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Top five ridiculous riots we’ve all forgotten about

Judging by the news commentary, you’d think the world is coming to an end. Just last week the National Guard was called out, buildings were burned to the ground, a curfew was instituted, and violent clashes sent protesters to jail and police to the hospital.

Violence should rarely be condoned, and the destruction of property and attack on persons in Baltimore is unacceptable. Still, given the nature of the news coverage, you’d think the Baltimore riots were America’s first encounter with mass outbreaks of civil disruptions.

Believe it or not, riots are actually quite common in the United States, and they’re often caused by events far less important than the unexplained death of a person in police custody.

Let”s take a look at some of the more ridiculous riots over the past few decades.

5. Michigan State University Riot (1999)

I could write an entire list dedicated to the Michigan State University riots. There was the tailgating riot of 1998, the riot over losing to UNC in 2005, the “Facebook” riot of 2008, and most recently, the Ohio State victory riot of 2013. Most involved sports games, though the 2008 Cedar Fest riot started merely as a Facebook event, and then took on a life of its own.

The granddaddy of them all, however, is the 1999 riot. As many as 10,000 students took to the street to express their dismay after the Michigan State Spartans lost to Duke in the Final Four. At least 61 fires were started and 8 cars were torched, and East Lansing was hit by a hail storm of glass bottles.

Over the course of the night the rioters caused as much as $500,000 worth of damage to Michigan State’s campus and the surrounding community. 132 people were arrested, including 71 students, cars were flipped, couches burned, and obviously the police were called in.

4. College Fest Riots at Kent State

“Tin soldiers and Nixon’s coming….” who can forget the classic lyrics to the CSNY song? The song was dedicated to the Kent State shootings, which themselves were the result of a civil disturbance over US military action in S.E. Asia.

Alas, Kent State makes this list for a far less meaningful riot. Back in 2012, college students took to the streets after the College Fest, an annual block party, grew out of control. Eventually, a SWAT team was called in, tear gas deployed, and students disbursed.

The Kent State riots offer an ironic microcosm of protest movements in the United States. Back in the 60’s and 70’s people took to the street to champion important causes, as was the case at the 1970 May 4 Massacre when four students were gunned down on Kent State’s campus during anti-military protests.

These days? Students riot because they’re drunk, bored, and irresponsible.

3. University of Kentucky wins, city destroyed

It’s bad enough that sports fans have a tendency to riot when their team losses a big game, but it’s absolutely head scratching that fans will riot even when their team wins. That’s exactly what happened, however, in 2012 when the the University of Kentucky beat its hated rival Louisville in the NCAA Final Four.

An estimated 10,000 students took to the streets, setting off at least 50 fires, and destroying public and private property. Numerous cars were flipped and who knows how many couches were lost to the flames. Probably enough to fill an Ikea.

Kentucky won the championship a few days later, but city authorities were miraculously able to avoid total anarchy.

2. The Great Pumpkin Festival Riot of 2014

Probably the most absurd riot on this list, I left the “great” pumpkin riot of 2014 as the runner up because of its relatively small size.

Each year the city of Keene holds a pumpkin festival, note “festival” not “fest”. The Festival is normally one of those small town affairs. The leaves are changing colors, the air is cool, the jack-o-laterns are lit, and apple cider, both spiked and non spiked, is served in copious amounts.

As you can probably guess, Grandma’ish Halloween sweaters are common, as are Grandmas themselves. Still, when booze is in the mix you can never count a riot out, especially when young people are involved.

Keene’s pumpkin festival had been growing increasingly rowdy for years, and in 2014 everything finally hit the fan and a full-scale riot broke out. Police were pelted with bottles and other objects, dumpsters were turned over, fires lit, and tires slashed.

Keene’s Pumplin Festival has now been canceled.

1. Seattle Mardis Gras Riot

The 2001 Seattle Mardis Gras riot is interesting not just for its scope, the riot caused an estimated $100,000 in damage and left one person dead, but also because there seems to have been no impetus for it.

Protesters in Baltimore may decry police violence, and students at Michigan State might get upset over losing a big basketball game, but apparently people in Seattle will riot for a riot’s sake. And we’re not just talking about a few people either, we’re talking about thousands upon thousands.

On Fat Tuesday, thousands of people filled the streets in and around Pioneer Square, one of Seattle’s most lively nightlife districts, to celebrate Mardis Gras. What started out as good fun, however, quickly spiraled out of control as drunk revelers grew rowdy.

Women were being grouped, property destroyed, and eventually fighting broke out between party-goers. By 11PM police were out in riot gear, but they did little to get the situation under control, instead choosing to stay on the sidelines.

Tragically Kris Kime, a 20 year old man who stepped in to help a woman who was being attacked, was killed by rioters.

By 1:30AM gunshots could be heard in the center of the crowd and the police moved in. As a result of the riots, Seattle placed a moratorium Mardis Gras celebrations.

In conclusion: Riots happen

So what’s the moral of this story? Riots happen, unfortunately, and they often happen for far more minor reasons than police brutality and systemic injustice. We like to forget that and treat protestors in places like Baltimore as odd anomalies.

They’re not. Riots happen. That doesn’t justify riots, of course, but it does provide context.

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