Lathrop Stadium evacuated after homecoming brawl
Published Saturday, September 13, 2008
Digg
delicious
Facebook
Mixx
Reddit
Stumble It!
FAIRBANKS — Several fights at the West Valley-Lathrop high school football game Friday night ended with at least three spectators in custody and several people injured or pepper-sprayed.
Lathrop High School canceled the remainder of the game, which was Lathrop’s homecoming, at the insistence of the Fairbanks Police Department, Lathrop principal Karen Gaborik said.
The skirmish began when multiple fights erupted inside Lathrop Stadium near the east chain-link fence, officers said. A larger fight then broke out on the street outside the fence around 9:35 p.m.
Sgt. Jeromy Lindhag, with an elbow turned bright red from road rash, said a “wall of people” came over the chain-link fence, and several police officers were assaulted when they approached the crowd.
Officer Jim Gibson said the police used pepper spray and “fisticuffs, toe-to-toe” to quell the brawl.
“We started wading in there to get to the center, to the main guys, and they started fighting us,” he said.
As late as 10:20 p.m., the Lathrop campus was still awash in confusion. A glass bottle was thrown into the parking lot and shattered. An unidentified man was yelling to officers, “My friend has his eyes coming almost out of his head! What am I supposed to do?”
The man was unavailable for comment as he walked away with the officers.
Gibson said at least three people were in custody, though no one has been charged yet.
Several witnesses to the fight declined to comment.
A school bonfire, which was planned to begin afterward, was canceled.
Gaborik said Lathrop students, students from elsewhere and non-students were involved in the fights.
“These big events are challenging,” she said. “So many times there’s so many people, and they’re not our students.”
Gaborik said there was little more the school or city could have done to prevent the incident, as the FPD, security guards and the Fairbanks Fire Department were already present.
“If there are people who want to be violent, I don’t know how we can prevent all of them,” she said.
Odette Butler, mother of 17-year-old West Valley player Matthew Hardy, was in the stands watching the game when, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the announcement was made for everyone to leave the stadium.
“The announcer said the game will continue, but everything else will be canceled,” Butler said. “I was on the West Valley side, and you could see on the Lathrop side that everybody was running outside.”
Butler said she thought it was odd that spectators were told to leave en masse.
“I was afraid someone was shooting,” she said. “I saw one kid with handcuffs on him.”
The game was suspended with 10 minutes, 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter. When the clock stopped, play was supposed to resume without fans, but the game was called several minutes later. West Valley won, 38-6.
Butler said it was the best game West Valley has had in a while, and spectators were concerned as they left that they weren’t going have the opportunity of patting their kids on the back.
Staff writer Mary Beth Smetzer contributed to this report.
Community Discussion
Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.
And now all the students will suffer for the actions of a few dumba$$es.
Pavel
Unfortunately you are correct.
I agree Pavel. My daughter is a West Valley cheerleader, and I was at the game tonight when this all broke out. My wife and I have been discussing, and we are seriously thinking about not allowing her to participate when the Lathrop/West Valley football plays again.
By the way, there was a time when I got scared, and because I was law abiding, I felt pretty naked without my self defense.
More gang violence...
Come on Fellas this Gang Violence needs to stop. Life is way to short as it is my Brothers. Find some peace and /or some compromise. Peace Out
I know what you mean BigDaddy69 but gun totting is the last thing that was needed-for sure!!
I didn't see anywhere that this was gang violence. Could someone point that out to me please.
Just a bunch of idiots who come out to show they're badasses but are just a bunch of dumbasses and losers and dropouts who cannot enjoy High school football. They propably never had the guts to play football for their school. They have no clue about the excitement schoolpride and having battles on the gridiron side by side with true teamates in the name of their schools. The true fight is in the classrooms fellas. Hats off to Lathrop and WestValley Football for an exciting game.
These are the same people that like to start fights at anything fun in Fairbanks. The fight that broke out at a Grizzlies game comes to mind. It's just a bunch of posturing and trying to figure out whose parts are the biggest.
Those of us that are there for fun want to ask a favor, just show each other who's the biggest before the event, and let us continue to have our fun.
It's unfortunate that the spirited competition got cut short! I like nothing more than spirited competition! It should stay on the playing field though!
Wise up, rise up and nip this in the bud before someone gets seriously hurt and god forbid it be an innocent bystander. All this gang activity growing were so many people were just trying to take in a local high school rivalry football game has to be stopped. There's no need for it and those aren't the places for such crap. Prop is right fellas knowledge is power and knowledge comes from education.
Again, where does it mention this was gang related? It's too bad that some people can't settle issues without fighting, at least take it away from an event like this, and away from a crowd. You know, like the old days when we would pick a spot to beat the hell out of each other after the games? Ahhhhh, good times...
