took off, nearly losing control as he drove over a street light laying in the road. The riot guard, now approaching two dozen in number, let him through after he nearly eliminated a row of parked cars.
The police, at this point, were largely powerless. They watched from a block away as signs were torn down and windows were smashed. People used the debris in Lincoln Way to smash open parking meters outside a church. Someone with a seeming endless supply of fireworks started lobbing various explosives at the police and passing cars. Firefighters showed up to deal with the fires, and the police tried to protect the firemen with more grenades. The crowd simply threw the grenades back to the firemen, who were forced to evacuate before any fires were extinguished.
Slowly, the riot died down. Without the police aggressively intervening, energy left the crowd. When we left around 4am, half a dozen fires were smoldering on Lincoln Way and through traffic was essentially impossible. The police were using concussion grenades to disperse the largest crowds around Welch, but mostly ignored those not approaching Welch Avenue (and the businesses throughout Campustown).
I’d like to reiterate that I was a sober, passive observer of these undertakings. I didn’t smash a window, throw a rock, or even shout in encouragement (though several times in horror, such as when the minivan was hit with the dumpster, and as I watched one man get sprayed with pepper spray, fall to his knees, and get trampled (inadvertently, I’m sure) by the police). Judging from the damage done, I wouldn’t be surprised if the University decided to try and ban VEISHEA all together. However, I’m not sure this would be the best course of action. Tonight’s riots were largely fueled by student anger that VEISHEA is no longer a student-run event. The major complaint among students for the last several years has been that the University has restricted the event to the point where it’s little more than food vendors and a parade.
So that was my first night in my new home. If tonight is any indication of things to come, this next year should be full of surprises. For now, it’s time for bed. I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep since last Wednesday.
Why is it that my comments are only nearly ever either a conversation between Eric and myself, or a conversation between two people who aren’t me, and almost never anything to do with what I wanted comments on? I’m feeling feedback-deprived.