Rah Rah Riot

What an odd night. April 25th, 2009. A night filled with promise and optimism was eventually reduced to tear gas and rubber bullets.

Let me set the stage for you...

Spring Jam is the University of Minnesota's attempt at celebrating Spring and a chance to have one final party before everyone hunkers down and crams for finals. My experience with Spring Jam is nothing to talk about. Freshman year was probably the most fun I've had during it and that was only because I was a freshman and it was a new experience. That year it was crappy and rainy for most of the weekend, but we made the most of it. My sophomore year we had the best weather and it had all of the potential of being a good weekend but outside forces and other events took place. We still had the night of destruction, so that made up for it. Last year's Spring Jam the weather was at about 40 degrees and balmy all weekend. Not a good mix for outside drinking. This year was suppose to be different. This was the year where all of the disappointments of years past were to be just that, in the past. But I have learned over my years here: never have a positive outlook on anything put on by the school, athletic or otherwise.

Even if I were to expect the worst I could have never imagined what took place on the corner of 14th and 7th in Dinkytown.

The reason why I was so pumped for this years Spring Jam was because Talib Kweli was performing and I am a big fan. And it was free! As Chase and I were walking to the concert we were enjoying the unexpectedly nice weather (it was suppose to be thunderstorming). Chase was trying to be a downer (or a realist, whichever you prefer) and I tried my best to convince him that this will be a sweet night. We got to the concert earlier then expected and decided to head to a local watering hole for a beer. When we got to the bar we found out that the concert was cancelled because Talib got stuck in Chicago (how?). With that my dreams were crushed and apparently so were the dreams of many other college students. Since we were already out (this was at about 9:15) Sam and I decided to grab a bite to eat, have a few beers and then call it a night. B Loco was hopping and we took advantage of the 2 for 1's. After the beers we started walking home along 15th ave. A few blocks later I turned to my left to see what was going on and I saw a fire with a bunch of kids yelling around it. I recommended that we check it out because how many times do you see a fire in the middle of the street?

"USA, USA, USA" was the chant that was going on when we walked up to the scene (Sam did not hesitate to join in the chant because he hates all other nations) and that turned into "Flip a car, flip a car". After pushing our way to the front lines of the fire and walking on glass the entire time, Sam and I looked at eachother and decided enough was enough and started to walk home. I found out later on that we left at the perfect time as cops came not even 10 minutes later. Not ever have I witnessed a riot and I'm glad it finally happened. Maybe next time we can riot because our sports teams won something...but probably not.

For more info click here, and here, and here, here too.