Reposed Uncrediblity: Haloween in Madison
October 31, 2008 by Chris Hallquist |
>>>This is something I tried to repost back in July, but it caused weird techincal difficulties for my blog. At the time, I was only reposting it because I liked it, but with Halloween being today it’s suddenly relevant again. First published 30 October 2005.<<<
The Halloween festivities here in Madison are a draw for college students from all over the country. Every year, tens of thousands of people converge on State Street, a popular hang-out running from campus to the capitol building, to party. This has led to trouble in the past, which I had heard about in vague stories of riots.
I had toyed with the idea of setting up a telescope and watching the riots from afar. I went so far as to ask my parents, who had happened to decide to visit the weekend to bring an old telescope I had one in a science contest years ago. My dad also brought a pair of cheap binoculars.
Ultimately, however, I opted to go see Rocky Horror Picture Show instead, fully expecting the streets to be cleared by the time it let out around 2:30 a.m. I still got a good eyeful of costumes walking to the theater. Among the highlights were girls dressed as construction workers with phrases on their shirts like “got wood?” and mobile kissing booths. Prices for the later varied, one said, on a guy, said “free if you’re hot, $1.00 if you’re not.”
The movie was great as always, with the edition of a costume contest for people dressed as characters and a new call back, spawned by a recent news story. At one point in the movie, Dr. Frank N. Furter says the word “spark” in such a way as to make it sound like he’s saying “spark.” Every time I’ve gone, this word has been preceded by a carefully timed chant of “Who – give – Captain – Kirk – blowjobs?” This time, the exchange was followed by a shout of “I thought it was Sulu.”
When I left the theater, I discovered the state street festivities still in full swing. I thought I’d walk around awhile, then go home, but then I noticed mounted police patrolling the street (in an attempt, I later read, to keep traffic flowing). This caught my interest, so I decided to stay and watch. The basic tactic was to sweep the streets with a line of mounted police in front to get people out of the way, and a cluster of regulars in back to keep people from rushing back right away. The cluster wasn’t large enough to hold much ground, however, and people were quite happy to be able to return to any area the police left.
Some people were clustering around the police, taunting them with a chant of “Fuck the police” and something that’s considered a standard football cheer here, “fuck you, eat shit.” Occasionally, I saw some object fly though the air, but the cops mostly responded with stoicism. They never tried to fight their way though the crowd to get at bottle-throwers. One even seemed to smile in amusement at the taunts. It was a rather odd coward’s game, where many people were trying to start a riot, but no one quite wanted to be the one to do so. An older bystander, who struck me as a bit drugged out, told me “I want it, man” – i.e., a riot, but that I should also be ready to jump the fence when this happens.
Rumors of tear gas being deployed to no effect ran through the crowd. One guy I met said he had seen it. I encountered some irritating fumes, but didn’t know if it was gas or cigarettes.
At one point, a different chant got started: “Show some tits, show some tits.” It was directed at girls looking out the window of an apartment building. They didn’t comply, but just kept looking down on the crowd, enjoying the attention.
Then came a point at which I was sure a riot would break out. The foot police got separated from the cavalry, and were surrounded by the jeering crowd. They didn’t even need cavalry rescue, however, and made reunited with their comrades by their own effort.
A new touch in riot control techniques this season were concert-style loudspeakers which played first of “The city of Madison thanks you for your patronage of the State Street area and wishes you safe travel to your next destination,” and then, “The Madison Police Department hereby declares this event on State Street to be an unlawful assembly. In the name of the people of the state of Wisconsin, we command all those assembled on State Street to immediately disperse. If you do not leave the area, you will be subject to arrest.” Both these messages, however, took a great deal of straining to hear over the roar of the crowd. When the second one was playing, the trailing foot police began spreading out in a perimeter, trying to hold more territory. Then the perimeter collapse, bringing another borrowing from football games: “You fucked up! You fucked up!”
After this, the mounted police left one way, and the footmen did a straight line jog in the other direction. Then came the tear gas. Everyone who had bravely taunted the police before fled at top speed. At one point, I decided to look back to see get a clearer view of who was doing it (police in riot gear) and how (never figured it out). I meant to see from a distance, but got close enough for a taste of the stuff. The burning on my tongue convinced me what I had encountered before was mere cigarettes, but I didn’t get it as bad as one guy nearby, who was on the ground shouting “oh God, I can’t berate!”
The police seemed to stop before library mall, the far edge of campus. A hardcore remnant returned for a standoff. Then, some motion from the police sent them scurrying. But the police were only setting up a tape line. A self-appointed general of the jeerers began trying to rally people. Some responded, I stayed farther back on library mall. I walked around a little, watching from various angles and talking to people. One guy said one of his friends had been in the military and trained to deal with the stuff, so he was able to run backwards and close range, unfazed as long as they didn’t physically grab him. The military guy, I was told, had been to jail six times and didn’t care because he had no other life. I asked a guy in a cow costume what would happen now with the remaining jeerers. He commented on their stupidity and said he only wanted to watch from a distance. The police, he explained, were just there to deal with the drunks that would be coming from frat parties. So the action was over.
Before I left, though, a buddy of the cow guy made this comment: “Stupidity will end the human race, and this is the beginning of it.”
