For the first time in a college generation, university students took to Route 1, took down street signs and rioted.
At 11:07 p.m., Greivis Vazquez hit a free throw to clinch the Terrapins’ first victory Duke after six consecutive losses in the series. At 11:10 p.m., rancorous, cheering students bellowing, “F— Duke,” from downtown bars poured outside in a demonstration that built slowly from streetside shouting to the point where horse-mounted police in full riot gear could not clear Route 1 in a single sweep through the street.
See The Diamondback’s video coverage of the riot.
Just before midnight, mounted horses descended on the thousands of students who mobbed Route 1, yelling, dancing and throwing possessions ranging from shoes to beer cans. The students at first taunted the police’s encroach, cheering, “Defense! Defense!” and “Let’s go Maryland,” as police sprayed pepper gas and a helicopter flew over head.
The mob scattered temporarily. When students returned to the streets, an armored vehicle and Prince George’s County Police paddy wagons rolled onto Route 1, and police started making arrests. It took nearly 20 minutes for police to clear the street. University Police spokesman Paul Dillon estimated the crowd on Route 1 exceeded 1,500 people.
Dillon said police made several arrests but could not specify how many. Both Dillon and Cpl. Mike Rodriguez, a spokesman for Prince George’s County Police, said no injuries had been reported.
“We were hopeful it wouldn’t happen, that they would come out and celebrate in another way, but we prepared for that case, and it did happen,” Dillon said. “Apparently, a regular season win over the No. 4 team allows thousands of people to come out and block roadways and start fires — and that’s disappointing, to say the least.”
For students, their first College Park riot was anything but a disappointment. Sophomore business major Kyle Bisciotti had heard of the university’s uproarious reputation before he sent in his college applications but said last night’s show of jubilation and destruction exceeded even the loftiest tales he heard of riots past as a high school student.
“It way exceeded my expectations,” he said. “I knew we’d be down here partying, but look at this place, we’re running a rampage through Route 1.”
Still, despite the enthusiasm of students charged with adrenaline and alcohol, last night’s Route 1 romp was mild compared to past riots. In 2001, after the Terrapin basketball team lost a Final Four matchup against Duke, students burnt couches and tore Ludwig Field’s soccer goals from the ground, carried them to Fraternity Row and lit them ablaze.
Late last night, at least one administrator sought to downplay the scene on Route 1.
“I wouldn’t call tonight’s activities a riot,” Vice President for Student Affairs Linda Clement said at about 1:30 a.m. “We’ll see how the night plays out.”
Clement, who oversees the university’s Office of Student Conduct, reiterated the university’s policy of expulsion for any student caught at a riot. Dillon echoed Clement’s vigilant attitude with a stern warning.
“The message is if you’re going to be a part of a crowd like that, you’re going to be met with police, and you’re going to be arrested. And if you’re a student, you’re going to be referred the Office of Student Conduct for possible sanctions by the university,” Dillon said.
After the campus’ most recent riot in 2006, university officials tightened rioting punishments and charged seven students with student conduct violations.
All their charges were dropped or severely reduced, but at the time, officials vowed they would not extend such immunity if an incident broke out again.
The legacy of the university’s strict rules lingered over students before the rioting began in earnest, and after four years without such an incident, expectations for the night were mixed.
Toward the end of last night’s basketball game, police cars and officers lingered in downtown College Park, but businesses remained open with their doors unlocked, and many of the first students who trickled outside after the game said they weren’t expecting a full blown riot.
It took more than half an hour after the game’s final buzzer before officials closed down Route 1, and as students chanted and set off fireworks during the early stage of the demonstration, many students said they weren’t expecting the mob-scene to escalate.
“After the riots when we won the national championship, they cracked down hardcore,” said Chetan Mehta, a senior physics major, at about 11:15 p.m., before students spilled onto Route 1. Mehta, a statistics minor, predicted a 33 percent chance of a riot.
“There are a lot of police out here, but also a damn lot of people are drunk, so you never know,” Mehta said at the time.
And his skepticism proved warranted. As hordes of students descended on the downtown area from Comcast Center, a critical mass swamped Route 1 between 11:30 and 11:45 p.m., prompting officials to close the street.
Jumping and cheering in unison, students amid the mosh ripped out street signs and crowd surfed, and at one point attempted to tip a bus as the driver smiled.
The students dispersed initially but then returned to the street before a second swoop pushed students onto Knox Road and into nearby parking lots.
During that push, sophomore psychology major Justin Hoff said police beat him with a night stick and broke his phone.
“They grabbed me by my arm,” he said. “They knocked me down and smacked me in the back of my neck.”
With the students expelled from Route 1, flanks of police held their positions, arresting any student who approached. At about 12:24 a.m., police made a final push, forcing students out of the parking lots and onto the campus or residential neighborhoods.
As students fled, at least one officer near Montgomery Hall fired rubber bullets, but even that show of force did not contain the mayhem. Moments later, a group of students lit fire to a Duke shirt.
Watching as the shirt went up in flames and smoldered on a nearby tree, Sam Kool, a sophomore criminology major, mused on students’ motivations.
“It’s basically the looking glass mirror,” Kool said. “People are just doing this because they’re expected to.”
Staff writers Nick Rhodes, Kristi Tousignant, Kyle Goon and Adele Hampton contributed to this report. slivnick@umdbk.com
