Police Pepper Spray CU Antiwar Protesters
Students Surge Into Student Union To Replug Speakers
POSTED: 5:16 a.m. MST January 30, 2003
UPDATED: 9:16 a.m. MST January 30, 2003
BOULDER, Colo. -- Police in Boulder used pepper spray to disperse hundreds of antiwar demonstrators on the University of Colorado campus Wednesday afternoon after they refused to leave voluntarily.
The university said one police officer was hospitalized after a protester sprayed him with Mace during the confrontation. CU police Lt. John Kish was treated and released from a hospital, 7NEWS reported.
The incident happened when about 400 students gathered at about noon around the Dalton Trumbo Fountain near the student union to rally against a possible war in Iraq.
The peaceful protest deteriorated about 1½ hours later when university custodians
turned off the sound system under school policy to prevent the
disruption of classes after 1 p.m.
University police moved in to disperse the crowd and the students pushed back.
"The sound system was unplugged and then one of the protesters attempted to gain entry back into the building to plug it back in," CU police spokesman Tim McGraw said.
Several demonstrators tried to enter the student union to try to plug in the amplifiers, but were stopped by campus police, who used pepper spray on about a dozen students, 7NEWS reported.
"He said to us, 'Get ready to get Maced,' and the second we broke through the door, six to 10 people were Maced," said a CU student who was only identified by his first name, Jordon.
Afterward, the crowd surged into the lobby of the student union and about 200 students remained there peacefully for much of the afternoon.
Although no students were arrested, university officials said school policy is if any student is caught breaking the law, that student will be held accountable for his or her actions.
Ron Stump, the vice chancellor for student affairs, told the students that he will look into the matter. He said he is not happy that anyone was Maced, and agreed that there should be place on campus for rallies that extend beyond the lunch hour.
The fountain area where rallies are currently held faces classrooms, so a school rule established in the 1970s said that rallies must end by 1 p.m. so that classes will not be disrupted.
Police will look into the matter further by looking at videos and talking to witnesses, McGraw
said.
The university said one police officer was hospitalized after a protester sprayed him with Mace during the confrontation. CU police Lt. John Kish was treated and released from a hospital, 7NEWS reported.
The incident happened when about 400 students gathered at about noon around the Dalton Trumbo Fountain near the student union to rally against a possible war in Iraq.
The peaceful protest deteriorated about 1½ hours later when university custodians
turned off the sound system under school policy to prevent the
disruption of classes after 1 p.m.
University police moved in to disperse the crowd and the students pushed back.
"The sound system was unplugged and then one of the protesters attempted to gain entry back into the building to plug it back in," CU police spokesman Tim McGraw said.
Several demonstrators tried to enter the student union to try to plug in the amplifiers, but were stopped by campus police, who used pepper spray on about a dozen students, 7NEWS reported.
"He said to us, 'Get ready to get Maced,' and the second we broke through the door, six to 10 people were Maced," said a CU student who was only identified by his first name, Jordon.
Afterward, the crowd surged into the lobby of the student union and about 200 students remained there peacefully for much of the afternoon.
Although no students were arrested, university officials said school policy is if any student is caught breaking the law, that student will be held accountable for his or her actions.
Ron Stump, the vice chancellor for student affairs, told the students that he will look into the matter. He said he is not happy that anyone was Maced, and agreed that there should be place on campus for rallies that extend beyond the lunch hour.
The fountain area where rallies are currently held faces classrooms, so a school rule established in the 1970s said that rallies must end by 1 p.m. so that classes will not be disrupted.
Police will look into the matter further by looking at videos and talking to witnesses, McGraw
said.
Copyright 2003 by TheDenverChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
