Submitted by justin (not verified) on Tue, 11/02/2010 - 3:36pm.
A crowd -estimated at over 35,000- walked the streets of Chapel Hill for seven hours Sunday night, with a minimal police presence and no reports of violence. College students, citizens and visitors to the community, yet no pepper spray or over-reacting law enforcement actions. I wonder how Wilmington city officials would feel if the downtown bar and restaurant scene "dried up" as these altercations between the public and police continue to escalate. I've watched over a half dozen videos from the incident - I've not seen or heard a police officer ask the crowd to disperse in any of the videos. I've spoken to college students, business owners and friends who were on Front Street when the incident occurred....they all concur...no warning was issued to the revelers. Was the crowd getting out of hand? I wasn't there, so I won't cast judgement....but there was surely a better way to deal with this group.
35,000 in Chapel Hill
A crowd -estimated at over 35,000- walked the streets of Chapel Hill for seven hours Sunday night, with a minimal police presence and no reports of violence. College students, citizens and visitors to the community, yet no pepper spray or over-reacting law enforcement actions. I wonder how Wilmington city officials would feel if the downtown bar and restaurant scene "dried up" as these altercations between the public and police continue to escalate. I've watched over a half dozen videos from the incident - I've not seen or heard a police officer ask the crowd to disperse in any of the videos. I've spoken to college students, business owners and friends who were on Front Street when the incident occurred....they all concur...no warning was issued to the revelers. Was the crowd getting out of hand? I wasn't there, so I won't cast judgement....but there was surely a better way to deal with this group.