Last night, while celebrating their football team's dominating, National Championship Game victory over the Oregon Ducks, Ohio State University students were maced and tear gassed by local police as the authorities sought to maintain the peace.
The scene was chaotic; according to the Columbus-Dispatch, citizens were reporting fires and gunshots in the area:
Police scanners, however, filled with reports of fires in the campus area. There were more than 40 reports of fires – most of them in Dumpsters – in the hour after the Buckeyes’ victory. Most were concentrated between 12th and 17th avenues, between N. High and Summit streets.
In at least three cases, couches were reported to be set afire. According to radio traffic, in at least one case, other students helped the Fire Division and used a fire extinguisher on a couch. There also were about a dozen calls on trash fires in the campus area. No fire was reported to be serious.
There also were reports of gunshots fired in the campus area right after the game, Columbus police dispatchers reported. There were no reports of gunshot injuries related to postgame celebrations.
NBC News reports that there were also a "handful" of arrests made.
The embedded video tells a slightly different story, as distressed students express their desire to celebrate peacefully and to simply "get back to [their] dorm." Likely, the truth of the matter lies somewhere in between: Yes, most the students weren't a part of the problem, but a few bad apples likely compelled the police to resort to more extreme measures. You can make your own judgments on the matter. However, based on the video, the response appears more excessive than anything else.
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[via Uproxx]