The writing is on the wall. The school year started with an article like this in the FDNM. But it was about a boy at West Valley. He had gang affiliations and was caught with a .45 in his school locker. Now we are having mass violance at a football game. And the Police are attacked. Yuppers, the writing is on the wall Fairbanks. We have serious issues here in River City.
There is nothing wrong with a good fistfight, but with the violence seen recently, I have armed myself even for shopping trips, and will not hesitate to use it if some punk, thug is shooting into the crowd!! Fairbanks is tired of crap like the shooting a few weeks ago. A good fistfight is fine, just leave your weapons at home. (I do realize that no one has mentioned that there were weapons involved, but it seems things are trending that way in Fairbanks these days!!)
Yukonjohn, you have to be kidding. Fist fights are absolutly out of the question. If a family can't safely go to a game and feel safe, we need to cancel the games. If I have a daughter or son and they can't go to a school function and be safe, the functions need to be canceled. Period!
Perhaps maybe we are just teaching the wrong message to our children, in school,home & on the streets. They are taught that they evolved instead of been Created by God. The rules for Creation & evolution are polar opposites. I fear it will just get worse before it gets better. You can thank government controlled public schools & the ACLU,(UN)-American Communist Lawyers Union.
Its very sad, because there are some really good kids in Fairbanks who want to do good in school & life. They will suffer more now for these few violent idiots, who were taught that they are animals so therefore they will act that way. They think its funny to hurt others, destroy property,steal. Sad.
In the mid to latter seventies, when I was a teenager in Fairbanks, it was not like this. Fairbanks was a great place to be. Still is, but its much worse than it was.
We can do one of two things. We can lock all them up in jail,(which is a waste of court time & tax money), or we can teach them a better way! Better hurry though...the next generation is going to be much, much worse!!!
(This comment was removed by the Newsminer.com staff. Please see our User Agreement for further information.)
Way to work the ACLU in there, dalton. I'm impressed!
I also believe that somehow the fight at the game is Bill Clinton's fault.
I didn't see in this article that it said that these were actually students from either West Valley or Lathrop. I think that what everyone forgets is that even though attention is put on this cross town rivals issue the kids at these schools know each other. In fact most of them involved in sports play on the same teams with kids from all the other local schools. I remember a few years ago when both West Valley and Lathrop were involved in the state hockey tournament. Lathrop ended up out of the tournament, but West Valley was in the championship game. The cheerleaders from Lathrop went out and got red and gold to put on their outfits and everyone from Lathrop was cheering West Valley on in that game. That happened because the players on both teams also played on other hockey teams together in the community. There was a really nice letter to the editor that mentioned the fact that this spoke volumes about the way these kids stepped up even thought their team was out of the tournament. I do think that in all sports in this era there is sometimes too much emphasis put on winning by the adults involved when there are a lot of other issues that are important in having kids that play sports.
If the cops had busted a few heads with night sticks we would be discussing lawsuits and police brutality. And all the posts here would be about how the police had over reacted.
The kids that went to play ball where there to play ball, the punks in the stands that caused all of this came to start trouble because everyone else was there. Terrorism only works when people are scared and the recent news on all of this gang activity makes them feel larger than they are so they are doing what most people do, enjoying the spot light while it is on them. We do need to help these kids wise up. As a society we become upset over these things, when in the end, as a nation, we will go into another country by force when communication does not work. If you want to really find an answer to this, we have to look at the bigger picture and realize that is all part of the same painting.
Rivalry games are always more fun. Because it is that rival either across town or the other big school in the state from University to High School we all love them. We all have stories of a witnessing fans getting caught up in it. What happen when we see fans exchange blows, they get kicked out.
Problem with this is we don't know if it is gang related, or stupid freshmen that think high school is still middle school, die hard high school fans (dude its high school) that got carried away or maybe could be too few event security personal. But whatever it was, come Monday at Lathrop and possibly West Valley it won't be fun for the students.
I attend the University of South Carolina and there are high school rival football games that have empty seats because of problems like this with fans. Is this the plan for the next West valley or Lathrop game?
I don’t think the story gave us enough info to really understand what happened last night (gang related vs. a bunch of drunken kids that got out of control, etc). If it was so bad, why didn’t the FPD call in the Troopers to assist?
I do think all of this violence, gang related or not, needs to have a closer/harder look. Maybe both Mayors need to get a panel of people together including people from FCC, FtWW, EAFB, and the school district and get an expert in here that knows more about this than we do to discuss this. If my kid needs to go through security to watch a football game safely I’d be for it. I’d hate to think that Fairbanks has come to that but I want my family safe and if preventive measures can be put into place at events like this, so be it.
I guess from now on in Fbks. anything bad that happens will be called " Gang Related". Easy for the cops, case closed.
Next thing we will be locking ourselves in our homes and staying off the streets in our own town because of so called GANGS.
Come on Fairbanks,,, do you really believe that crap.
