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What A Riot

Page history last edited by Steve Hornstein 11 years, 11 months ago

 

1988 St. Cloud Riot

 

 


Our Narrative: 

 

On Friday, October 14, 1988 it was Homecoming weekend at St. Cloud State University. Some students were celebrating, and the news took coverage of the behind the scenes parties of St. Cloud. St. Cloud police reminded students to drink responsibly and stay safe. The students misinterpreted the reminder as a warning that the police would take away their right to drink. The news stations broadcast footage of a house party and labeled it as being out of control. That footage was broadcast across the nation.

 

On Saturday, October 15, 1988 students from other schools decided to come and join what they thought was a large amount of parties.  Due to the influence of alcohol, confusion of their rights to drink, and the amount of people that were present, a riot began. Sofas were burned in yards, street signs were torn from the ground, cars were shaken, windows were broken and properties were damaged.  The police reacted with tear gas to control the crowd, wore riot gear, and brought attack dogs to protect themselves from the beer bottles being thrown at them.  Police were overwhelmed by the amount of people, damage and the inadequate supply of riot gear so they did not handle the situation as effectively as they could have.

 

Afterwards, the students, citizens and staff of St. Cloud wrote articles about their thoughts and opinions of the situation.  They were upset with St. Cloud police who over exaggerated the situation and used harmful tactics to control the crowd. The majority of students who participated in the riot were not from St. Cloud State, but from other schools.  St. Cloud State students from the school, who did not participate in the event, were disappointed that they were then labeled as “rioters”. 36 students of St Cloud State University were expelled for their poor choices during the riot. 4 police officers were injured during the events that took place.

 

Due to the events of the riot, St. Cloud State University no longer has Homecoming celebrations, and is labeled as a hard-core party school. Both St. Cloud State University and the city of St. Cloud have created more strict laws and regulations regarding alcohol and parties.

 

For more information, please review the newspaper articles at the bottom of the page.



 

Here's What Happened According to Our

 

Sources...

 

 

Timeline According to Police Records and the St. Cloud Times

 

At about 10:30pm on the Friday night of October 14th, 1988, Police began receiving calls about students going to and from several house parties. Two police officers walked around the campus and adjacent neighborhoods and told a group of students, “You be good tonight, all right?”

Around 11:18pm police received another call, but this time about a fight near Holes Hall on campus. When the police got there, there was no fight, but about an incident with campus security trying to have a motorcycle towed. The owner of the motorcycle paid the tow truck operator and the issue was settled.  Between 11:23 and 11:30 pm a crowd from the house parties was gathering to watch the police handle the motorcycle incident. About 6-8 officers were on the scene at this time, when some of the people in the crowd began to throw their beer bottles and cans, and began to rock cars parked on the street and driving through. Some witnesses reported watching some people in the crowd flip a 1984 Ford Escort upside down.

At 11:30pm until midnight, more police and deputies came from both Stearns and Sherburne counties as well as fire departments, and state troopers. A total of about 40 law enforcement officers were in attendance in either riot gear or with police dogs according to the St. Cloud Times. During this time, four police officers were injured with one of them knocked unconscious from a beer bottle hitting his head.

Starting between midnight and 1am, the St. Cloud and Moline police held wooden barricades that ran from 3rd avenue south to about to 50 feet from the intersection of 6th street. Since the group had no leader, the police were not able to negotiate.

Around 1am Saturday morning, the police began to move the barricade from 3rd avenue south up to 6th street by the Hill-Case dorm. The police tried to get the crowd to go home but they continued to throw beer bottles, and by 1:15am the police received the order to leave the scene.

At 1:30am the majority of the crowd dispersed and the few that remained had calmed down and were just talking in small groups.

On Saturday, October 15th at 8am, the President of the University, Brendan McDonald and four Vice Presidents met to discuss what happened and decided not cancel and events, but to change the route of the homecoming parade to keep it off campus.

At 9:30am President McDonald and St. Cloud Police Chief O’Keefe met with reporters. McDonald scolded the rioters with disappointment and decided to appoint a task force to determine the future of homecoming events on campus. O’Keefe praised the way the police handled the situation and said he would be creasing security around campus for the football game, parade, and other events through the night.

Around 10:30am, the parade took place up to Seike Field and the scheduled tailgate party occurred without any incidents. The football game started at 1pm and police were there to check everyone for alcoholic beverages before they could enter the stadium.

Throughout the afternoon and into the evening students gathered around the 3rd avenue south area. About 8:30pm, Police and other law enforcement “set up headquarters  at Bethlehem Lutheran Church” and began blocking off 3rd avenue south according to the St. Cloud Times.  By 9pm, the police began to monitor the students along 3rd avenue south.  

 


 

Police Behaved as Appallingly as the Rioters

 

As a St. Cloud State student, I am appalled at the behavior of my fellow students during homecoming weekend, but as a resident of Third Avenue South, I am equally appalled at the behavior of the police towards the residents of Third Avenue.

Friday night, when I was coming home late after working on a homecoming float, I was told I wasn’t allowed to go home because of the rioting. Thank God I had friends to stay with! Imagine being told you couldn’t go home one night. Wouldn’t you be angry—especially if no one showed any concern as to whether or not you had a place to stay?

