Pop quiz: What is the appropriate response when the police show up to bust up a dangerous gathering of ne'er-do-wells, say ... building a bunch of bonfires out in the middle of the street and throwing dangerous debris at people in other apartments? Should you peacefully leave the area, complying with the police officers' orders? Should you start yelling OU and throwing glass bottles at the public safety officers? Should you start rioting, and then start whining about how the man took away your right to party later, knowing that you live in a town that has a long history of being liberal and anti-establishment?
Some of the people who ruined the fest - and you may or may not know who you are, depending on how drunk you were at the time - chose the last two options. Congratulations, you made an utter fool of yourself that night. Now do something really crazy: Take responsibility for your antisocial actions, and don't blame the police for trying to keep non-Festers safe from your animalistic behavior.
I have little sympathy for all those who rioted down at Palmerfest last weekend and are now claiming police brutality. I'm just reminded of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where the annoying proto-liberal taunts King Arthur and then cries Come see the violence inherent in the system. Help! I'm being repressed! Here's a hint: If the partygoers last weekend hadn't threatened public safety by building bonfires and attacking police officers, vandalized public property, goaded officers by blasting trite rap protest songs that encourage the slaughter of police officers, and ignored police orders to get off the street and onto the sidewalks, it's a good bet that Palmerfest and Oak Fest would have been more fun for everyone involved. It probably would have involved less pepper spray and crowd-control tactics, too.
Now, I'm not giving the police a free pass. If any of the rumors of police brutality pan out, then obviously there was a problem. However, it's very obvious that antisocial rowdiness happened out there. Couch fires don't build themselves, nor do bottles and cans hurl themselves at law enforcement officers. Laws were being broken, peoples' lives were in danger, and as I've said before, the job of the police is to protect and serve the people. The people at Palmerfest and Oak Fest may not say they were protected or served by their house parties being dispersed, but they were. The situation was a danger to public safety, and the crowd's negative response made that situation much worse because the crowd put firefighters in danger by throwing bottles and other debris, all because they were putting the trash fires out. The riot gear was put on, and the street party was put out.
As Athens Police Chief Richard Mayer said in his news release, students failed to control their party this year
leading to the fire a near riot and threat to safety forces that were there to respond to problems. Unfortunately, the partiers crying about the violence inherent in the system and how they're being repressed aren't going to take responsibility for their decision. And that's exactly why we can't have nice things: because everyone wants to have rights, but no one wants to have the responsibilities that go with them.
Jesse Hathaway is a senior studying English. Send him an e-mail at jh309105@ohiou.edu.
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Opinion
Jesse Hathaway
