After the victory of Penn State University against Ohio State University football teams, a riot broke out at the college. Students were celebrating the big win on Beaver Avenue, which is said to be a common place for post-game celebrations. Street signs were ripped down, bushes were set to fire, five police cars were damaged and parking meters were destroyed during the riot one Saturday night.
One of the problems is the fact that there were not one or two particular students to pinpoint in the riot. A student at Penn State claimed that the riot did not start getting violent until the police showed up. Officers started to use mace on the students, but refused to comment on the use of mace. School safety issues start to arise during riots and who was being an innocent bystander or who was actually being violent. Students were being hit with random objects, such as shoes and beer cans, thrown from the surrounding balconies.
The Penn State spokesman, Bill Mahon, spoke of the incident saying that students will be arrested along with additional punishment from the university. Mahon stated that the school does not take lightly of some of the things that occurred, but there isn’t a whole lot he can do when there are 25 cent beer cans and Jello-O shots everywhere. A history of unplanned gatherings or incidents of disorder have been frequent in the area. The university is set out to mend the school safety issue, but it is difficult when they are not planned incidents. Riots frequently happen are school victories- which is a start for school officials.