Shortly after midnight on Friday, October 17, 2003, at the conclusion of Game 7 of the American League Championship, disappointed Red Sox fans on the Gorham Campus filled the area between Philippi Hall and the Towers. There is debate over whether they proceeded to riot or if they were an ordinary crowd of unhappy sports fans. Two students were arrested and questions remain as to whether or not the incident was a riot that needed to be handled with such a large police presence.
The USM Police sent an officer to the scene and called in backup from neighboring police departments after receiving complaints from multiple students. University Police Logs indicate “numerous calls” reporting a fire that had been set outside Dickey and Wood Halls. Other callers reported vehicles were being vandalized and windows were being smashed in the parking lot behind Philippi Hall. Complaints were growing in numbers and the incident was escalating, objects were being tossed from dorm windows and the crowd was throwing rocks. Someone hauled their television set outside and smashed it in the back of their own pickup truck.
Having expected the possibility of post game outbursts USM Police officials laid the groundwork for necessary precautions. “We recognized the potential for problems and had a plan in place to coordinate with other agencies to respond to this type of incident. That plan was implemented when the University Police recognized that things were getting out of hand,” said University Police Chief Lisa Beecher.
USM Police officers arrived on the scene with back up from neighboring police units, which included Gorham, Westbrook, Windham and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. Crowds of 50 to 100 students were participating in the revelry. “We weren’t exactly sure what to expect. “We had calls coming into dispatch reporting a lot of different riotous activities, in the interest of student safety and judging [by] the size of the crowd it was necessary to call in for back up,” reported Sgt. William Soper. Responding police found that some of the claims made in the calls were erroneous; however, some claims were valid. There were large groups of students shouting and throwing rocks. A working fire was found by Wood Hall and a smashed television was recovered in a parking lot not far from the crowd.
The two arrests were made when students refused to obey police orders. Michael Hamilton stepped in front of a police cruiser and refused to move and was arrested for blocking an emergency vehicle, while Matthew O’Brien was arrested for failure to disperse. “Those arrested were given more than one chance to comply before their arrests,” said Beecher.
Some students contend that the outburst did not exceed the limits of what is normal or tolerable, and that such an enormous police response was unnecessary. “People here were angry,” said USM student Mike Palow, who witnessed some of the action as well. He said that he and a group of 15 other students were standing outside Philippi Hall smoking when “a train of about a dozen cars came up and parked” in front of the dorm. He says that officers rushed out of the cars with their batons and mace in hand and ordered them to get inside the building. Palow says that his group was a peaceful gathering. “No fighting, no throwing, just venting [about the game]”, Palow said.
“It was a peacable assembly,” said Adam Russell, who is also a resident of Philippi and was in the same group of fifteen.
“I was pissed and scared” recalled Palow. “I wasn’t sure if they were just gonna start grabbing us randomly and throwing us into cruisers”. Palow and Russell recall RA’s walking through the hallways sending residents to their rooms, but shortly after the crowd that Palow and Russell were with dispersed, another crowd was outside between Philippi Hall and the Towers.
Palow felt the situation was “blown way out of proportion” by Student Life and that the media has been overly negative toward the actions of students. “If they said that there was a riot here after that game then they could say that there is a riot in the Old Port every Friday and Saturday night.”
Vice President of Student Life, Craig Hutchinson explained that the outburst on campus was emotional and expected, and while he does not condone it he would not have classified the outburst as a riot. Hutchinson did say, however, that the “precautions taken by the USM police were appropriate”.
The Maine State Statutes express that “a person is guilty of riot if, together with 5 or more other persons, he engages in disorderly conduct”. Disorderly conduct is then defined as a person who “in a public place intentionally or recklessly causes an annoyance”. Soper says that USM Police define laws as instructed by the Maine State Statutes.
Erin Violette can be contacted at [email protected].