I've said it before--zero tolerance. Anyone involved in this should get a trial and if guilty, a really stiff sentence. I am sure creative prosecutors could come up with something besides fourth degree assault. Why should the public put up with this? Why should our police and firefighters be occupied like this? Is this a good use of tax dollars? Put these idiots in a facility for 6 months to a year--and on probation for another few years and as a condition of probtation, they must get a GED, work and stay out of trouble.
I hope these hoodlums get arrested and fined. Oh, since it was one "PFD Day", then make it at least 3200.
That's what happens when parents don't know how to discipline their kids. Now we can leave that responsibility to the schools, rather than teaching people how to become productive members of society.
What will the argument be for starting the fight? Do they play too many video games? Is the world just different than it used to be?
The only difference between now and then is that no one wants to be held accountable for holding people accountable. Parents are too concerned with being their kid's friend than with being their parent.
Call me crazy, but parents ARE the ones in charge.
Hey Daybreak:
"If it was so bad, why didn’t the FPD call in the Troopers to assist?"
Well it was that bad and AST was called in to assist.
What did these kids prove by starting all this fighting last night??
It only takes 1 to ruin it for everyone like always.
Maybe the K9 unit should have been considered. But then, the parents would say the kids were being attacked by the police. I was in downtown Seattle when the King riots broke out, amazing watching the mounted police control a wall of people. Watch them send this case to the kid's court for touchy feely, rather than make them face the reality of criminal behavior. Never did understand why they did away with reform school.
I spent three years working in a high school - until this year. I had to quit and get out. I was astounded by the lack of respect students have for adults, peers and even themselves. I am convinced that as a society we are all in trouble. So many of our young kids today are not interested in working for a living. They choose to take from those who are earning an honest living. I am not sure what the answer is. I can only say that it would be wise to be prepared to protect yourself, your property and your loved ones.
My child, who sat on the Lathrop side last night, told me that the word was going around the stands that certain people, who were NOT high school students, were carrying guns. These people were making themselves very visible and one can assume that if they were carrying weapons, they had no problem using them. Our law enforcement officers are trained to recognize when a situation is on the verge of getting out of control. And to place themselves in harm's way, standing between us and the danger. If they needed to cancel the game in order to keep our innocent children and their families safe, bless them for thwarting what could have turned into a tragedy. Young children were playing around with footballs, riding bikes, etc. near where the fight broke out. What would make it worth the risk of a stray shot hitting one of them? The people who deserve our anger are the ones who fought, brought guns, etc. and messed up a fun night for our good kids and their families.
Draconianslacker has the right idea - big fines for the ones involved to help with the cost of investigation. Of course that won't affect this trend toward violence. I don't have the answers, but I do know that weapons of any kind do not have a place at school functions. If you are fearful enough for your safety that you think you need to be armed then set an example for your kids, keep them at home and stay there with them. Family values are instilled by spending time together. Show your kids by your actions that you do not support violence of any kind.
one word DENIAL
A few months ago we saw a few instances of gang violence. Our answer, FTWW. "Army recruits gangs, close the post, can't wait for them to leave". Well the Army found a few of the guilty and is dealing with them. In another article a student had to change schools because of his gang affiliation, mommy and daddy sued so he could play football.
Now here we are again. "The article doesn't say anything about gangs". It shouldn't have to. Do you honestly think because you watched Colors you know about gangs. I hate to break it to you but they don't all wear Chinos, flanel shirt buttoned at the top, and a red or blue doo rag. They aren't going to all come pulling up in a low rider. Even if this weren't gang related it better be treated as such. Large group doing violence on another group. HMMM what else could it be.
So keep on denying the situation, "it's not a gang", "not our kids" "scumbag soldiers, send'em to Iraq", "the kid is a quarterback he can't be held accountable". Just keep your head in the sand until a gang member walks up to you introduces himself as such and draws a target on his own chest so you know exactly who needs shot.
Good old school fight...Been going on for generations...Kind of give's me hope for the younger generation. OOOHHH, I forgot. we don't let kids play tag at school anymore. Truth is, all good Americans love to fight.
This is very sad. It just puts another black eye on Lathrop. I'm not saying I don't believe that West Valley and other schools have their issues, because I know they do. It's not funny to state this is just a "good old school fight." In this day and age you would think that our youth are better educated, and could settle things with words and not weapons; whether it be guns, knives, or fists. Should I allow my high school sophomore to go to their homecoming game? Perhaps I will need to be a chaperone, but that's ok, thats my job as mom
I was at last night's game, and hopefully we get plenty of comments about the valiant display of heroism by the Fairbanks Police Department, Alaska State Troopers, School District Security officers, and even some Fairbanks Fire Department officials on duty there.
That was a truly scary situation that took place, and a truly DISGUSTING display of behavior by a large number of our youth.
Many were Lathrop students, others from West Valley, etc.
I am very familiar with alot of them.
