The University of Colorado and the city of Boulder are picking up the pieces this week after an illegal Saturday night street party turned violent, leading to nearly a thousand people confronting local SWAT teams and police brigades.
The crowd, which numbered hundreds of college-aged students, according to local media reports, had been gathered for a chaotic street party on Saturday night, flouting COVID-19 social distancing rules and ignoring mask-wearing requirements put into place by both the university and the city.
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In response, the Boulder Police turned out in full force to break up the illegal event. Cops began receiving complaints of a “large gathering” in the area around a major off-campus housing complex at 7:00 p.m. local time. By 8:30 p.m., police deemed the gathering an “unlawful assembly” and ordered the party goers to leave. Many stayed; local news outlets reported “violent clashes” that left considerable damage to the surrounding area, as SWAT units were called in to disperse the rowdy party-goers over the next hour.
According to ABC News, “several hours of chaos” that night saw revelers “shooting off fireworks” as well as allegedly throwing bricks and rocks at police. At least one private car was completely flipped over, along with damage to several other cars and “heavy damage” to both a police armored vehicle and a fire truck.
A spokesperson for the Boulder Police Department further confirmed that three SWAT team members suffered minor injuries in the melee. The University of Colorado, with its main campus just five blocks away from Saturday night’s unrest, released a statement about the incident (below):
“It is unacceptable and irresponsible, particularly in light of the volume of training, communication and enforcement the campus and city have dedicated to ensuring compliance with COVID-19 public health orders. CU Boulder will not tolerate any of our students engaging in acts of violence or damaging property.”
The school further threatened to “permanently expel” any student found to have attacked police or first responders during the mayhem.
Whoa!
Now, Boulder Police and the County’s District Attorney’s Office have announced they are working together to investigate and determine the identities of those involved. District Attorney Michael Doughtery said those inciting their fellow students and party-goers “should be held fully responsible for their outrageous actions,” and added (below):
“Our community was put at risk last night by the individuals involved in the incident in the Hill area. Their callous disregard for our community’s safety and well-being is shameful. There is no excuse for this conduct, especially while the people of this community endure the pandemic.”
No kidding!
It’d be one thing if these kids were non-violently protesting an honorable cause — like what we saw last summer with civil disobedience surrounding nationwide Black Lives Matter protesters. (Remember, those, those BLM protesters were non-violent, didn’t damage property, and they wore masks!!!)
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But here it sounds like it’s just a bunch of bratty college kids who want to party in the middle of a pandemic?! Over it! They’ve known this is bad behavior for a year now! What did they expect?? Let the law deal with ’em. Here’s more from CBS 4 Denver TV reporter Michael Abeyta (pictured at center in the header photo above), who was on the scene after Saturday night’s unrest in the city of Boulder (below):
Total chaos! Reactions, Perezcious readers? Is this all too harsh on a bunch of college kids who just want to party? Or should law breakers be punished to the fullest extent in this case?! Sound OFF with your reaction to everything here down in the comments (below)…
[Image via CBS 4 Denver/YouTube]
The post Illegal Street Party At University Of Colorado Turns Into Full-Scale Riot As Students Clash With Police appeared first on Perez Hilton.
