Once again, it seems that the actions of off-campus individuals ruin events for students. In December, the Students’ Union hosted a Snoop Doggy Dogg concert in the MacEwan Hall. As a result of the evening’s actions, the SU has decided to no longer invite any gangster-rap entertainers to the campus.
The concert was well attended, with four paid duty Calgary Police Officers helping Campus Security and SU Events Staff. Campus Security Manager Lanny Fritz described how the preceding series of events was triggered after a young woman punched a male in the nose, after he inappropriately touched her while she was dancing at the concert. After the incident, she located a Calgary Police Officer and a Campus Security Officer, only informing them of the assault against her. They followed her inside the concert, and located the man.
“Officers confronted the individual, requesting to talk to him outside,” said Fritz. “At which time, several patrons in the general area took exception to the Security Officers and Police Officers’ presence and intimidated these officers to the point where they had to leave the area.”
The group consisted of about ten to twelve individuals. Meanwhile, several other skirmishes occurred, with numerous people ending up with broken jaws or noses; one person was transported to the hospital.
Fritz described how at one point, the crowd threw water bottles at Snoop Dogg himself, who told the crowd that he would leave if it continued.
“The crowd seemed to have an edge to it,” said Fritz.
The turning point was the arrest of a patron who assaulted a police officer outside the concert. At this point, the agitation of the crowd was high, as the group grew to around 100-150. They repeatedly shouted words like, “police brutality,” as they tried to have the police release the arrested individual.
“The police, as a result of being taunted by the crowd, radioed for extra police for back up,” said Fritz.
This led to the arrival of 35 officers, and the police successfully dispersed the crowd with no major incident.
The Chaplain’s Centre also experienced a disturbance, though it was minor in comparison, after an off-campus person made threats to the office staff. Fritz remarked how the individual’s anger rose out of strong religious and political views, in which he proceeded to verbalize his opinions. He was swiftly dealt with, as Campus Security was called. They brought this disturbed individual to their office, and he agreed never to return to the university campus. He also agreed to seek counseling services.
An unfortunate incident occurred between Lot 22 and 32 Avenue NW, after a car struck and killed a deer. Calgary Police Services was called, and attended the scene.
On a lighter note, a small and humorous incident occurred in residence just before the Christmas holiday. A group of students used plastic sheets and duct tape in an attempt to reconstruct a sauna in the men’s washroom on the sixth floor of Kananaskis Hall.
“It was the result of creative energy!” said Fritz.