Kent State University's College Fest Leads To Multiple Arrests, SWAT Team, Teargas

Have you ever attended a party so wild a SWAT team had to break it up?

On April 21, 33 people were arrested after an annual block party to celebrate the end of the academic year at Kent State required several police departments, a SWAT team and medical professionals to disperse it.

After the authorities arrived, announcing on a loudspeaker "the party is over," some members of the 3,000 strong-crowd threw beer bottles back at law enforcement. Reportedly, flash-bang devices were also used. In response, police fired tear-gas into the crowd.

The Kent Stater reports at least nine of those arrested were Kent State students. Kent State spokesperson Emily Vincent told Patch the students will face a university hearing through the school's Office of Student Conduct following their charges in Portage County Municipal Court.

"If found responsible, each individual student could face disciplinary probation, suspension and/or dismissal," Vincent told Patch.

Kent Police Capt. Paul Canfield said they're still investigating who might be responsible for committing assaults and throwing items like bottles.

WATCH: Five videos from different advantage points as the SWAT team moved in to break up the crowds.

Warning: Some of the language heard in the videos is NSFW.

From our partners

• 25 Signs You're A Hot Mess | Thought Catalog - thoughtcatalog.com

Comments

[haystakt]

06:47 PM on 04/25/2012

Kent State is guilty here of colluding with law enforcement to benefit mutually as possible, intentionally and obtusely creating the conflict for a multitude of unreasonable purposes. But Kent State is also guilty of immunizing themselves from blame while seeking to punish students who were, as they have been annually, sitting ducks for this manner of casual, albeit sensational, exploitation. Kent State is in denial if they are to further desire to appear occluded from the most practical common sense possible, and seeking to reaffirm their wrongheaded detachment from the safety barrier that colleges need not exploit with local law enforcement, a barrier that is required to exist for students at this manner of event so that they are not unfairly targeted and their academic efforts not targeted, undermined or destroyed just because brass at Kent State either don't have the spine to challenge the apparent dominance of local law enforcement in matters they need to consider better handled with most tact if at all, or because brass at Kent State just aren't committed to common reason and sound judgment.

It is prototypical present-day over-reactive law enforcement, to err on the side of callous disregard, dubious reasoning and denial of culpability while seeking to further self-immunizing from accountability for actions which do the community more harm than good.

What protections are there for students from colleges intentionally staging conflicts with law enforcement to rain down aggressive controls over students and to mete out punishments arbitrarily exacted?

[Dan Tudor]

02:02 PM on 04/25/2012

The Kent police are well known as many police are for being more a negative to the overall community than a positive. Ever had to go to the police for help and they refuse to do much of anything. This is just like how the police broke up the Occupy encampment because they hate it when the community actually gets-together.

[Dan Tudor]

02:08 PM on 04/25/2012

The Kent Stater said it was their policy that they were following- if this is the case- they need to reform their policy. Who gave them the right to break up a community gathering anyway? BTW no offense the the officers who were just following orders- Top -down and Trickle -down don't work in community settings

[pukkita]

01:28 AM on 04/25/2012

this is dumb. project x wannabes?

[GraphicMatt]

10:40 AM on 04/25/2012

Sure, because before that movie there were never any huge parties at colleges.

[AmericanPinko]

10:44 PM on 04/24/2012

The third video is hilarious. I think they got the narrator from the EpicMealTime videos.

[AmericanPinko]

08:56 PM on 04/24/2012

Looks like a good time.

[Christine Simon Harper]

08:39 PM on 04/24/2012

Where are the posts about the cork bullets shot by police at students? My nephew was shot in the face, breaking his nose. He was not drinking, he did not throw anything, he was far away from the crowd. Why are the Kent Police threatening to arrest him and charge him with a felony? Is there a cover up going on? How many others kids were hit with cork bullets?

[GraphicMatt]

10:42 AM on 04/25/2012

Sorry to hear about your nephew. Hope things work out for him. I also hope he sues the police for brutality.