SuperiorDG
07-30-2013, 07:33
This is kind of an annual event that doesn't get much play, but I thought if were as a result of some racially motivated trail or something then it be headline news.
http://i.cdn-surfline.com/surfnews/images/2013/07_july/usopen_riot/full/AP443271575763.jpg
By Sunday evening after the US Open, things generally start to wind down in Huntington Beach. Pro surfers pack up their boardbags and head to the next stop. Construction workers begin dismantling this temporary seaside city. Shops and restaurants clear out early. Things start to return to normal after a week of circus-level craziness.
But not this year. This year, six hours after Alejo and Carissa claimed their wins across the street at the HB Pier, hundreds of people took to Main Street brawling, hurling debris, pushing over Port-a-Potties, trying to overturn cars, and attempting to loot shops. After an hour, a bunch of tear gas and at least eight arrests, police finally got the situation under control.
Andy Leavelle, 29, has worked at Sakal Surfboards on Main Street in Huntington Beach for a couple years. He saw it all happen.
"The whole thing started around 7:00pm," he said. "There was a fight in front of Jack's Surfboards over some people stealing. I saw about 30 cops take off towards the pier. Then, all of a sudden I saw this giant crowd moving from the pier up Main Street (north) -- the streets were literally just moving. It was getting bigger, bigger, bigger."
Leavelle estimated 5,000 people on the street. "All of a sudden, they started knocking over Port-a-Potties. All of 'em. Then a huge fight broke out, everybody was swinging on everybody - that's when the cops started throwing tear gas. They said on a loudspeaker that if you're on the streets, you will be arrested. And that's when I got all the stuff from the shop and brought it inside."
At this point, the crowd was on the move. "Like 20 people tried to storm into the shop," Leavelle said. "I had to grab my beater stick and force them out. I closed the doors - they don't lock from the inside, so I had to hold 'em with both hands - and watched with the door cracked just barely open. If there were girls or women or children who freaked out, we brought them into the shop."
Leavelle said he "watched the cops unload 200 rounds of tear gas to keep the crowd moving back, block-by-block. They did a riot line with riot gear, bulletproof vests, kept walking up and up the street, shooting tear gas...." http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/eyewitness-account-huntington-beach-riots_99857/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOcAywD9u0E
http://i.cdn-surfline.com/surfnews/images/2013/07_july/usopen_riot/full/AP443271575763.jpg
By Sunday evening after the US Open, things generally start to wind down in Huntington Beach. Pro surfers pack up their boardbags and head to the next stop. Construction workers begin dismantling this temporary seaside city. Shops and restaurants clear out early. Things start to return to normal after a week of circus-level craziness.
But not this year. This year, six hours after Alejo and Carissa claimed their wins across the street at the HB Pier, hundreds of people took to Main Street brawling, hurling debris, pushing over Port-a-Potties, trying to overturn cars, and attempting to loot shops. After an hour, a bunch of tear gas and at least eight arrests, police finally got the situation under control.
Andy Leavelle, 29, has worked at Sakal Surfboards on Main Street in Huntington Beach for a couple years. He saw it all happen.
"The whole thing started around 7:00pm," he said. "There was a fight in front of Jack's Surfboards over some people stealing. I saw about 30 cops take off towards the pier. Then, all of a sudden I saw this giant crowd moving from the pier up Main Street (north) -- the streets were literally just moving. It was getting bigger, bigger, bigger."
Leavelle estimated 5,000 people on the street. "All of a sudden, they started knocking over Port-a-Potties. All of 'em. Then a huge fight broke out, everybody was swinging on everybody - that's when the cops started throwing tear gas. They said on a loudspeaker that if you're on the streets, you will be arrested. And that's when I got all the stuff from the shop and brought it inside."
At this point, the crowd was on the move. "Like 20 people tried to storm into the shop," Leavelle said. "I had to grab my beater stick and force them out. I closed the doors - they don't lock from the inside, so I had to hold 'em with both hands - and watched with the door cracked just barely open. If there were girls or women or children who freaked out, we brought them into the shop."
Leavelle said he "watched the cops unload 200 rounds of tear gas to keep the crowd moving back, block-by-block. They did a riot line with riot gear, bulletproof vests, kept walking up and up the street, shooting tear gas...." http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/eyewitness-account-huntington-beach-riots_99857/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOcAywD9u0E