Trust me, as the game was getting more and more towards a blow-out, no one was really WATCHING the game.
Too much milling around, kids posuturing, etc.
I've witnessed enough of these incidents in my lifetime to sense something bad was coming.
And I tell you what, one police officer described a "wall of people coming over fences attacking everyone, including police," he was damn right. I saw it.
Very scary indeed. Police literally having to go "toe to toe" defending themselves, using pepper spray. All of that was TOTALLY necessary. I'm surprised no one was shot.
At that time, my only worries were trying to find my daughter and her friend...both Freshmen at Lathrop....and both very shaken by the incident.....as well as trying to keep dozens of knuckhead kids sitting ON and fighting AROUND my vehicle....from causing damage to it.....!
And quite frankly....I wasn't nice about getting them AWAY from it.
I'm very disappointed at what I saw last night.
My daughter and her friend went to that game for a reason, and it damn sure wasn't to witness a large number of young wannabe's disrupt things.
Since my daughter isn't really accustomed to that display of behavior, I had to EXPLAIN to her just WHY we were getting the hell out of there, before bad got even worse.
Very upset that she couldn't attend the post game bonfire (which was eventually cancelled anyway.).
My child was caught in the middle of all that foolishness.
Innocently trying to get to the concession area....and I'll tell you this....had she been hurt over some REALLY STUPID behavior caused by many others......
I would have DEFINITELY defended my child as such.
Consequences for these knuckleheads need to be swift, period.
A real "black eye" for our youth.
Such a damn shame!
Maybe some video cameras to catch the live action off the field will be a handy tool. Worked for me, the 2 punks I used to have problems with plead guilty to reduce the charges from felonies. Thats why police cars all have dash mounted video cameras. Pretty darned convincing evidence.
Glad to hear your child and her friend got out ok OldSkool...
I agree... completely unnecessary.
This is a bunch of dumb kids who think their 'cool'
I would like to congratulate both teams for the way they displayed themselves after the game was cancelled.
I stuck around and watched them literally praise each other for a solid game and shake hands.... if they can do it why can't we.
Oh and carrying your own gun does not solve the problem... you're only contributing to it.
Thank you to the police officers and other authorities for taking care of the situation to the best of their ability.
It will be interesting to see the changes to other cross-town games and even next years dog bowl.
I agree with you "Hair," and I had a video camera in my truck....but priorities took center stage.
Getting my kid and her friend out of the middle of that mess....and keeping those damn fools from damaging my vehicle which was parked right in the middle of all the fracas.
Quite frankly, so much was going on, I really feared shots would start ringing out.
Just wanted out of there.
Once again, a truly scary situation, because it was coming from many different directions, all around you.
put them all in a jail cell and let them duke out that way. I agree with also fining them ATLEAST $3200. I have never purchased a gun for self defense, only hunting. But I think a refresher course and a new line of defense will be a priority for me and my family.
Heaven forbid parents discipline their kids. Was their "gang violence" or anything similar to that back when corporal punishment was allowed in the schools???
I am sorry to the parents and students that were there trying to have a good time and had to witness that. Complete nonsense is all this is.
Damn shame a few idiots have to ruin a fun night for everyone else.
I was planning on going to the game with my family but forgot about it until 9pm that night.. Apparently my forgetfulness has served me well in this instance.
the kid on the front page played football last year.. the one getting arrested... so thats no excuse.. and the kid whos mommy and daddy sued... he was in a group of friends a fake gang and he just wants to play football he couldnt make quarterback at west so he switched schools....so quit crying about that article to....
They should have the FFD stand by with a high pressure pumper full of Cap-Stun and the engine running the whole time and police standing by with helmet mounted video cameras and Bull Mastiff attack dogs, just to let EVERYBODY know.................
Or do like Police in San Jose and purchase an L-RAD,
(Long Range Acoustic Device)
They SUCK and there's no chemicals involved.
"Think louder than a jet engine. Think the front row of a Metallica concert. Think of the piercing scream of a smoke alarm - inches from your ear."- report from Mercury News.
They also run more than $25,000 at this time.
Video surveillance should be mandatory at all school events.
Had there been, these thugs would now be incarcerated or
known to the police. No water cannons? No standby troops?
No parents with baseball bats or pepper spray? This activity
is coming from somewhere and unless it is weeded out,
serious injuries or death may occur at future games.
This is not a school violence issue, a rivalry issue or a family values issue. This is niether a democratic issue or a republican issue. This is a community wide problem we need community activism and yes even some community organizers to step forward. This is the result of the growing gang problem in our community. Yes we have a gang problem in Fairbanks. Now is not the time to lay blame or find excuses lets find answers. We need to consult experts who have dealt with this in other communities and see if there is anything we can do to curb the violence and to stop the further growth of these gangs. You can say they are punks or wannabees but these gangs have been growing here for years and the problem is deffinately getting worse.
