Police force unwarranted in Boston celebration killing

Breeze Perspectives

The Boston Red Sox’ comeback after being down 3-0 in the American League Championship Series was the first of its kind, and the series itself was one of the most exciting events in the history of baseball. The Boston faithfuls could not contain their joy after defeating the hated Yankees and advancing to the World Series for a shot at their first championship in 86 years. Unfortunately, not all fans in Boston were able to safely express their appreciation and excitement.

The celebrations after game seven led to several incidents of rioting and the death of an aspiring young journalism student named Victoria Snelgrove in Boston. Snelgrove died of a head injury after being shot by a round projectile which is designed to release a chemical irritant on impact. The pepper pellets were fired by police as a ‘non-lethal’ method of dispersing the crowd in response to small fires, fist fights, thrown beer cans and flaming toilet paper. Fist fights and flaming toilet paper — are these really the sort of activities which call for firing projectiles into crowds at random?

One police officer was injured while 16 students other than Snelgrove were injured. Two students suffered very serious injuries — both were caused by the same pepper pellets. Who was the more harmful aggressor in this conflict? Officers on scene had no bullhorns to warn the crowd and apparently thought it a waste of time to continue using only nightsticks, according to The Washington Post.

The reality is that almost 80,000 people flushed the streets of Boston after the victory and an overwhelming majority of them were peacefully celebrating a historic win — Victoria Snelgrove was one of those people.

Many local students and citizens have been protesting and calling for a ban on the use of the pepper pellets. They have circulated a petition and plan to send it to Boston police and city council officials. But will it make a difference? How will Boston officials handle the inevitable celebrations of a World Series victory? Mayor Thomas Menino has put into place regulations to prevent people from congregating in big groups. He has also asked bar owners to keep lines outside short, refrain from serving shots and closely monitor their customers’ drinking.

But the fact remains that this is a historic moment in baseball history. Celebrating can not and should not be stopped. But how will unruly fans be dealt with? Police have vowed to use less-powerful guns, but those guns will still be firing a chemical that is proven to be lethal. And we all know that a even a projectile fired from something as low-powered as a BB gun still has the potential to do great harm if it hits a person in an unprotected area. Property has to be protected, but the situation still needs to be approached rationally. The reverse of an 86-year-old curse is something to celebrate about. The death of even one fan due to the irrational use of police force is not.

Patrick Callahan is an undeclared freshman.