Sunday, October 30, 2005

STOP IT!

Seriously people....stop wreaking havoc in my city. This is bullshit. It would be nice to be able to enjoy halloween again. Get drunk and stupid in your own damn town.

MADISON, Wis. — A weekend of Halloween celebrations popular with college students resulted in more than 400 arrests, and police used bursts of pepper spray early Sunday to break up crowds of revelers.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz suggested canceling the annual gathering. The downtown party near the University of Wisconsin-Madison attracts college students from across the Midwest, and has turned chaotic in the past. Last year, police made 455 arrests.
"Every year there's a certain group of people who come hell-bent on starting an altercation of some kind and we can't seem to shake that," Cieslewicz said. "The only way to end it is to order State Street shut down, every business, for a couple of nights."
Police used officers on horseback early Sunday to move chanting revelers off State Street, a mile-long stretch of bars, restaurants and shops. The pepper spray was used after cups filled with drinks and ice were thrown at officers.
Most arrests were for alcohol-related offenses, including underage drinking, said Lt. Pat Malloy. He said the local detoxification center was filled to capacity and some people had to be taken to emergency rooms.
There were 269 arrests overnight and 178 the night before, Police Chief Noble Wray said.
The university had taken steps to control the chaos this year, prohibiting visitors from dormitories and warning Big 10 and warning other Midwest schools that students shouldn't come. City officials and the university have said most of the problems are caused by out-of-town visitors.

4 comments:

Kari said...

I don't think they can cancel it. But it pisses me off that people just go there to start a riot. they see it on the news and think "Oh cool, lets go!"

Kari said...

hey, i'm all for them being here and bringing in money to our businesses, if they dont' act like complete assholes!

Kari said...

and create riots of course!

Anonymous said...

I’m an out-of-towner from Milwaukee who has been going to Madison Halloween for the past 8 years, since I was 18. I was immediately taken in by the atmosphere. Everyone back then was there to have a good time and show off their costumes. I worked on my costumes for months during the following years. I even managed to get my picture in the Wisconsin State Journal when my friend and I went as the voyageurs from Kids in the Hall (complete with a rolling canoe). However, the past 3 years have been so awful because of the riots. I’m not sure what has gotten into the patrons the past few years. My guess is that there seems to be way more people attending and bigger crowds bring bigger jerks. Also, keeping the bars open all night might be a good idea to slow the stream of drunken idiots who slam multiple shots before bar close because it’s their last chance to drink.