Punks, wannabes they all seem like they are causing real trouble. I agree with jimp, we need to do something about his. Maybe have a public meeting with an expert, so we can fgure out how to take care of this issue before it gets too big. It is already too big for my tastes. I would be more than happy to help if there was someone to let me know how.
Has anyone else noticed that the kids of America started becoming more violent when the government decided that disciplining our kids was a bad idea? They have no consequences for their actions and have no respect for anyone. Parents can't always be blamed because too frequently those that do discipline their kids are arrested themselves.
I'm certainly not condoning child abuse, I don't like anyone being beaten, which is exactly what happened last night.
Maybe it's time society "cleaned house" and get rid of those who refuse to conform. Find an area that can be "walled in" and force the outcasts to live with just each other. Why should we live in fear. "Packing" won't solve the issue. There will always be those who choose to not conform and incite riots to distrupt our daily lives. We don't need them. Life is way too short to not enjoy the fruits of OUR labor. By being "civilized" we have created a sub-society that feeds like parasites on those who work hard and want a better life.
We could also just turn them into gladiators. Classic Roman style. But that would be cruel to do to people that have no sense of compassion, common courtesy, or respect.
Get active in your community. Talk to the kids and the young adults ask questions seek answer probe for solutions. Get involved help coach, sponsor, organize or whatever you can do to be involved in youth activities . I have for years and I have seen and know some of the local kids and young men who have choosen to be in the local gangs. Its unfortunate they have felt compeled to follow such a path but what can we as a community do NOW to curb correct and improve the existing situation and avoid future violence and incidences? We can NOT give up on our children they are our future.
lalaleelou brings up a VERY good point.
Alaska's whiners managed to get corporal punishment in the schools banned, children LOST RESPECT for authority.
Now you can't even yell at children, they can walk all over teachers all because of a few bad parents who want to spoil their children by NOT disciplining them.
Discipline as "physical reinforcement" is something that, when withheld from animals in nature (like elephants) they usually end up with abnormally confrontational and violent natures that are "nipped in the bud" when they have other, older elephants to "guide" the young in their social interaction with each other as well as other, smaller, animals.
Basically orphaned (especially male) elephants behave, socially, like a spoiled bully who never got disciplined for anything and is allowed to behave how ever they want.
Kinda like these punks who think it's "cool" or something to start trouble at a "stupid" high school football game, I wonder if they did it to "impress" a girl.
Fairbanks does not have much in the way of entertainment for teenagers and young adults these days. Esspeically if you are low income. In small towns like this, it's easy for kids to get into trouble! About 15 years ago - when I was a teenager here - there was allot more to do. There were still the trouble makers, but having places to go, things to do - where the kids ruled helped. (The Center, Maria's Cafe for example)
The world we live in is getting more violent, so naturally the young people are too. Bored kids turn to gangs, drugs, crime, etc... esspecially if they are dissconnected from their parents. And what I mean by dissconnected is: today I know many parents who either feel they don't have the time, or just don't take the time to connect with their kids enough to know what is really going on in their worlds. I sometimes work with troubled teenagers and it's surprizing how "adult" these kids live, how intense things get for them. Life can be pretty hardcore, esspecially if you feel you are on your own. If there were more places for these kids to hang out, chances are the school events will be less populated, and more enjoyable for the people who really are there for the games. This may not solve the problem, but it sure could help.
i was there, it was a so called gang fight between West Valley and Lathrop. things did get out of hand. they should have know stuf was going to happen i mean come on its PFD weekend, so all the so called gangsters are out getting weed, and getting wasted, and stocking up on guns and other things. The cops also were out of hand, spraying pepper spray on people who were staning there. on girls looking for there brothers. People were upset. Things were crazy. it doesnt say anything about gang fights in the paper but thats what it was.
A two year Universal and Mandatory National Service Program: Military, Community, or whatever with credits for further training and education.
If the problem is there is "SUPPOSEDLY" not enough for our youth to do, maybe the Fairbanks Correctional Center or the Fairbanks Youth Facility can arrange something.
How about games in the daylight? It would be harder for the creeps to hide from the security people watching for them, and the rest of us could see not only the game, but what is going on off the field that we may wish to avoid. Saves electricity(and money),too.
I agree that there are few places for teens in Fairbanks to go and have healthy interaction with their friends, aka hang out and talk. And of the few activities there are, most cost money or need transportation that many kids don't have.
So, do we walk our talk and do something about it? Or do we just complain about this small group of thugs, while overlooking the majority of the kids, who can either mature into the workers and leaders of our community, or who could instead cost our community, instead of contribute to it? Prevention is ALWAYS cheaper than intervention and remediation.
Will Fairbanks step up? As a teen, would YOU respect an adult community that is only negative talk and no positive action? What would YOU learn from watching people who seem to care, but stand by waiting for someone else to do something? If we looked at a News-Miner from 1968, we'd read the same things people are saying now.
