Sadly, that's what many Universities are doing in the wake of the 2 UofMN riots.
I was here at UMN for the second one, and it got soo out of hand. The cops are definatelly going overboard there, but they aren't out of their mind for showing up in such force.
I wandered around during the 2nd UMN riot during the spring of 2003 (yeah, I know being a part of the crowd fuels a riot, my bad...), and boy what damage a riot can cause. I saw a fire be started in the middle of the street. People ripping up benches to feed the fire, people ripping down street signs, some breaking windows to get into shops. Then the riot when on the move. First stop was a parking booth. Someone tossed a burning fire can inside it and burned it down (being an parking employee, I definatelly unlocked and grabbed the charred lock the next day for suvineer
). Then the cops came, for no reason people were throwing bottles, rocks, anything they could find at the cops before a one of them fired a pellet or tear gas. The mob then broek into our alumni center and scared the crap out of an alumni party (in honor of the hockey game). Lastly, and over a mile from the original fire, they broke into a liquor store and sacked the place. Then the cops came in and disbaned the people.
About an hour and a half later, it reformed (I wasn't there), and proceed to overturn a car and burn it....
All I can say is that the cops presence there was needed, but maybe they coulda been a bit more leinient on the tear gas.....
On a side note, it's really sad that the Women's hockey team here at UMN doesn't get the recognition they deserve. I'll bet if you ask 10 random people on the street what they think about our Girls winning the NCAA championship 2 years in a row, 8 of em will respond, "Our girls hockey is good? I had no idea!"
Riot or not? 
<br>
Linear Mode
