5/26/2002: Mardi Gras mob gone terribly wrong

Apparently this photo won some awards but didn't get very much distribution...

I can see why...I don't think most of the mainstream would want to open that can of worms.

I hope that pic was used to identify offenders.

<a href="http://www.poynter.org/centerpiece/nppa/photo/DomNews.htm">comments</a> from the photographer:
<blockquote>
For Urban, Seattle's Fat Tuesday celebration in Seattle's Pioneer Square district was "a frightening experience to witness." Urban clearly recalled that during the violent culmination of a week of Mardi Gras festivities he "finally got scared enough in the crowd that I looked to get to higher ground." He added, "I worked my way to a perch atop of a fire escape and convinced the owner to allow me to stay there. When he saw what was going on below me, he allowed me to stay."

"Things had gotten out of control and I could not really take pictures from the crowd as I worked with my Canon D-2000 digital cameras. I saw this woman who in typical Mardi Gras fashion was asked to raise her top, when she refused. They (the men around her) began to reach at her and tear her clothes. In the fury of the moment, I got off 12 frames or so and then my camera overheated. This is a normal defect of that version of digital camera (we are getting new EOS-1D's soon)."
</blockquote>

I was actually there. I worked 1 block from Pioneer Square and a bunch of us had to stay late. We heard a huge noise and went down to check it. It was the most out of control thing I've ever seen in my life. Young, white, high school kids were getting pistol-whipped and what not for no reason. Crazy...

I can't get over the fact that if this girl was screaming and not having a good time, and these people are just pulling, tugging, and tearing away at her, smiling the entire time -- how come there weren't any police nearby?
Mardi Gras around here is quite tame. Last year, it got a little out of hand, so this year they had quite the beefed-up patrol.

Originally posted by blowmeetheclown
Mardi Gras around here is quite tame. Last year, it got a little out of hand, so this year they had quite the beefed-up patrol.

Austin?

Originally posted by sycamore


Austin?

Yes. I missed last year, but caught the news coverage of it, rubber bullets and all. This year, I went down there (a friend of mine needed to "see some boobies"), and I started talking to one of the officers on the street. He had several cans of pepper spray stapped to himself, the smallest one the size that most people carry on key chains, and the largest one bigger than a kitchen fire extinguisher. He said they were prepared this year.
On the way out, I stopped to get a slice of pizza, and noticed some dude was passed out on the curb, with most of the crowd trying to step around him. Once the police noticed this, they brought in the mounties, which are already fairly prevalent around the d-town nightlife. All they had to do was circle the horse once around the guy, and the crowd backed up enough for some EMS to get in and pull the guy off the street. It's pretty impressive the way they use such a large beast for crowd control. I think I'd still like to see the RCMP, though.

Originally posted by blowmeetheclown
...snip... It's pretty impressive the way they use such a large beast for crowd control. I think I'd still like to see the RCMP, though.

I think I may have mentioned that my Dad was in the last Combat Horse Cav unit in the US Army (10th Mtn Recon Troop - Italy WWII). He says you'd be surprised by what you can do with a horse. I've seen the NYPD working crowd control with mounted units. You should see what they do to move folks. The standard one is that the Officer swings his foot up (so it's on top of the horse), and then he walks the horse sideways into the crowd. Trust me, a horse leans on you, you move

We had some serious probs with our celebration in St. Louis 3 years ago. Cops were apparently picking on innocents, and crowds went after the police with beer bottles.

Then we had the fun that was Mardi Gras 2001 in Philadelphia. Pure bedlam. Crowds running amok along South Street, caused a bunch of damage. One cop was caught apparently giving beads to a drunk reveler showing her breasts. This year's celebration was much better controlled.