Well, well, well. What do ya say? I'll tell you what. You can say all day long that non-students were involved- and you know what? They probably were. So why don't you not get in unless you have a school ID or are a parent? But you know what? That is not the worst of it- see I don't care if non students were involved. What I care about is that this "posturing" goes on at Lathrop even in the classroom. How do I know? My kid tells me. He talks to me everyday about stupid kids that cause problems in the class. They ain't listenin', they are talkin' crap, they are tellin' jokes, they are tippin' their chairs- all kinds of stuff. And the teachers do nothing. Well, wonder why the teachers do nothing? First, to a large extent their hands have been tied. Second, depending on who they decide to discipline there will be behaviors from parents that will come- like a parent saying "you only discipline my kid because he is _______ (fill in a word). But then that leads to some kids getting away scott-free, while other kids get over-disciplined for ridiculous things (yup, I have seen that too).
The world was better when teachers hands weren't tied, when parents disciplined their own kids, when kids had a healthy respect for authority, and believe it or not, when kids duked it out and got it over with. Yeah. I said it. Today these kids have to take crap from other kids, and nothing is done. And anger builds up. And Columbine happens. The world is just not the same as when I grew up...
high school is the most important years of your life. Nothing before or after high school matters. popularity in high school is all that matters! oh, and the lathrop team didn't suck so bad when I was going to school there.
fairbanksforever Thank you.
1 solid good comment.
I was there & I'm in a completely different frame of mind than most posters here that was also there. I blame school staff & police & troopers for what happened. The coaches tolerating WV players fist punching Lathrop players in plays in the game. And for Lathrop staff to not stand up & allow the inoccent to complete their homecoming events is scandlous.
So many professionals & parents needs legal charges brought against them. Schmucks that facilitate it to happen again & again....
They failed to execute quickly and efficiently in preventing the progression of the negative & combative attitudes transactions between attendees. I witnessed it from the bleachers. Small multiple fights not.... Lead to massive fighting. Than to force innocents into the melee. Schmucks
I didn't give a flying spaceship if my car was damaged. MY family's safety was put in harms way by school staff & police & troopers not being preventive. And the abuse of power sucks that I witnessed. I returned home with the scent of pepper spray & blood of victims on me without touching another person on our forced walk thru the melee to our cars from the bleachers.... People need fired!
Surprised the video is not on YouTube yet. Certainly there were folks in the stands with camcorders and certainly one or more of them filmed the event. If, in fact, a video or videos do surface, anyone, student or not, who can be positively identified should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. In addition, any students involved should be suspended, at the least, and possibly expelled. Only that kind of action will get a handle on school violence.
I think its pretty funny the statements that there needs to be more for these poor innocent punks to do. By God, they were at a function for our youth. A damn youth oriented activity! I have been here all my life and there is much, much more to do in this town than there was when I was their age. Way more. And that does not even count, computers, cable tv, DVD's, video games, and a 16 plex theater. This business that there is not enough for them to do is for the birds. When I went to Lathrop there was no football or baseball teams at school, and track was minimal. There was no hockey in school or anywhere else. There was no Boys and Girls Club, there was no Big Dipper or Carlson Center, there were no big box store to cruise other than JC Penneys, and that was no place to hang. The attitude that someones kids behavior is the communities fault, is at fault. Like I said before, I am sure the Fairbanks Correction Facility, the Fairbanks Youth Facility, and the Boys and Girls Home can find something for them.
I got news I'll be packing from now on but not a gun but 2 videos & extra batteries 1 for fools 1 for professionals & parents. Still shots just don't due justice. Really look at the picture it's a perfect example of abuse I witnessed. See the fist raised by the officer with his knee on his neck aimed at the arrestee's face or the one standing with a smile of approval? You bet I'll be packing from now on. Things better change quick or we'll have more than "troopergate" .......
I'll start sending my future videos & still shots like last night to news stations across the state & the other 49 states. This is bull$hit. Yes now I'm mad...
There's no excuse for the chain of events that happened last night. It wasn't gangs it was a free for all melee.
Wake up Fairbanks.
P. Davenport! Wow...I just KNEW there would be some fool to jump on this section and BLAME law enforcement. Just knew it.
You, partner...are WRONG a thousand times.
If you turned around, and saw a flood of people jumping a fence, with bad intentions, AND heading your way...you would get ready to defend yourself too.
Don't lie to yourself.
Kids...attacking police who wouldn't be there in the first place if school district officials were CONFIDENT that folks could act like they have some sense.
Apparently, school district official's guessed right.
As I said earlier, I saw Lathrop students, West Valley students and non-students all engaging in the fracas.
I know this.....because I KNOW them.
And you also have the damn nerve to BLAME the players and coaches?
Are you serious?
