Kingston police declare homecoming gathering ‘aggravated nuisance’

  

Image credit Thestar.com

KINGSTON, ONT – Kingston on Saturday summoned OPP’s riot squad to clear the university’s illegal homecoming party, which includes 8,000 people and a crowded surfing sofa, part of the University District. Is surrounded.

What began as a crowd of a few hundred people hanging on the lawns and porches of Aberdeen Street grew to thousands after a Kingston police officer was hit by a flying object and taken to hospital.

For weeks, Queen’s University has been urging students to avoid large gatherings. Outside of a rare university football game against Carlton Ravens on Saturday afternoon, the university decided to have a virtual homecoming.

Word of an unapproved street party spread throughout the week. Police and university officials are overseeing the creation of social media accounts.

Kingston police used a drone on Aberdeen Street to watch a gathering of birds, showing a group of students landing in the area between 1 and 1:30 p.m.

The school released a statement on social media on Saturday condemning reports of some people throwing projectiles at police, injuring an officer. These steps will be taken proactively under our Student Code of Conduct.

The statement also cited the school’s condemnation of “misunderstandings” – large, white, homemade banners hanging outside some students’ homes saying “Lockdown Your Daughters Not King Dollar Tons” and ” Westerners want to be Pfizer so they can. Get into it. “

On September 10, following clashes between unsanctioned student groups, the city of Kingston issued a new emergency order increasing the fine for attending a “growing trouble party” from $ 500 to 2,000. The fine can be imposed on anyone who attends a gathering of 25 people above the provincial boundary and 100 people outside.

Party organizers could face a 10000 fine and a court summons for violating the reopening Ontario Act.

Through loudspeakers, police advised detectives on Aberdeen Street that the site was a disturbing party.

Hundreds of students hung from the roofs, second-floor windows and trees. Some, in the middle of packs in the street, set off fireworks. The crowd waved a full-size sofa from one side of the street to the other, as students turned to get a ride. The sofa was later replaced by a metal shopping cart. The majority of the students appeared peaceful and enthusiastic when they sang a large-scale “YMCA” song by the villagers.

At about 4:40 p.m., police in Kingston, the Durham Region and the OPP began shouting “soft views.” The ranks of the officers slowly moved a few steps towards the crowd when at one point the detectives were driven out of the area.

By 5:10 p.m., the street was almost empty.

Kingston police told the Star that it was not immediately clear how many students were arrested or fined in connection with Saturday’s incidents.

The star saw about half a dozen young men and women walking hand in hand.

Kingston Police Inspector Dan Maston has been working at homecoming parties for 33 years. He didn’t think this year’s unapproved event was particularly noteworthy.

“That’s what happens every year,” he said. “It’s familiar.”

Source Thestar.com