It’s starting to get ugly in State College, where a massive amount of students have taken to the streets in protest of Joe Paterno’s firing on Wednesday. While the damage thus far has been minimal -- reports indicate a downed lightpost and little more at this point -- the ingredients are there for a volatile situation. Police are keeping a watchful eye, but have begun to actively take measure to get the crowd to disperse.
Penn State Riot: Tear Gas, Pepper Spray Used As Police Move In
The scene was already chaotic shortly after the Penn State Board of Trustees announced Paterno’s firing. And as the night has wore on, the crowd downtown in State College has continued to swell, with little indication it will disperse anytime soon.
Below are a few reports from the scene.
Black Shoe Diaries’ Ben Jones, who has been all over this story, reported pepper spray being deployed as police tried to control the crowd.
Pepper spray.In my nose.
CBS columnist Gregg Doyel also reported police moving in on the crowded masses.
It's about to get bad. Crowd moving in on cops
Tear gas has also begun to be sprayed in an effort to get the crowd to disperse (via Anna Orso).
Sergeant smail has sprayed tear gas on students. Lt. Fishel just came over to me and told me to leave because they are going to start spraying people.
Finally, Jones came back with a humorous, and somewhat scary, tweet.
It’s not a good situation at the moment, and may only continue to get worse as the night wears on.
For more on the situation that continues to develop at State College, visit SB Nation’s Penn State blog, which has been on the forefront of the story from the beginning, Black Shoe Diaries, and revisit this storystream for updates.
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