If you had truly been paying attention to the game, then you saw players and coaches from BOTH teams hugging each other after the game, and coaches apologizing for the very stupid behavior going on outside in the parking lot.
Trust me, the direction of the game had absolutely NOTHING to do with this fight. Lathrop put in a valiant effort in the first half, but the game was teetering on a blow-out almost from the beginning. West Valley is just BETTER this year.
Fighting was going on all around me, and I was damn near in the middle of it.
Since you were too, then you caught some of the same pepper spray that I did.
But complain about that? I don't think so.
That's great if you don't give a damn about your vehicle....but I saw kids about to STAND up and witness the fight on the truck I pay 450 dollars a month for. I defend mine, period.
I do agree with you on this though, I too am upset that my child was put in harms way by this extremely foolish act.
But if you think for one minute I'm going to lay blame on those tasked with trying to keep order restored, forget it.
Put the blame where it belongs....squarely on the shoulders of the damn young fools jumping fences and fighting during a public outing that everyone should be able to go and feel safe at.
Your misdirected blame game is part of the problem with today's society.
Make the punks accept responsibility for what happened.
I don't remember hearing any adults or security people stirring this pot.
And no one needs "fired" "P."
But alot of kids truly need their asses kicked over this.
If anyone truly had the "stones" to do just that.....count me as one of the first in line to do the honors.
Blame the police and security? Incredible.
And one more thing....I agree with you too "GroverAlaska."
Yeah...I actually heard a couple of kids talking that "the cops are doing this because we're Black," bull.
I turned around and told them to SHUT THE "F" UP!!!!"
The way I see it, this "persecution complex" our young people spew is LEARNED behavior....and gets really old.
I'm Black too....and trust me....it wasn't just WHITE officers defending themselves.
Then again, if I saw a wall of people heading my way with bad intentions....White, Black,Purple, Green....Martian...WHATEVER....I'm defending myself and my fellow commrades.
Look really close at the picture in the DNM.
Yeah....that's a BLACK officer making the arrest on a WHITE boy.
Saw a BLACK trooper helping to keep the peace.
Any more very lame excuses?
Plain and simple...right is right....wrong.
The KIDS were wrong.
OldSkoolNook42
Your insults, your name calling, your excuses speak for themselves.
My pictures speak in digital facts. Incredible is right pictures don't lie. Or have your attitude of defense. You are welcome to disagree with me I wont go to your level on disagreement. I base my view on years of experience professionally with gangs &/or school activities & what I witnessed last night. "stones" is the biggest problem or the lack there of.
And you implying I'm anti-police is a joke. My son died being a police officer by gun fire of a gang member.
oldskoolnook- Good one!! I was there too, my son is a Sr on Lathrop and it was hard to leave him there at the school when they asked us to leave. But I had confidence in the police and firefighters there trying to control things. My husband is a firefighter and was there to control the bonfire. The police were there early on, looking in the stands for someone before the fights broke out. They knew something was up before anything happened. I think they did a good job controlling the situation!! I'm pretty sure things will be different next year. At least I hope so!!
Having given a couple of talks to audiences of local students, I like gottasayit have to say I was shocked by how almost all of them have no respect for teachers, principals, even parents. Parents need to be doing a much better job, from an EARLY age instilling discipline and respect, and the freedom to give a good spanking without fear of the PC Police. Teachers need to be given much more authority than they have, the right to use it, and consequences for all kinds of infractions need to be much more serious. Violent acts should ALWAYS result in expulsion.
Comments like "all good Americans love to fight" are clearly inane, and counterproductive to what most people want, and just plain set the opposite kind of example to the one 99% of us would want. It's called assault and is illegal. Boredom is also NOT an excuse! It is a whine.
As for this incident, I hope people who may have video let the police go through it so they can ID the punks and send them to jail, where they can meet some REAL tough guys and get to be "buddies"....
Hmm, Davenport seems to have all his bases covered in an interesting way?
OldSkoolNook42
Those people in those small fights & the melee was all "RACES & nationalities" & ages mainly high schoolers. That I saw, not just black but you use blacks as your example. "If" the small fighting incidents was arrested at the beginning to make a visual point of no fighting but they weren't. No clear message was directed. In fact a nonverbal message was sent by School staff, police, the troopers by not arresting those first fighters. I doubt many would not have joined in. Your example speaks for it self once again. I was on Lathrops east end on the bleachers high enought to get a very clear vision. Yes the kids was wrong but "who are the adults"? "Who"? School staff, police, the troopers, & parents. Parents used poor judgement of dropping off their kids considering all that has been in the news. When does parents get held accountable? As for School staff, police, the troopers I stand by my views above. They failed majorly.
I agree to disagree.
How the can we send these kids to Iraq to kill people, and at the same time condemn them for getting into a fistfight?
