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  • From: "Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>
  • To: "Homestead mailing list" <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Homestead] victimizing the victims -
  • Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 11:16:03 -0700

Nowhere did I read anything about perhaps rethinking the situation,

or the type or use of the "projectile", or maybe at least an apology

for murder since there apparently isn't going to be even a wrist-slap ?

Or maybe it's just me - thinking the motto "To Protect and Serve"

seems to be protecting politicians - and serving the public up on a

plate ...



http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap10-22-023214.asp?t=apnew&vts=102220041041



Boston mayor weighs alcohol limits after Red Sox fan dies from police
projectile

By GREG SUKIENNIK
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOSTON, Oct. 22 - Mayor Thomas Menino said he was considering banning alcohol
sales near Fenway Park during the World Series, following rowdy celebrations
of the Red Sox's league championship that turned deadly when a police officer
shot a projectile into a crowd.



Menino planned to meet with bar and nightclub owners Friday and also
said he would press colleges to expel students found guilty of criminal
conduct in the melee. <>


''Since people won't accept responsibility, I, as mayor, will take it
into my own hands,'' Menino said.


Emerson College student Victoria Snelgrove, 21, died Thursday, hours
after being hit in the eye with what was designed to be a non-lethal
projectile that would douse the target with a pepper-like spray. Her father
expressed outrage at the city's response to her death.


Witnesses said Snelgrove was standing outside the ballpark when a
reveler threw a bottle at a mounted police officer. Another officer fired the
plastic, pepper-spray filled balls into the crowd, hitting Snelgrove.


Fifteen other people, including a police officer, suffered minor
injuries in Boston's Kenmore Square neighborhood near Fenway Park after
thousands of baseball fans spilled onto the streets to celebrate the Red Sox
triumph Wednesday night at New York's Yankee Stadium. Small fires were set
and fights broke out. Boston police reported eight arrests, mostly for
disorderly conduct.


Menino said that to avoid a repeat of the rowdiness in his city, he
was considering imposing the alcohol-sales ban through a state law never
before used in Boston. The law lets him ban sale or distribution of alcohol
''in cases of riot or great public excitement.''


He said he may also ask bar and restaurant operators not to let
television stations broadcast live scenes from inside their establishments
during games, as at least one station did Wednesday.


Peter Martineau, manager of Boston Beer Works, across from Fenway
Park, expressed sympathy for Snelgrove's family but blamed area college
students for causing the problems.


''They all want to come out to the Fenway for the excitement,'' he
said. ''I don't think the remedy is banning bars and restaurants from serving
liquor. If you can't serve beer or anything, why would people come out? It's
a beer works.''


Officials said the projectiles are not supposed to be aimed at
people's faces, and Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said she would
''firmly and emphatically accept responsibilities for any errors.''


But, she continued, ''I also condemn in the harshest words possible
the actions of the punks (Wednesday) night who turned our city's victory into
an opportunity for violence and mindless destruction.''


The student's father, Rick Snelgrove, said angrily that she did
nothing wrong. Standing outside the family home, he held up a photograph of
his smiling daughter.


''What happened to her should not happen to any American citizen going
to any type of game, no matter what,'' he said. ''She loved the Red Sox. She
went in to celebrate with friends. She was a bystander. She was out of the
way, but she still got shot. Awful things happen to good people. My daughter
was an exceptional person.''


City officials had announced there would be a heavy police presence in
Kenmore Square for the history-making victory by the Red Sox, who came back
from 3 games to zero deficit to advance to the World Series.


The city had been caught understaffed when riots broke out after the
New England Patriots' Super Bowl win Feb. 1, when one person was killed and
another critically injured by a vehicle that plowed into revelers.



© 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



  • [Homestead] victimizing the victims -, Toni Hawryluk, 10/22/2004

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