Despite questions, police legally protected in Monday riots

The crowd that gathered after IU's loss in the NCAA championships has long been dispersed, but many people who were there are still fuming. In response to the melee that ensued, police fired tear gas and pepper powder to disperse the crowd. Some are accusing the police of being overzealous in their reaction, and others are wondering if there are legal ramifications. \n"I can understand why the police were angry, but I think that they did too much," sophomore Justin Strefling said.\nDean of Students Richard McKaig said two students visited him Tuesday to voice concerns about police actions after Monday night's game. He referred them to city and state law enforcement agencies.\n"It's my hunch that any challenges to police actions have to go through some kind of mechanism the city has for police review," McKaig said. "Those kinds of decisions are typically subject to review through law enforcement procedures."\nThe IU Police Department was not involved in the riot police or its decision to use crowd control mechanisms.\nMcKaig said no substantial damage was done to structures on campus. A few lamp posts and parking signs were destroyed, and a fire was reported in an on-campus dumpster. In addition, 55 students were identified and referred to McKaig's office for disciplinary referrals regarding misconduct Monday night.\nThe Bloomington Police Department has defended its actions, stating that steps taken were necessary due to the nature of the crowds. BPD Capt. Joe Qualters said a combination of factors led to the decision to disperse the crowd.\n"The general demeanor of the crowd, the fires, officers being struck by projectiles (were all actors),"Qualters said. He also said the high number of people calling for ambulances played into the decision.\n"We observed that the crowd was out of control and we needed to take some action," Qualters said.\nThe police were not the only ones to notice the crowd was getting unruly. Strefling was in the middle of the crowd when things began to take a turn for the worse.\n"People were throwing firecrackers into the fire, and things started exploding," he said. "It started taking a turn for the worse. Officers were getting mad, and people were cussing at them, which didn't help."\nIn addition to being yelled at, officers had bottles pelted at them by unruly crowd members. Two state troopers were treated at Bloomington Hospital for cuts.\nAfter getting pushed down by the crowd, Strefling got up and noticed the riot police drumming on their shields with their batons, forcing their way through the crowd.\nStrefling, who had somehow lost his T-shirt in the commotion, went to ask an officer if he could go back into the area being cleared to retrieve it.\n"He told me to clear out if I saw him put his gas mask on," Strefling said.\nMoments later, Strefling heard an explosion and watched smoke pour out of the canister that had landed next to him. This was one of the nine tear gas canisters that were fired into the crowd by Indiana State Troopers. \nBPD officers also worked to clear the streets by dispensing pepper powder-filled pellets into the crowd. Qualters said individual officers disposed the pellets as needed at various points up and down Kirkwood.\nThe result was a potent cocktail of smoke that was too much for the both the rioters and revelers on Kirkwood Avenue to handle. \n"I could taste it in my mouth," Strefling said. "I had to spit right away -- my eyes were burning bad."\nEven those who were merely observing the action on Kirkwood or sitting inside of the bars were caught up in the gas.\n"Unfortunately, there's a price to be paid for hanging around," Qualters said. "Hopefully, we've all been taught by our parents 'If you see an ugly situation, get away from it.'"\nAmy Reynolds, an assistant professor of journalism who teaches mass communication law, said it was highly unlikely that a bystander would be able to legally challenge the actions of the police on the grounds of the First Amendment right to peaceably assemble. \nShe said since the police had opened the streets up for people to assemble, they could also close them off so normal traffic could resume.\nReynolds did say it would be possible for someone to file a grievance against the actions taken by the police. However, they would have to prove the actions caused permanent damage, and that the police were acting outside of their area of discretion. \n"They'd be hard-pressed to find a court that would take that (a grievance) seriously," Reynolds said. "Police videotapes of the event would bear that out"