I appreciate the p.o.v.s expressed here by P and Oldskool, and I actually agree with both most of the time. I think kids need discipline and I think adults need to do a better job. If all the violent people are in the parking lot, just deal with it there. Why send the crowd into the parking lot to be in close quarters with the violence and increase the chaos?
I also agree with the poster who said kids having stuff do isn't the problem. Many of the teens I know have too much to do and are running on empty constantly.
The big missing ingredient I see with kids time and again are mentors. Whether it's a parent, a coach, a teacher, and/or a non-profit volunteer (e.g. Big Bros Big Sisters), kids need adults to spend time with them, understand them, challenge them, and be there for them. I think the spreading of gang culture in Fairbanks that is happening (and it IS happening) because the adults that recruit gang members are investing more time recruiting, training, and encouraging "high-risk" kids than the other adults. We need more mentor-minded parents, teachers, coaches, and adults at large. Way too many kids have a major lack of caring adults in their world and that void is being filled by unhealthy adults.
It's interesting to me that many of the kids involved in these fights were kids that should be or used to be on the football teams. Both schools have small teams for their populations (schools with similar populations around the state typically have 90+ players involved in c-team, JV, and Varsity while these two schools have around 60 or so). Why aren't these kids playing FB? Propzilla says it's because they don't have the guts. I think it probably has more to do with the coaches currently at Lathrop and previously at WV not investing enough time recruiting, retaining, and developing their kids. It's interesting that NP, the other big school locally, has 70+ players from a school with only 900 kids (about the number they should have) and their schools is having a lot fewer gang-related issues.
This is a pretty big problem, and I think will require some big, multi-faceted answers. The adults, especially those in authority, need to figure this thing out and start moving on it. It took several years for this situation to be created, I imagine it will take several years to fix it.....
peace
hairbrain 9/13/2008, 9:48 a.m.
Maybe some video cameras to catch the live action off the field will be a handy tool. Worked for me, the 2 punks I used to have problems with plead guilty to reduce the charges from felonies. Thats why police cars all have dash mounted video cameras. Pretty darned convincing evidence.
hairbrain 9/13/2008, 6:10 p.m. Hmm, Davenport seems to have all his bases covered in an interesting way?
***
"Pretty darned convincing evidence."
Exactly & no room for excuses or lies by anyone....
School events & behavior are addressed in the Ed. Code. on the local level to the state level to the national level. Ask Lathrop principal Karen Gaborik.
The Ed. Code is "Laws" for schools.
And yes I'll cover my bases clearly & legally up to the national level on all Professionals involved. This has to stop. Accountablity from staff to police to parents to students to our community.
teenadvocate Thank you. I agree 100%
hey parents. first off, i'm an upperclassmen at lathrop and i attended the game last night. but let me say one thing to all of you overprotective parents in only the kindest way i can say it, OPEN YOUR EYES. NO, your child won't be protected every single time you let them out of the house, whether it be to the grocery store, a high school football game, or to school in general. with such diversity, of course teens are going to overreact in certain circumstances. NO, not every single horrible thing in this town is gang related. yes, there were more african americans involved then caucasian, but look at the picture. anyone could have been involved. everyone wanted to have a good time at that game last night, it was homecoming. and of course, it meant a lot to many students. i feel sorry for my peers who participate on the football team and i wish for the seniors that it could have been different. i can't believe you parents can be so single-minded. one parent won't let your child go to lathrop/west valley rivalery football anymore? what did anything have to do with the football game! it was great, i even happened to walk around and support my class while walking behind the float i helped make. i happen to be caucasion, hold a very high GPA, am involved in two varisty sports and am friends with almost every different clique at lathrop. i was sitting with some of my african american friends who i have grown close friendships with since middle school, and trust me. there was no talk of gun play or even fighting. if only you would listen to the people who actually know what they are talking about. AND HERE IS THE REALLY HORRIBLE PART THAT NO ONE WILL WANT TO BELIEVE. as i too saw people climbing over the fence (most only to watch or to try to save their vehicles), i tried to get out of the stadium to watch too, as most of the teens did. but as my friend and i were standing towards the back, i saw some african american teens standing towards the front of the fight right next to caucasions, and i saw, winessed myself, cops grabbing random, innocent, kids and started beating them the same way the tried to beat down some of the others. INNOCENT KIDS, who were standing there, not doing anything, were getting abused by OUR POLICE. it was wrong and honestly rediculous, and completely blown out of proportion. when it was all over, i saw my friends crying because the police had pepper sprayed their younger siblings accidently. so let's just get the story straight. next time you think you know everything, get a point of view from everyone. and open your eyes as a parent, anything can happen anywhere.
Lhs_student10
u hit it right on the Money!!!
As a Student from LHS i was so mad to see what was going on.
The kids were oout of head but i couldnt believe my eyes about the polices. As a upperclassmen also i knew most of the kid in the fight the causing behind it all and yea. of course i don