Then why are you on our site telling us what we need to do rather than be on your own site FIXING your own issues? GTF out of here Wolverine!
People trying to compare Baltimore vs PSU
- Thread starter ChiTownLion
- Start date
Then why are you on our site telling us what we need to do rather than be on your own site FIXING your own issues? GTF out of here Wolverine!
Rioting is never a good idea, but just so I understand, rioting over the firing of a football coach is "worth it" but rioting over the death of a young man is not? Gotcha.
Joe was an icon. Those kids had every right to riot over his firing. The only unfortunate event of the evening is that Cory Giger was not in the WMAJ news van when the kids turned it over.
My nephew was there in 2011 - thankfully, he was smart enough to not get involved in any of the destructive activities - and he took a bunch of pictures that I've seen. I saw dozens of police officers in full riot gear and some on horseback, using phalanx tactics and other common riot control procedures to clear Beaver as they swept everyone out of the canyon. If we want to say that the Penn State riot in 2011 wasn't as bad or as destructive as what's happening in Baltimore, that's fine and I'll readily agree. But to argue that it wasn't a riot is contradicted both by the aftermath and by the police tactics used.
I would be very careful with what you say or you will instantly be labeled a troll.
I'm already quite familiar with being labeled a troll by those who happen to not agree with me, particularly with regards to scandal-related topics. Personally, I'd much rather discuss football than all the other things that surround Penn State right now - but alas, it's only April.
Of course you are going to view PSU as a riot. You're demlion. I'm sure you feel that the events of that evening at PSU caused all of us to rethink our commitment to PSU.
Joe was an icon. Those kids had every right to riot over his firing. The only unfortunate event of the evening is that Cory Giger was not in the WMAJ news van when the kids turned it over.
You're not helping matters. First, it wasn't a riot at Penn State. You had a gathering of thousands of students, but the vast majority of them did nothing but watch or yell. There were isolated incidents of damage to property perpetrated by a small minority in the large crowd. Those incidents did not set off widespread violent acts towards others or property. It wasn't a riot at Penn State.
The above said, there is no justification for the damage caused at Penn State. Students had every right to be upset that Joe was fired. However, they had no right to turn over a TV truck or damage other property.
Chief? Duh.
Let me try to clarify my point. The incident at PSU has been labeled by some as a "riot". In making that characterization, the majority of people point to the turning over of a TV truck. That is the incident that people focus on. Those are the pictures that repeatedly go up on Twitter. People look at that one incident and say that PSU students rioted. However, most people miss the point that the turning over of the TV truck was a targeted response committed by a small minority. That doesn't justify it, but few people citing it understand its significance.
As fairgambit correctly pointed out, other damage was caused by students that was not a targeted response. That still doesn't make what happened at Penn State a riot. These were isolated events in a crowd of thousands. The vast majority of students outside that night did nothing.
With, Baltimore, of course, we have pictures of multiple cars, police cars and other cars, burned. Not just broken windows, but burned out completely. Stores have been looted. People are posting selfies showing the items they have stolen. We have seen pictures of smoke-filled skies in the city. Police have been out in full riot gear. Police have been attacked. The National Guard has been called in. This is a riot. There have been targeted responses (burning police cars), but they been diluted by many other random acts of violence and crime. The mob mentality took over in Baltimore, and chaos resulted. What happened at Penn State was not chaos.
Anyone drawing parallels between Penn State and Baltimore is an idiot. The morons on Twitter obviously hate Penn State to the point that they will try to make a point that has no relevance.
Remember that you can reports posts with the new forum software. Look for the Report button below a post. Then inform the moderators that the individual in question is a troll and request that the individual be banned. I obviously cannot say whether this will work, but take advantage of the feature. It should prompt a moderator to view the post in question and make a decision.
Well, I was not drawing those parallels. I was saying that I think when you are trashing vehicles in the street you have moved into the territory occupied by the word "riot."
In Baltimore, thousands of people (the vast majority) protested peacefully and without any damage to anything at all. You seem to think that this would militate AGAINST calling Baltimore a riot. But we know it was a riot because people trashed a whole bunch of stuff. At PSU, people trashed a whole lot LESS stuff but they tore up and vandalized property belonging to both the media and others. Like it or not what happened at PSU can be called a riot. It is not fair to say it is the same as what happened in Baltimore, but until you tell me where is says that 3 trashed cars is not a riot but 4 is, I am going with that sort of major property damage as a riot.
The broader point being made by those who published the photos of college town and sports fan riots is that some of us seemingly have different standards when we view these scenes of destruction and they arise from really desperate conditions of inequality. People are MUCH less tolerant of riotous behavior when it arises in the way Baltimore did than when it arises in the way Columbus Ohio was trashed at various times after football games. I frankly think that is a fair point to raise.
But the Penn State students were angry about what they viewed as an injustice, just like the Baltimore people were. It is not acceptable to trash property in either case. OTOH, the people in charge in both places ought to have been smarter than to do what THEY did, which sparked the protests which became riotous. Just imagine what would have happened in SC if upon hearing the news from Fran Ganter and John Surma Joe Paterno had had a stroke and died, and THAT word spread through the bars. He was a pretty old man and that was some pretty bad news to lay on him at 10 pm. You break down the social order badly enough and anything is possible.
Martin Luther King, Jr., who deplored rioting and fought mightily to stop it, correctly said "A riot is the language of the unheard."
What I object to is the over-the-top criticism of the people of Baltimore, the vast majority of whom did nothing wrong, when we draw NO conclusions about an entire city from the riots (some way bigger than this one) which happen after sporting events. It seems the only time people get angry about rioting is when the rioters are objecting to injustice--if they are burning cars because their team won or lost a game, that is somehow morally not as bad.
I was caught in the aftermath of the demonstrations on Sat. night. That was a riot, Trying to get home on Mon. Evening that was a riot.
Tom Rinaldi would have pissed his pants and been cowering behind a dumpster.
No one is saying they were equal. They are just pointing out that when it is a predominately white crowd you don't see disparaging comments like groups of thugs from the media. I saw other articles with similar parallels to other riots like sports championship riots.
I don't even understand this twitcher meme. Back in 2011 it WAS called a riot. People spread that around widely and acted as if there was no reason that it was happening. So, why pretend otherwise? These twitcher folks seem not-bright and self-indulgent.
And, it was so widely spread back then that they use the meme now. Just weird. Must have, sadly, been molested themselves...or are active molesters seeking cover.
Are you really arguing that those who called what happened in 2011 a "riot" and shared pictures of that event are child molesters? That's a pretty bold claim.
Sat night? Are you referring to Baltimore? Because the PSU incidents from 2011 happened on a Thursday or Friday night (I think it was Thursday), the night Joe was fired. Later in the weekend there was a peaceful candlelight vigil for the victims at Old Main. I was at that as well, believe that was on Friday.
I'm sorry but we're just not gonna agree on this one. It was a riot and that's OK. I don't know why you are trying so hard to run from that. Sometimes people need to let off steam and rebel against the man. These poor kids just lost their patriarch who was unjustly fired by and evil BOT. They had every right to express themselves by whatever means were needed. It was totally fine that they took some of their rage on WMAJ who was actively blaming Joe for the Jerry situation. No one was hurt but it would have been nice to see Giger get some sense knocked into him.
I was at the Arts Fest riot of (91 or 92? I forget). that was friggin scary. I honestly felt in fear for my safety, and getting me and my intoxicated roommate safely back to our downtown apartment required some deft evasion of drunken masses AND overzealous law enforcement
Talking with people who were present at the protests in November 2011, I would classify those violent incidents as isolated and contained. Not sure it compares to an actual "riot".
