Pubdate: Tue, 01 Nov 2005
Source: Journal Times, The (Racine, WI)
Copyright: 2005 The Journal Times
Contact:  http://www.journaltimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1659
Author: Scott Anderson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

RESTRAINED POLICE, OBNOXIOUS REVELERS:

WHAT I SAW IN MADISON

MADISON - With each passing story, my possible trip to see Madison's
annual Halloween party on State Street seemed more and more
tantalizing.

"University tries Halloween scare tactics, bans out of town guests
from campus dorms."

"State Street parking lots to be closed to discourage out-of-town
visitors."

"Stadium lighting in State Street area is part of the Madison Police
Department's plan to keep trouble from erupting over Halloween weekend."

"Will it be party or pillage?" Over the last four years, Madison's
annual Halloween Party - an unofficial bash on State Street - has
grown progressively riotous. The street, a milelong pedestrian-only
business corridor, has become accustomed to an increasingly raucous
Halloween crowd.

Images of Halloween revelers smashing store windows, vandalizing
private property, starting bonfires, overturning garbage cans,
climbing trees and bus stops have given Madison a black eye.

Or, in my case, a tantalizing recipe for disaster.

Hours before I was to leave for Madison on Saturday, there was no
doubt in my mind that, with the fear of God, a digital camera and a
cell phone, I was going to witness horrors at this year's riot.

Heading west on Interstate 94 at about 8 p.m., I wondered if I had
made the unnecessary step of taking my life into my own hands.

At about 11 p.m., I caught my first glimpse of State Street from the
steps of the Capitol. Looking down the street, I could see thousands
of costumed people milling shoulder-to-shoulder between facing
storefronts.

The Campus Police, City Police and the State Patrol were there,
including police on horseback.

In another police move, banks of NFL-grade stadium-quality lights
glowered over the street, providing a blinding blue light by which to
swill NFL-stadium-quality beer.

I counted no less than 30 photojournalists (I was one, shame on me),
five news trucks, a handful of reporters, about two dozen unaffiliated
photographers and a couple of film crews from those companies that
make spring-break-style party videos often advertised on late-night television.

With so many documentary resources at the ready, it was though the
tail was wagging the dog: "We're ready, now let's see the riot we've
all been waiting for."

This year's malfeasance, fueled by 2,000 emboldened revelers, would
have cowered in the face of rioters of years past.

The excitement began between 1 and 2 a.m. on Sunday, when city police,
using loudspeakers

mounted on building rooftops, sent a repeated benign-and-somewhat-futuristic
message over the street: "The city of Madison thanks you for your
patronage of the State Street area and wishes you safe travel to your
next destination. Please begin moving out of the State Street area so
cleanup crews can prepare the area for tomorrow's business day."

Set to music as pleasant as a Strauss waltz, the message settled
gently over foot police, who began gently guiding revelers off the
street.

Despite somewhat alarming reports from other media outlets, I saw
local police exercise an incredible amount of restraint when dealing
with the emboldened revelers.

These officers, who have spouses and families to come home to at the
end of each day, endured a hail of rocks, bottles, cans, insults,
obscenities and feeble irreverence.

In one instance, I, along with about a dozen other photographers
wearing gas masks (did I miss the meeting?) began documenting an
escalation between revelers and police. At one point, a woman costumed
as the "Weapons of Mass Destruction," and carrying an ill-advised gas
can, asked me to photograph her as she taunted police.

I told her that, being "Weapons of Mass Destruction," it would save us
both a whole lot of trouble if she just turned herself in.

Feeling that my comment wasn't apropos, she turned away, fixated on
the police she intended to torment.

To my amazement, a police officer walked up to her, confiscated her
gas can, opened the top, looked inside, saw nothing, and then handed
it back to her. She immediately resumed taunting the police.

In a city that uses its own police to safeguard a yearly pro-marijuana
march down State Street, I shouldn't have been so surprised.

As a member of the media, it became really embarrassing as more
revelers began performing for the cameras. One instance I remember, a
reveler, feeling the presence of video and still cameras, decided to
punch a police horse. Unfortunately for him, the horse had an officer
on top, and the reveler was quickly dispatched to a makeshift booking
area.

The horses exacted revenge on the revelers, though. One police horse,
seizing the opportunity for a midnight snack, lifted a straw hat off a
costumed reveler's head. The hat was not returned.

Horse 1, Reveler 0.

At bar time, the police response intensified. Teams cordoned off State
Street by sealing off the side streets, blocking entrance to the
now-expired party. The once-pleasant message floated down from the
rooftops took a more serious tone.

The friendly Strauss waltz gave way to something similar to Mozart's
"Requiem" as the new, more foreboding message cast a pall on the
street below: "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."

The State Patrol, armed with pepper spray, teamed up with the mounted
police. From a central location, mounted police with the State Patrol
in tow, pushed the last 2,000 revelers off the street in opposite
directions. The entire street was cleared in less than 30 minutes.

By 2:45 a.m. it was all over.

At the end, I returned to the same Capitol steps where I began the
night's journey.

Sullen from a bath in tear gas and broken down from 4 hours of
walking, pushing and shoving, I searched for some kind of
justification for making the trip.

 From my remote vantage point, I reflected on how tranquil State Street
had become as curbside lamps burned orange over a littered, barren
street.

In the end, no bonfires were lit, no store windows were smashed, and
angry revelers failed to mount a serious charge against the police.

The next morning, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, told the media,
"We're classifying this as a limited success. It's a limited success
by some very low standards."

As I sat alone on the Capitol steps, I found a quiet satisfaction over
the riot that never came. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake