Top-seeded Arizona’s season ended in something close to an instant classic against No. 2 Wisconsin in the Elite 8 on Saturday night, and Tucson reacted in a way not completely unexpected from a college town. Students flooded into the streets of the second biggest city in Arizona, many possibly intoxicated from a party that probably started hours before the game.
Riot police shoot beanbags and tear gas at students following Arizona loss
Tucson turned into a scene on Saturday night following the Arizona Wildcats’ loss in the Elite 8.
Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Surprise! Local law enforcement did not appreciate this. The cops lined the streets with a fairly substantial force and told people to leave. When they didn’t, police went to some pretty extreme measures, reportedly using pepper balls, tasers, tear gas and beanbag guns to clear the streets.
The entire situation makes for a pretty wild scene described by a few reporters. Here’s the story, from the beginning ...
Frog, about two hours before the game pic.twitter.com/3jfhv3s8ri
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) March 29, 2014 ... all the way through.
Rally in the street. Wildcats for life here #BearDown pic.twitter.com/O1BxH7jjbe
— Simone Del Rosario (@SimoneKGUN) March 30, 2014 You’re going to regret this, Bike Guy.
Guy with bike over his head. pic.twitter.com/RHyaIOOfPW
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) March 30, 2014 At least 50 cops out here right now. pic.twitter.com/VILHgJ14sf
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) March 30, 2014 At this point, things were about to start escalating.
Guy just walked by me said "they tazed me dude". Looked ready to throw up.
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) March 30, 2014 Police and Wildcat rally meet. @Tucson_Police calling it unlawful assembly anyone who doesn't leave to be a... https://t.co/ofVpGrVAbk
— Simone Del Rosario (@SimoneKGUN) March 30, 2014 Cops shot some stuff, tear gas type thing. Crowd moved all he way back toward CVS. Cops in front of bens
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) March 30, 2014 Blanks being shot at guys without shirts on still taunting cops. Lots of those gas things being thrown. My throat hurts from the stuff.
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) March 30, 2014 Students have been shot with bean bag rounds
— Daily Wildcat (@dailywildcat) March 30, 2014 Daily wildcat reporter shot by beanbag round
— Daily Wildcat (@dailywildcat) March 30, 2014 CLARIFICATION: Dozens of students shot with beanbags. Apologies for confusion.
— Daily Wildcat (@dailywildcat) March 30, 2014 An now an update from Bike Guy:
Bike guy just taken down by four cops.
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) March 30, 2014 This. No words needed. pic.twitter.com/N36ODPSisO
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) March 30, 2014 Drunk guy just came up to me and said he got hit with the gas twice, then started singing Bear Down Arizona. He was nice though. Not yelling
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) March 30, 2014 Pepper balls still in the air here on University. Lots of coughing, hard to breathe. See you live at 10 with the latest @kgun9
— Simone Del Rosario (@SimoneKGUN) March 30, 2014 The cops weren’t just out in Tucson. Badgers fans saw them in Madison, too.
Police doing a fairly good job breaking up the biggest crowd around Brats: pic.twitter.com/PtGTCBNCET
— Bucky's 5th Quarter (@B5Q) March 30, 2014 People in Madison were apparently burning couches and created a scene that looked like this:
State Street, Madison, via @macy_oswald and @mhouckOU pic.twitter.com/9thgOZUp2X
— Luke Winn (@lukewinn) March 30, 2014 But there weren’t reports of anything close to the force the Tucson police used. Are sad drunks that more dangerous than happy drunks?
Update: Here’s video of someone being taken down after appearing to challenge the police, followed by the police shooting the crowd with beanbags.
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