Videos of policemen in full riot gear 
pepper spraying reveling students on the sidewalk has filled the airwaves after Ohio State’s big victory over Oregon. This startling image invokes a fear of police brutality, especially after its recent national relevance.
“When crowds start to behave that way, bad things happen,” Police Chief Jacobs told the Columbus Dispatch when questioned about the use of pepper spray and tear gas to disperse the crowd. “That’s about the least of force we can use,” Jacobs said.
Over 89 fires were reported around the campus area. Video footage shows thousands of celebrators pouring into High Street, blocking traffic, committing vandalism, and climbing on emergency vehicles, cheering loudly for their winning team.
Hundreds broke into the Ohio Stadium and pulled down a temporary goal post. Clearly, the revelers were being disruptive and in many ways breaking the law. So what should be done to handle this situation? Was there fair warning given before the deployment of the toxic fumes? These questions are still under investigation.
“Our protocol for SWAT is they actually log when they issue their warnings, how many times they issue their warnings, and when they disperse that gas,” Jason Pappas, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9, said to the Columbus Dispatch.
Pappas seemed unconcerned of the undergoing investigation on the use of force used to control the rioters.
“I am sure the record will show the order to disperse was given multiple times before they deployed it.”
Mandy Chen, 21, was walking toward High Street after leaving the Ohio State gym just after midnight and witnessed hundreds of buckeyes storming the Oval.
“All of a sudden everyone was covering their mouth, and my throat was burning out,” Chen told the Columbus Dispatch.
Certainly, Chen was not the only one that received the undeserved wrath of the CMPD. Who knows how many innocent bystanders who didn’t hear the warnings over the din of screaming fans got mouthfuls of noxious fumes.
What arises is an unsettling disconnect between the necessity of clearing the roads for emergency vehicles and the overuse of chemicals to clear the streets.
“I saw about twelve couches burn,” Kelsey Fairchild, 20, a Capital University senior who was there that night, said. “But the police were deploying the tear gas into the main street, away from the fires.”
“Yeah, I think the use of force was excessive, but then again I don’t understand how winning a football game would be a cause for a riot,” Kaleb Jones, Capital Junior, 21., said.
“We have to control everyone,” Jacobs said during a news conference. “You just can’t let that go on.”
dhamen@capital.edu
