Cops And Students Face Off In New Hampshire After Annual Pumpkin Festival Turns Into Absurd, Chaotic Riot
11 years ago

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Students at Keene College in Keene, N.H., who attended the local pumpkin festival on Saturday, were justifiably subjected to tear gas and a police riot after their behavior transformed from pumpkin-loving friendliness to violent, idiotic drunkenness.

Police attempted to shut down the festival after the attendees got out of control, but it didn’t go well. The photos and videos from Keene are absurd:

One horrified mother described to Boston.com what she witnessed from her car:

“They started yelling directly at my daughter, and when they saw she was crying, they started to do it more,” [Stephanie] Konopka said. “They put their faces in the window and made these horrible faces and screamed these terrible things at her. And I was helpless, I couldn’t get to her. I was just trapped in the car. I couldn’t open the door, I couldn’t move the car. And then they started taking off their shirts and pushing themselves into the windows. At that point she was just beyond consoling.”

Eventually, the New Hampshire state police, who probably have the easiest job of all state police forces, broke out the rubber bullets:


Some of the injuries were brought on by flying beer bottles, like this guy’s bloody face:

Local news tried to capture the madness, but even the most experienced field reporter would’ve lost his cool when this festival organizer and pumpkin martyr tried to censor the reporter and shield the “Keene-area Pumpkin Festival” public image. First Amendment be damned:

As night fell, the mayhem continued. This car didn’t survive.


Rumors began to circulate that the National Guard had been dispatched before things eventually died down. All in all, 30 people were injured and 12 people were arrested.

The underlying irony: Keene requested an armored vehicle to thwart terrorism at the pumpkin fest, and was excessively mocked by the media for doing so–including HBO’s John Oliver.

(Skip to 7:15)

Lesson to be learned? Don’t mess with Keene College’s annual pumpkin festival.

Image via Twitter

  3. bourboncountry

    Not stopping your beer pong game even though the swat team is in your front yard. TFM.

    11 years ago at 12:17 pm
    1. Sand_Hill_Alum

      shut up you pog ass cherry little boot. start fucking pushing until i get tired

      11 years ago at 1:49 pm
      1. Quartermaster_TFM

        I haven’t heard that since basic. Would it help I said I get my 4 soon.

        11 years ago at 2:46 pm
      2. Sand_Hill_Alum

        you think that sham shield will protect your ass? you’re in for a world of hurt private

        11 years ago at 8:56 pm
  7. Booze_Hound

    I visited Keene over the weekend. What I can tell you is that Pumpkin Fest resembled that of New Orleans during Katrina, and trust me the levee broke, and in the words of Robert Plant, when the levee breaks, you got no place to stay. All in all, it was just some family fun. Was there a lot of liberals and hipsters on campus…yes. Was it still a good time, also yes.

    11 years ago at 3:26 pm