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University of Minnesota police cited a Gopher linebacker for underage drinking after they broke up a brawl involving several University of Minnesota football players and residents of a house in Dinkytown Sunday morning, according to a police report.
University police found 15-20 men fighting when they responded to a call that several Gopher football players were coming to beat up residents at a house on the 700 block of 15th Avenue Southeast, according to the report.
University police officers passing by in an unmarked car saw Gopher linebacker Gary Tinsley “swinging around a wood board during the fight,” according to the police report.
Tinsley ran from the scene “extremely fast” when a uniformed University police officer arrived. The officer fired several rounds of PepperBall chemical irritant at Tinsley, who was undeterred by the measure and escaped by cutting between houses on the block, according to a University police report.
At the house, police shouted for the crowds to disperse, but the majority of those involved ignored the command, according to the report.
Police fired PepperBalls into the sidewalk to pare the lingering crowd.
A University police officer shot one man in the leg with a PepperBall when the man broke the line and approached officers. Officers did not apprehend the man because they were focused on the larger brawl, according to the report.
Police brought Tinsley back to the house, but no one there identified him in connection with an assault, according to police.
Callers to 911 said that as many as 50 people gathered during the fight, according to the report.
“This is huge,” one 911 caller said, according to a police report.
A Gopher football spokesman called the incident an internal matter and had no further comment.
Police did not identify other Gopher football players who might have been involved.
Police returned to the house several times during the evening for calls of similar types of incidents. Other scuffles erupted in Dinkytown throughout the evening, including a tussle in which police fired numerous PepperBalls into a crowd near the McDonald’s at the corner of 15th Street and 4th Street Southeast, according to a University Police report.
Police Taser man near Tate Hall
A University of Minnesota police officer forced a 19-year-old Fairmont man into submission with a Taser following a reported knife fight near Tate Hall of Physics early Saturday morning, according to police.
A University student called police when the man threatened him while he was playing a game of capture the flag in Northrop Mal l, according to a University police report.
The officer ordered the man to surrender and lie on the ground, but he refused. The officer leveled her pistol at the man, who continued to resist, according to the report.
“Go ahead and [expletive] shoot me,” the man said, according to the report.
The officer then withdrew her Taser and ordered the man to surrender and lie on the ground. He refused again. The officer used her Taser on him and restrained him, according to the report.
The man was cited for minor consumption, according to the report.
Deputy Chief Chuck Miner of University police said the officer exercised proper Taser use in a dangerous situation.
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13 Comments
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A Little Composure and Class, Gentlemen?
If you are on any college sports team, you act as an ambassador for the university as a whole. Athletes are some of the first faces seen and recognized by those in the community. Now these knucklehead jocks have to go out and participate in fights? Geeze. These types of athletes make an already lackluster football team look even worse . They give an already mediocre Big Ten university a bad image too. Have some class, guys. Have some restraint. Have some composure. Can these guys not even take a step back and think that maybe they shouldn't get involved in a brawl? I mean, our tuition pays for these guys to be here. We pay for the video game systems, their mopeds, and all of the other crap they get pampered with. I also find it ridiculous that these guys would put themselves in jeopardy of being able to play this week when it's one of the biggest games of the season.
Jail time?
Running from the police? Check.
Disturbing the peace? Check.
Possibly even inciting a riot? Check
Jail time or anything more than a slap on the wrist? Nope.
Still playing on the team and attending the University on our dime? Check.
Makes sense? Nope.
I hope the back ups to the
I hope the back ups to the players that got suspended have the best game of their lives and the "rule breakers" and up sitting on the bench the rest of the year.
A different kind of "internal matter"
The Gopher football spokesman needs to have his head surgically removed from his bowels if he is under the impression that a violent incident occuring off campus is an "internal matter."
Student Athletes
Some of the most cocky people that live on this campus. It drives me crazy to think we're paying for them to scoot around on their mopeds, graduate with 2.0s (If they graduate at all), and get in stupid house party fights. It sometimes even makes me angry. But then I think to myself, 'hmmmm... Most of them are dumber than a box of rocks and will probably end up working as a cashier if they don't go pro. So have your fun now athletes, because in a few years you'll be working for me.
Former Student-Athlete
I just wanted to let you all know that your tuition DOES NOT pay for the football scholarships. They generate enough money in their season to actually support many of the other sports teams that otherwise wouldn't be able to give scholarships, or survive for that matter.
I do not think the behavior this past weekend is excuable, but I think you are all quite judgemental to jump to conclusions about the entire teams' character. You do not know these players personally, and have no idea of the commitment it takes to be a Division 1 athlete.
It is not just waking up, going to class, and working for the rest of the day as many other students do. They are busy from 6am starting with lifting workouts, class, study hall, practice, and more mandatroy study hall which is very demanding.
The pressure that some athletes have from the program, the fans, their professors, and from their families is a lot to handle sometimes. I think there should be consequences for bad behavior, but maybe getting to the root of why some people act out the way they do is more important.
I just think it is a little sad that most of you jump to conclusions and have a stereotype about the football players or think athletes have it made, well let me tell you there is a lot of crap they have to deal with on an emotional and physical level that most of you couldn't handle and will never understand.
Judgemental?
