On Saturday, October 13th,
a riot erupted on Indian Street near Laurel Park after the Bellingham Police
Department broke up a large house party in Bellingham, according to the city of
Bellingham website. The riot, which occurred in the Sehome Neighborhood, was
made up of hundreds of people of the younger generation.
A Sehome Neighborhood Association board
member, 66-year-old Charles R. Dyer, said, “We’ve certainly had large parties
that have gotten out of hand, but I don’t recall a time where there has been
anything of this magnitude.” Dyer has lived in the Sehome area since 2005.
According to the city
of Bellingham, the crowd threw glass bottles, lawn chairs, and dishes at the
police, cars and other rioters.
“I didn’t know what was going on and then I
heard a big boom and I thought there were fireworks, because they happen a lot
here, but they were evidently the smoke bombs.” a 65-year-old woman named Bert Monroe
said. Monroe has also been a part of the Sehome community since 2005.
Sehome Neighborhood Association
President 64-year-old Jean Hamilton said, “I was dismayed that a party had
gotten so far out of hand. Then when I saw the damage that was done to the
police cars, I was even more dismayed.”
“Given the publicity
the riot has gotten, it’s probably not very good for the interest of the
community,” Monroe said.
Hamilton mentioned that
even from California, her children had heard about the riot and called her to
make sure she was safe.
Dyer said, “Generally
my wife and I are quite fond of the student population here; they’re a vital
portion of the community and we appreciate their presence, so it’s sad that the
riot happened.”
According to Hamilton,
the riot was composed of the younger generation, school-aged citizens ranging
from college students, high school students, and citizens from Ferndale.
Hamilton was overjoyed that students were being responsible the next morning by
filling garbage bags with the trash left on Indian Street.
“We want to show support and appreciation to
the students who came out and cleaned up the next morning,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton also said that along with supporting the students who picked up trash
in the morning, the community is supporting the rioters.
“We are going to show
our support to the students and make it clear to the local kids that we know
very well that this isn’t what they came to Western to do and this isn’t
typical behavior,” Hamilton said.
“These things happen,”
Monroe said, “When you get large amounts of people together and they are
enthusiastic and maybe inexperienced, it can cause problems.”
To get a handle on these problems, Dyer said
there is a plan to hold a community forum about the riot.
Along with a riot
forum, Dyer said there was a community meeting on Monday, October 21 about the
Sehome riot. At the meeting, Dyer remarked, “There were quite a number of very
useful suggestions, especially about educating students, both college level and
high school level, about their responsibilities as citizens and about the
troubles they can get into.”
Hamilton also added
that the community members have started pushing for more street lights in and
around the parks, especially Laurel Park, and for more activities for students
to do in the community.
According to Hamilton,
all of the suggestions that came from the Monday night board meeting will be
looked over and the best two are three will be brought to the attention of the
general meeting in December. From there, Hamilton said they will put the plans
into action.
Overall, the Hamilton
feels that the Sehome community knows the rioting behavior was out of the ordinary,
and is saddened by the event, but will continue to support students. “Thank the
Lord no one was carrying guns and that it never got to the point where anyone
was seriously injured or killed,” Hamilton said. “We really regret what
happened to the police and the property damage that took place as well as the
people who were afraid to leave their homes, but we are so grateful no one got
really hurt.”
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