The Ohio State Buckeyes won the college football national championship on Monday night, and fans are celebrating–but perhaps a little too hard.
As in many similar cases, it appears that riots have started in Columbus and possibly other parts of Ohio. The action seemed to start with students trying to access Ohio Stadium. Large groups of students were turned away, though, by police.
Pictures show students gathering in large groups, while police fire pepper spray canisters into the crowd.
Jeremy Pelzer of the Northeast Ohio Media Group reported that tear gas forced most of the crowd from High Street and in front of the Ohio Union. “SWAT team is warning people to clear the street or they’ll be gassed,” he said.
Dawn Kendrick of WKYC said that police were using “massive amounts of pepper spray” on High Street. “Traffic at a standstill. Walking AWAY. Can’t breathe,” she said via Twitter.
The students were chanting “O-H” and then “I-O.”
Many people were criticizing the students on Twitter. “Burn down your entire campus!!! #Riot !!! Keep it classy #OhioState and #Columbus !!!” said one. “The game hasn’t even been over a hour yet. Act like you’ve won before ohio state students. BTW who’s Maryland going to riot now without duke,” said another.
More High Street mayhem #gobucks pic.twitter.com/4lmde8jx1k
— Jeremy Pelzer (@jpelzer) January 13, 2015
Tear gas deployed on High St pic.twitter.com/OOhJG8tYUr
— Jeremy Pelzer (@jpelzer) January 13, 2015
Students completely block traffic on N. High Street in front of Student Union pic.twitter.com/LQSeOB4nPu
— Josh Jarman (@Josh_Jarman) January 13, 2015
But students appeared to be having fun, regardless of the chaos.
“CAMPUS IS CRAZY. RIOTS. PEPPER SPRAY. TEAR GAS. FIREWORKS. WOOOOO GO BUCKS,” said one student.
“Riots on campus, couldn’t be a better way to celebrate this fantastic day for Ohio,” said another.
Mirror Lake frozen… Students actually just climbed the gates at The Shoe. Told goal posts are already down. pic.twitter.com/zLCi1yBs8i
— Kaylee Hartung (@KayleeHartung) January 13, 2015
we are that school #NATIONALCHAMPS pic.twitter.com/2RdHNLtHfB
— alyssa bashore (@alyssabashore) January 13, 2015