Well first of all, saying "you are all very judgmental" is inherently contradictory. I also don't believe previous comments were talking about the entire teams' character as much as the reported behavior (and keep in mind the fact that they won't even go before a judge). But I do think that some of the remarks saying that student athletes are amongst the most cocky individuals on campus is justifiable. From my own experiences with members of the track team (yes, even the track athletes), who spent hundreds of dollars on booze, weed, cocaine and whatever else. The other night I was enjoying a couple whiskey cokes with a mate at Mannings and couldn't help but notice the hyper-masculine, intense disposition of the student athletes present there. They were doing push-ups on the table, constantly shouting phrases reminiscent of Dave Chapelle's comedy (six years after it stopped being funny) pushing and grabbing each other constantly (sexual frustration?). So when you say that people are being judgmental because they don't know these athletes personally, I say, "Well yeah, and I sure as shit don't want to." And while I think you're correct stating that the commitment of a Division-1 athlete is quite scrupulous, I don't believe it has any merit in this discussion, as it is irrelevant and couldn't even serve as an excuse for wildly belligerent and violent behavior. The laborious schedules of these young people surely amounts to a lot of work, but they also receive much more assistance in academic and financial endeavors. Furthermore, the "pressure to succeed", especially in America, affects just about anyone in college, not just athletes.
Getting to the 'root" of the problem is a good idea, perhaps we could start by toning down our societies' obsessive adoration of athletes, which could tone down the gargantuan ego's of the hyper masculine spartan-esque college players. Perhaps we could even put a lot less emphasis on sports in general, placing instead a great adoration and emphasis on reading books, which 42% of college graduates in America never do again post-graduation (wonder what the % is for athletes?). Maybe instead of numbing the brains' of the American public with multiple 24-hour sports networks, which constantly show-then-replay the same meaningless statistics and highlights over and over, there could be some semblance of media-responsibility, urging folks to get off their asses and get outside, or read. There are a lot of ways to get to the root of the problem, but that isn't going to happen, is it? The idolization of Meat headery abounds succinctly with the destruction of our grossly under funded education system, feeding the subversion of our ever less-educated society. But hey, the new stadium is a huge money maker, idn'it? And seeing as that's Bobby Bruiniks' primary prerogative, I guess we can call it a success! But the best way keep us from getting to the root of social behavior is to keep us two-legged' beasts occupied with fights, brawls and other deplorable activities, constantly pasted in magazines, the internet and especially the T.V.
"If you don't want somebody to know something, all you have to do is put it in a book."
-my roomate
Hmmm
No one said the entire team had poor character. I also don't see how the commitment that it takes to be a Division 1 athlete means that players end up in fights.
On another note, I highly doubt that a team who rented out the Dome, had horrible ticket sales, and performed miserably has been bringing in a whole hell of a lot of revenue to cover their own costs and "many other sports teams that otherwise wouldn't [...] be able to survive." Sure, with the efforts to get money for TCF Bank Stadium, that type of money was recently generated. I don't doubt that the team generates funds for many of their costs, but as much as you say they do? Give me a break. I'm a Gopher fan, but let's face it, the team has sucked for a long time. I bet the hockey team generates more cash on their own than the football team has in previous years.
There ain't no kind o'
There ain't no kind o' problem with havin' fight between a few good ol' boys. But somebody better teach that feller from Jacksonville and them other Gopher fellers how to take a drink 'cause this is got dang ridiculous.
To the former student athlete
While I absolutely respect your athletic ability and to maintain status as a student, it is a choice you made. You receive a free/reduced price education(assuming you aren't a walk-on athlete) because you can play a sport better than most of us can. Sounds like a fair trade to me especially considering the way things are today.
A good deal of student athletes I'm sure are decent to great students and do a comendable job juggling sports and the classroom. That being said, many of our athletes (mainly the "major" sports) are only admitted to this university based on their athletic ability.No way they have the academic credentials. No one will admit that, but we all know it's true. They can hardly spell half of the time. Obviously this is not unique to this campus but I think it is a major shortcoming of the college athletic system. Substandard students combined with egos the size of Texas and you end up with the behavior some of these athletes exhibit. Stereotypes are rooted in truth often and this incident I believe brings that to light. Many of our athlets are coddled from day one. Why? Mostly because they can catch a football better than I can. No discipline and someone cleans up their mess. No fear of the consequences of their actions. That is why we have the issues we often have.
Punishment?
I personally know one of the people who was attacked in this brawl. These players are able to literally knock out his teeth but get no punishment? This is not an isolated incident either. I have many times seen players go around campus being disrespectful to both other students as well as faculty. This past week while some students were performing at an event, there was a group of football players who came in and talked the whole time, and even motioned a fake shooting at the person who was performing. While that may not be a physical altercation, it also isn't putting on a good face for the community. I know that many student-athletes do work hard and are trying to get the best education possible. Not even being punished by the team though for being in a physical fight? That just isn't right.
INFORMATION FAIL
Um yeah.... first off, there were no knives anywhere around Tate Hall the night that kid got tasered. There certainly was no knife fight. We were playing CTF and this little punk walks up and tries to talk to people and get girls to walk with him, and then when one guy says "seeya later" he threatens to shove a knife up his bum. The guy didn't even have a knife on him. Daily needs to get their facts straight.
And why are we crying over the emotional stress of football players? Oh I'm sorry that your matching scooter broke and you lost your free iPod and the rest of us actually have to work to pay off our college. It doesn't mean we can get into fights and get away with it. "Internal matter" my butt.
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