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["Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>]

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.