A large off-campus party near the University of Colorado Boulder erupted into violence Saturday night when individuals assaulted first responders and vandalized property.
“We are aware of a large party on University Hill on Saturday evening and allegations of violence toward police officers responding to the scene,” CU Boulder said in an alert sent around 9:45 p.m. Saturday night. “We condemn this conduct. It is unacceptable and irresponsible, particularly in light of the volume of training, communication and enforcement the campus and city have dedicated to ensuring compliance with COVID-19 public health orders.”
“CU Boulder will not tolerate any of our students engaging in acts of violence or damaging property,” the university said. “Any student who is found responsible for having engaged in acts of violence toward the law enforcement or other first responders will be removed from CU Boulder and not readmitted.” (RELATED: Senate To Hold First Hearing About Capitol Riot ‘Security Failures’ With Police, Sergeant At Arms)
Footage showed extensive damage caused to the area. 9News Denver reporter Marc Sallinger posted videos showing a car that had been flipped over and destroyed and glass covering the street.
Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said during a Sunday press conference that there were thousands of dollars in damage inflicted on police vehicles.
College students in Boulder had a party with several hundred people in the middle of a pandemic. Boulder PD showed up to disperse the crowd and threatened to arrest people. This is what remains of a car people flipped over and destroyed #9News pic.twitter.com/221GjNNijP
— Marc Sallinger (@MarcSallinger) March 7, 2021
The flipped car’s owner said that she watched it get destroyed from an upstairs window, Fox31 Denver KDVR reporter Courtney Fromm said on Twitter.
We spoke with the girl who owns this car she stated she hopes whoever did this to her car gets in trouble. She watched her car get destroyed from an upstairs window. @KDVR @channel2kwgn https://t.co/tF4nLfPtE6
— Courtney Fromm (@courtney_fromm) March 7, 2021
Videos showed hundreds of students gathered together and property being destroyed.
A student sent me this video of her friends car being destroyed. Hundreds of students filled the street here on 10th & Pennsylvania. @KDVR @channel2kwgn **LANGUAGE WARNING** ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/wfWlwgqL59
— Courtney Fromm (@courtney_fromm) March 7, 2021
Another student shared this video with @KDVR @channel2kwgn … hundreds of students. No social distancing in sight. ???? pic.twitter.com/VioLciS0MQ
— Courtney Fromm (@courtney_fromm) March 7, 2021
embarrassed to be a buff tonight. do better boulder. pic.twitter.com/oGe7dCqdKz
— Paul Gordon (@pgordon2019) March 7, 2021
A little before #Boulder police arrived pic.twitter.com/t1Yd7Xkclq
— Mitchell Byars (@mitchellbyars) March 7, 2021
The Boulder Police Department, which responded to the chaos, said around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning that they were reviewing body camera footage and social media videos to identify those responsible for the acts of violence. Three officers were injured, including one who was hit in the face with a blunt object. Herold said that the other two injuries were minor injuries from projectiles being thrown at them. (RELATED: Family Christmas Party Became COVID-19 Superspreader Event, Infecting 18 People)
“Detectives will review every lead we have to identify and arrest those responsible for this reprehensible and unacceptable behavior,” Herold said in a statement.
Police began receiving calls about house parties around 1:00 p.m. Saturday, Herold said during the press conference. By around 5:40 p.m., SWAT teams were deployed as the crowd reached a size of between 500 and 800 people. The crowd was contained and dispersed by around 8:35 p.m.
There was one arrest early in the afternoon when a person climbed onto an Amazon truck, but no arrests were made during the height of the incident, Herold said. Around two canisters of tear gas were used, but no other less-lethal weapons were discharged.
Police body camera footage will be released to the public after the investigation is concluded.