Cops Mace University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Students After on Campus "Flash Rave" Gets Rowdy
With final exams now underway, many students wanting to take a break from studying responded to a text message or social networking invitation to meet at the campus library late Thursday night. Once they arrived, they found a party-like atmosphere, complete with DJ and music.
About 11:00pm, UTC officials say the crowd became disorderly. "The crowd began storming the library doors, chanting "Let us in!" "Take the library!" and other statements as they attempted to enter the library," says Chuck Cantrell, Assistant Vice Chancellor, University Relations.
Then, several students climbed up the concrete entrance to the library and jumped into the crowd. "I know that some of the students believe this was a harmless gathering, but when you try to force your way into a building and jumping off buildings, then you've gone beyond harmless fun. We are the middle of exam week, and there were students inside the library trying to study and conduct research, and this crowd disrupted the operation of the library," says Cantrell.
UTC and Chattanooga Police attempted to disperse the students at that point, spraying mace into the crowd. That caused students to run for cover, creating a stampede. Undergraduate Bryan Barkley says that's when things got out of hand. He says about 5 minutes after the dispersal, a lone male was escorted to an on campus eatery and police "proceeded to shove him on the ground, beating him."
Video posted to Youtube.com Friday morning shows an officer pulling someone up off the ground, from a distance. Authorities detained several students, and charged four with assault or disorderly conduct. One of those students, 18-year old Nicholas Chad Rush faces charges for throwing a water bottle at police.
UTC administrators say they'll look into accusations of police brutaility. They're asking any student with video of a specific incident to give the university a copy.
It took police about an hour to restore order. No one was seriously hurt.
Published by J. Allen
J. Allen is an award winning professional writer in the Chattanooga area. He's always looking for the stories that fall through the cracks in a daily news cycle. View profile
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