Two University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire students were charged last Friday with misdemeanor counts committed amid State Street Halloween celebrations in the early hours of Nov. 2, 2003.
Sarah M. Tromp, 20, and Jonathan M. Negro, 22, threw objects at windows of the University Inn, causing more than $2,500 worth of damage and prompting disorderly-conduct charges.
Tromp and Negro were caught on videotape launching objects during the Nov. 2 State Street riots and were later identified by Negro’s brother, Ryan Negro. Negro’s brother packed a pistol, later found to be fake, visibly in his waistband and was instantly targeted by police video cameras positioned above the crowd. After he threw a rock at the University Inn, police arrested Ryan Negro, who then later identified Tromp and his brother Jonathan in the footage.
Ryan Negro was charged with criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct Nov. 24.
While Jonathan Negro was recorded throwing an object through a University Inn window, footage showed Tromp throwing objects at both windows and crowds on State Street.
Tromp was recorded launching 27 objects at the hotel and into thick crowds between 2:41 and 2:51 a.m., after a nearby free concert let out and State Street bars closed.
Sgt. Steven Beavers of the Madison Police Department, South Police District, said other large events, such as Killer Party 2003 and free Halloween concerts offered on campus, are encouraged by the Madison Police Department to deter such illegal activity.
“It helps to have other big events off the main site,” Beavers said. “They help diffuse the high concentration of people that happens at bartime.”
It is believed that the Halloween riots originally brewed from the University Inn after a University of Minnesota student sang the Gopher fight song out his second-floor hotel-room window.
Antagonized students then started throwing objects at the University Inn, smashing windows and fueling the riots, WISN News 3 reported. Police used pepper spray and disbanded the University Inn attack by 3:30 a.m. after issuing 170 citations and 13 arrests. Fourteen windows at the University Inn were reported broken due to the weekend riots, each costing more than $1,000 to repair.
Beavers said the Madison Police Department began planning for Halloween festivities a year in advance and training special teams the previous spring and summer.
“[Planning] wasn’t an everyday thing, but Madison Police Department special teams are specifically trained to control crowd situations,” Beavers said, adding that while training, the teams “train an eye toward Mifflin,” the street block party the weekend before final exams.
“[The Madison Police Department] always anticipates the best,” Beavers said. “But special teams are prepared for the worst.”
Sgt. David Jugovich helped quell Halloween riots and said although different numbers were mentioned, State Street arrests totaled more than 100. Jugovich also said the Madison Police Department was already planning for next year’s celebration.
“We’re in the process of talking and planning out aspects for next year. Rest assured, we will be ready for it.”
