Do you remember when the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI?
Remember the way fans damaged police cruisers, threw rocks and bottles at officers, and set bonfires in the streets, all to celebrate the team's championship victory, the first in 29 years?
No, I don't remember that either. It's not that so many years have passed and I'm forgetting. It's because it didn't happen.
Supposedly, most of the state was drunk, yet we managed to control ourselves.
Not the case in Los Angeles after the Lakers' vicotry.
LOS ANGELES -- Hundreds celebrated in the streets outside Staples Center after the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA title win Sunday night, with some revelers damaging police cruisers, throwing rocks and bottles at officers and setting bonfires in the street, authorities said.
About 25 people were arrested, most part of a rowdy crowd that split off on to surrounding streets after police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, officer Karen Rayner said.
Several police cruisers were damaged and reinforcement officers were called in from throughout the city to help disperse the crowd, Rayner said.
Aerial television footage showed people jumping on a police car, rocking vehicles attempting to pass through the crowd, setting small trees on fire and throwing fireworks and flares set up by police. No injuries were reported.
A gas station was looted and several cars, buses and a news van were vandalized, police said.
Chief William Bratton commended officers for showing restraint despite "a lot of provocation from a number of knuckleheads," he told KTTV-TV.
"Knuckleheads"?
That sounds just like Eugene Kane!
Moe, Larry, and Curly are knuckleheads. The offenders in this case are thugs.
...Bratton said that despite the problems the night went "pretty well" compared to expectations following the more widespread violence and vandalism of previous championship celebrations.
In 2000, after the Lakers won their first NBA title in 12 years, fans rioted outside Staples Center, burning police cars and leaving more than 70 vehicles damaged, many at nearby auto dealerships. At least a dozen were injured.
Before the game, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said if the Lakers win they should have a victory parade in Los Angeles, despite the city's budget woes.
Well, at least progress was made.
Things were better this year than in years past.
The LAPD can be thanked for that.
1 comment:
It was not that bad! With the economy being what it is, people out of work, no money being spent, fans just wanted to 'blow off' steam. If you actually think of the amount of people in LA and the amount of people there last night. I would guess the 'knuckleheads' amounted to about less than 1%. Everyone in general was well behaved and just extremely happy!
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