What started out as a normal Saturday evening quickly turned into a night full of turmoil in front of the Hathian Police Department. Citizens of Hathian gathered to voice their concerns about how the streets of their beloved town was being handled by the local law enforcement. However, what was supposed to be a peaceful protest ended up turning into a full blown riot. When one reporter spoke to witness Alyssa, she described seeing “a riot van, fire truck, and ambulance all around the station entrance. A huge crowd of protesters were out. Some in masks and one even had a shield. A few more were hiding behind the wall by that motel.
Detective Jack Hartigan was on the scene of the riot when it started. He stated that “it didn’t start out as a riot. It was supposed to be some peaceful protesters, just like you see across the country. Of course, we support the rights of our town’s citizens to voice their concerns, however, it would appear that not everyone was there for the right reasons.” At some point, the protest turned into a full blown riot, and it appears the HPD have a lead on the cause of the event. All the Detective was able to say was, “we have it on good authority that the Rejects made an appearance, instigating the violence and really pushing the event from a peaceful gathering to a full scale riot that needed calming, before people got hurt. The chanting they used actually called out the Rejects as a dominant force in the city again. So, no too bright on their part. But also, it’s been Rejects MO in the past to use false allegations against the HPD to really drive a wedge between us and the citizens.”
Luckily, no major injuries were reported. Witness Alyssa even stated that “the paramedics didn’t seem worried.” It was reported that the HPD had to result to using riot shields and tear gas to prevent any injuries from happening, which is standard procedure for such events. Detective Hartigan wants to stress that “right out of the gate we wanted to protect the civilians right to organize, I mean, it’s a constitutional right and we take that seriously. Non lethal was an immediate order, nobody was to use any sort live munition round. That means using a standard organic biodegradable crowd dispersal mist, tear gas for when things get a little bit too rowdy, and bean bag rounds for the truly unruly individuals.” It appears that once again the HPD proved themselves to be the heroes of the city.
Hathian’s police for does not have the best reputation, however when looking at the statistics, they are doing a much better job than the citizens may give them credit for. Detective Hartigan shared these statistics to further stress just how much they truly care about the safety of the city’s people. In “2016, there were 83 rape victims, and the HPD arrested 79 rapists. The HPD responded to 102 attempted robberies, in which the suspects fled before causing any serious damage. ”
To further assist the community, the Hathian Police Department had been raising money for the children at Seaside Elementary to build them a new playground. However, due to the cost of the supplies that they had to use during the riot, the money that was raised now has to be used to restock supplies and pay the officers who were called into duty. Detective Hartigan wants to stress that “when they act out, it doesn’t just affect the cops and the protesters, and the fire fighters and the paramedics. This time, the children were affected. They are the real victims. Hopefully, people will remember this the next time they think about acting out. Who are they really hurting. We have bullet proof vest, shields, helmets, but the children… there’s no bullet proof vest for their little hearts.”
(photographs provided by reporter Abu Muhammad)
