Salt Lake City lawmen fire foam-tipped bullets to quell fracas
02/25/2002
SALT LAKE CITY – Police fired about 40 foam-tipped bullets to disperse a
rowdy crowd outside an alcohol-themed venue Saturday night, officials
said. Twenty people were arrested.
The melee began when Bud World, a downtown beer garden set up for the
Olympics, became overcrowded, forcing people out onto a neighboring
street, officials said. When the crowd became unruly, nearly 100
officers dressed in riot gear were brought in to clear the intersection
the crowd was blocking.
But some began throwing beer bottles and cans at the officers, and the
officers began to use the foam-tipped bullets to maintain control.
"There were some bottles thrown at police officers, and they responded
accordingly," Mayor Rocky Anderson said. "It's just amazing that this is
all that has happened with these crowds we've had every night."
Police cordoned off sensitive areas downtown, including the hotel
housing officials of the International Olympic Committee, and had
helicopters hover over the area, using searchlights.
Mitt Romney, CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, shrugged off the
incident, saying it was not significant enough for him to be called
about it at the time it was happening. Officials described the incident
as little more than a minor skirmish. "Last night did not amount to a
riot," Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said.
Chief Dinse said most of those arrested were from the Salt Lake City
area and would be charged with misdemeanors such as public intoxication.
The crowd was dispersed by 2 a.m. Police said that there were no serious
injuries and that property damage was limited to a few broken windows
and some parking meters ripped out of the ground. The incident was
managed by local police without the assistance of the many other
agencies working on Olympic security.
Bud World's sponsor, Anheuser-Busch, is an official Olympic sponsor and
was the target of pre-Games opposition from those who feared that Bud
World would appeal to too young an audience. Utahans consume less
alcohol per capita than residents of any other state.
Alcohol was one of the more contentious issues in planning the Games.
Its sale is more restricted in Utah than in most other states, and some
conservatives did not support loosening those restrictions for the
influx of visitors. Anderson has advocated liberalizing Utah's alcohol
laws and helped arrange for temporary alcohol permits for some downtown
businesses. Many are operating by stringing together several of the
three-day temporary alcohol permits allowed by law.
Despite fears of security problems, Saturday night's disturbance was by
far the biggest of the Games. Nearly 15,000 security personnel are
working at the Olympics, and organizers spent $310 million on security.