http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/oct05/366841.asp For the fourth year in a row, the annual Halloween celebration on State St. ended with police unleashing pepper spray on the crowd. But in a departure from previous years, police didn't wait for revelers to turn violent before taking action.
The annual Halloween party on Madison’s State St. grows tense early Sunday as police officers in riot gear use pepper spray for the fourth year in a row to move back the crowd on nearby Francis St. Portable stadium lights were brought in for the renowned event, which drew an estimated 65,000 revelers, but police didn’t wait for the crowd to turn violent before using pepper spray.
Instead, as bars started to empty shortly after 2 a.m., Madison police blared from speakers a public announcement declaring "unlawful" the thousands of party-goers who were congregated on the street. Minutes later, police officers in riot gear descended on the crowd, unloading pepper spray on those in their path. They instructed bars and restaurants, which remained open until 2:30 a.m. or 3 a.m., to keep patrons from leaving.
Police made the decision to use pepper spray after determining that a group of party-goers who were cheering and taunting them was bound to become violent, said Mike Hanson, a spokesman for the Madison Police Department, and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who monitored the response throughout the night. That was different from the past three years, when police used the spray only after Halloween revelers broke windows and lighted fires.
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