Saturday night I chose to remain at home. Never in my life have I felt so unprotected! At 8 o’clock I heard that 50 policemen with gas masks and clubs were lined up on the street. Being naturally curious (which is a human trait) my friends and I decided to see what was going on. We were careful to stay in our yard, away from the crowd. All of a sudden the police rushed the crowd up the street past our house. Some of the policemen started clubbing my friends, who were plainly doing nothing wrong. Several times the police rushed the crowd, beating people and setting off tear gas. My friends stayed back out of the way in our yard, but a dozen policemen rushed them and beat one of them to the ground after they saw his girlfriend take a picture. As they led him away, I heard a policemen say, “This wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for your girlfriend.”

I am not familiar with St. Cloud’s riot policies, but this seems like an unfair arrest and a poor example of police protection to me! Why didn’t the police arrest the people I saw carrying long iron bars and the ones who tore down street signs, instead of terrorizing and arresting innocent bystanders.

I would also like to know why the police came back at about 3 o’clock Sunday morning after the crowd had long since dispersed, and tear gassed the entire street in front of my house, and also the alley that runs in the back of it. Thank God, once again, I had the foresight to close my windows!

I realize the police were just trying to do their job, but I feel my rights, as a resident of Third Avenue, were violated. Just because I live in the area the rioting occurred, doesn’t mean that I am a rioter as well.

-Beryl R. Kolb, Senior

St. Cloud State University



 

 

An Interview with a Community Adviser On Duty at the Time

 

Q: What effect did the riots have on the campus?

The school ended up cancelling homecoming because people were afraid to go out. They would go home instead of the game. Every dorm used to build a float for the homecoming weekend parade. Hopefully down the road we will be able to have homecoming again, but it will never be the same as it used to be. St. Cloud was named one of the top ten party schools in the country.

 

Q: What were some major incidents during the riots?

Students were breaking windows downtown. Huge house parties were going out of control, and people were burning sofas and rugs in yards. Some students tried tipping over a police car. Students were destroying everything in sight. CNN was a brand new news station and when they came to report it made nationwide news. Friday was bad, but after the news, people from other schools came up on Saturday to party. That’s when things got out of control.

 

Q: What caused the riots?

Students were drinking and the police started to crack down on drinking and partying. The students thought the police were taking all their rights to drink and party away. The police were just trying to warn students to be careful and responsible, but students took it the wrong way.

 

Q: Does it still have an effect on campus? What guidelines have been set to prevent this from happening again?

Homecoming was cancelled this past year, and SCSU no longer has a homecoming parade. In dorm rooms, no more than 2-4 people in a room at any given time, and 8 Community Advisors must be on duty in each hall on weekends like homecoming.

 

Q: Was this considered a big deal at the time?

Yes. The President from the University came to campus as well as many of SCSU’s lead staff. Police in riot gear were on campus trying to control the crowds. All staff were on duty trying to smooth out the situation and get control of the crowds.

 

Q: What were you doing at the time of the riot?

I was a Community Advisor on campus. I had to try and keep as many students in the building and out of the riot as I could. We were locking the doors and hoping the rioters would not break in the windows as we tried to calm down the crowds.


 

Background Information From That Time:

 

The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984

 

Before 1984, the states each chose their own drinking age which were different in each state. After repeal of Prohibition in 1933, most states set their legal purchase ages at 21, but a few set their limits lower. Most of these limits remained constant until the early 1970s. From 1969 to 1976, 30 states lowered their purchase ages, generally to 18.  This was mainly due to the voting age being lowered from 21 to 18 by the 26th amendment. From 1976 to 1983, several states voluntarily raised their purchase ages to 19 (or, less commonly, 20 or 21), in part to combat drunk driving fatalities. Most states still kept the age at 18 or 19 well into the 1980s.

On July 17, 1984, The National Minimum Drinking Age was passed by the United States Congress. All states were then required to legislate the age of 21 years as a minimum age for purchasing and possessing alcoholic beverages. With the Federal Aid Highway Act, a state must hold a minimum drinking age of 21, or take a ten percent decrease in its annual federal highway funding. This act did not state that those under 21 could not consume alcohol, and most states still permit "underage" consumption of alcohol in some circumstances. In some states there are no limits on private consumption, but in others, consumption is only permitted in certain circumstances, such as in the presence of consenting and supervising family members or for religious purposes.

 


 


 

 

Newspaper Articles: Day by Day

 

 

 

Articles from The St. Cloud Times October 15, 1988

 

 

 

 


 

 

Articles from The St. Cloud Times- October 16, 1988

 

 


 

 

Articles from The St. Cloud Times-October 17, 1988

 


 

 

Articles from The St. Cloud Times October 18, 1988

 

 

 


 

 

Articles from The St. Cloud Times October 20, 1988

 

 

 

 


 

Links to Other Sources

 

This map marks the area where the riots took place. They occurred along 3rd Avenue South between 4th and 5th Streets. The Police also set up headquarters further down the road on 3rd Avenue.

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=450+3rd+Avenue+South,+St.+Cloud,+MN+56301&hl=en&ll=45.555305,-94.152339&spn=0.007543,0.01929&sll=45.554644,-94.149292&sspn=0.007543,0.01929&geocode=FaketwIdfFtj-imh9ln2emC0UjELINxVrx0baQ&mra=ls&t=m&z=16

 

Myrle B Cooper writes about St. Cloud State University’s decision to “drop homecoming as a traditional October event.” and gives some account of a” history of blatant community racism and police brutality with blacks “on St. Cloud University Campus.  We believe this gives insight into the aftermath of the riots that took place on campus in 1988.

 http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2011/03/16/st-cloud-states-racist-homecoming-history

 

News of the St.Cloud State riots make the LA Times.

http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/riots-minnesota

 

 

 

 

 

Created by:  Bethany Knuaf, Anna Granum, CJ Gallman and Alex Vang

 

 

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