West Point cadets riot following drug search -- Hello, MSM?

[elehhhhna]

Angry cadets riot following drug search

By Greg Bruno and Andrew Perlot
Times Herald-Record

West Point - Cadets angry over a drug search rioted for more than an hour last week, throwing fireworks and garbage from their barracks in an uproar one officer described as "shameful."

"Hundreds of cadets were hollering obscenities out of their windows and some were throwing objects," in what the unidentified officer termed a riot in an incident summary obtained by the Times Herald-Record.

"A team-size element of firemen responded to the scene as cadets were throwing objects that were on fire out of the windows in Bradley Barracks," the summary continued. "It was a shameful, pitiful day for" the U.S. Military Academy.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/04/27/news-gbusmariot-04-27.html

[Botany]

1. congrats!

bush & company have broken the military.

[leftchick]

2. SSShhhhhh

I did see a Babs Starr report on CNN today, briefly. I am sure it was a mistake.

[napi21]

3. I don't know anything about recordonline.com, but this is suspicious to me

I've personally known several graduates of WP, and this kind of sh*t just doesn't happen! A caded risks everything by doing something that crazy! Sorry, but unless and until I see this from another more well known source, I'm just not buyin it!

[elehhhhna]

11. Same here & CNN did quote the police report (yep, local Police

were evidently called)and it was shocking.

[elehhhhna]

12. Washington Post calls it"venting" by throwing burning stuff out windows:

Cadets Vent at West Point After Drug Searches

By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 28, 2006; Page A10

At least 1,000 West Point cadets demonstrated last week against the manner in which a drug search was carried out in their barracks, shouting and throwing fireworks and other objects from their windows, according to accounts of the incident.

"Hundreds of cadets were hollering obscenities out of their windows and some were throwing objects," according to an incident summary obtained by the Times Herald-Record of Orange County, N.Y., which ran an article about the incident yesterday.

The report, written by a duty officer, also stated, "It was a shameful, pitiful day" for the United States Military Academy, the official name of the institution, which trains students to be Army officers.

"A team-size element of firemen responded to the scene as cadets were throwing objects that were on fire out of the windows in Bradley Barracks," the incident report said. One cadet was reportedly hit with a jar of peanut butter but was not hurt.

The incident report also stated that "about 2,000 cadets were involved


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/27/AR2006042702571.html

[redqueen]

16. Just like blacks "loot" and whites "find"

:mad:

Liberal media MY ASS!

[TahitiNut]

21. At most, it'd be a 25-demerit infraction. Serious but not terminal.

(I'm going by the conduct code in effect when I was at the USCGA, iirc.)

We pulled some pretty outrageous stunts. We once carried the whole dinghy fleet (about 30 boats) up to the residence hall one night, and rigged them in the quadrangle. Another time we collected some bricks and mortar from some construction going on and used them to brick up the doorway into the OD's office/quarters - while he was sleeping.

While these were the kind of stunts that were (unofficially) 'encouraged,' I doubt the USMA cadets would get thrown out for what was described.

[Sammy Pepys]

4. WTF?

Odd occurrence. I would think at an institution like West Point, frequent inspections are the norm and cadets would be used to it.

[aquart]

5. And they did what about it?

[Chimichurri]

6. damn! I haven't heard one peep of this at all.

this is a big deal. Oh I forgot - we've got 24/7 coverage of the Duke boys already.

[Spinzonner]

7. Nonsense

they were justing providing a simulation of insurgents for the other cadets and authorities to practice against.

:sarcasm:

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Either the military has been broken

or I smell a pile of shit... then again the truth is somewhere in between. Oh and by the way inspections at WP are the norm, so this is a tad smelly if you catch my drift

[damntexdem]

9. I tell you: those military academies are a real riot.

Good training, though, for when Dubya sends them as new officers to Iran -- they'll know how to frag their superiors, and so on.

[High Plains]

10. Good. Let us all follow their lead. Fuck the drug war.

[Jara sang]

13. Those cadets couldn't find any drugs on that campus?

No wonder they rioted. They were all tensed up.

[0007]

17. The little freshman who said it was an act of immaturity

will become general one day. For time being I wouldn't want to be in this little prick's shoes.

"It comes down to people being immature," said one freshman, who asked that his name not be used. "The majority of cadets were apathetic."

But the incident report suggested otherwise.

"About 2,000 cadets were involved and witness to this travesty," it read. Officers on duty "could not believe what they were witnessing!"

Someone tipped the fuzz off and I bet that someone was setup and I wonder if that someone is that little freshman?

[Mandate My Ass]

14. West Point grads against Iraq War. Co-inkydink?

West Point Graduates Against the War Launches Campaign Against the Deceit of the US Government

NEW YORK - April 21 - Three alumni of the United States Military Academy at West Point have launched a grassroots movement to convert the disgrace of governmental lies and evasions about the assault on Iraq into a force to redeem the honor of their country. At issue –which directly assaults the West Point honor code which forges the character of all graduates – are the falsehoods by administration officials, culminating in Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation to the United Nations on February 5, 2003, which catapulted the United States into a preventive war.

“This fraudulent war has done such enormous damage to the reputation and prestige of the United States and its military forces,” said co-founder James Ryan. “Unless remedied, this will prove catastrophic to our country’s interests over the longer term.”

“The West Point honor code, which mandates cadets will not lie, cheat,

http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0421-05.htm

[brainy]

18. Please educate yourselves...

and visit this website before posting rude comments -

http://www.westpointgradsagainstthewar.org/

[Mandate My Ass]

19. Hello, McFly?

Didn't I just say that? :shrug:

[Divernan]

15. What's really upsetting them is the prospect of duty in Iraq.

They are probably furious with the Pentagon and the Army for bending over for Bush & Rumsfeld. A lot of West Pointers have been killed or seriously maimed/crippled in Iraq & Afganistan. This disproportionate reaction to a search is a symptom of how angry & frightened they are of what awaits them.

[dsc]

20. NPR covered this on All Things Considered

and the reason given for the riot actually was fairly reasonable. They were pissed at having been lied to when the search occured. Lying by a cadet is grounds for dismissal so they have a fairly good reason to be upset at that conduct.

[Trillo]

24. not only a fairly good reason to be upset...

but as I read the last phrase, "or tolerate those who do", means (with the English I'm familiar with) that they have an obligation to not tolerate lying by anyone, including leaders. In fact, a page of West Point's confirms this:

An officer who is not trustworthy cannot be tolerated; in some professions the cost of dishonesty is measured in dollars – in the Army, the cost is measured in human lives.

Here's the honor code:

"A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do."

All excerpts from:
http://www.usma.edu/Committees/Honor/Info/main.htm

I have no idea whether the cadets were lied to, but that seems to be what the reports of this incident say. If they were, they have a dutiful obligation to be intolerant of it.

[mb7588a]

22. WaPo article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/27/AR2006042702571.html

[elehhhhna]

23. kick for weekenders.