pepper spray used on crowds for tennis shoes ??

[littlewolf]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/122410dnmetshoes.42eb1f8e.html



Mesquite police use pepper spray to quell clamor for new Air Jordan shoes at Town East Mall
04:43 PM CST on Thursday, December 23, 2010
By RAY LESZCYNSKI / The Dallas Morning News
[e-mail]
Mesquite police twice used pepper spray on shoppers at Town East Mall early Thursday as a crowd of 400-500 pushed for first access to limited pairs of Cool Grey 11, the new Air Jordan sneakers.
Though the first use of the spray was to help a child that police said was trapped against the door, nobody was hurt and there were no arrests. Problems with release of the shoe were also reported in Houston.

Mesquite Police Lt. Bill Hedgpeth said police were already staffing the site shortly before 6 a.m. when they noticed the child pushed against the door between the mall and parking lot that was scheduled to open early for the shoe sale.
"As the door opened to help the child, the crowd tried to enter," Hedgpeth said. Pepper spray was used to hold them back.

A couple minutes later, another push broke the same door and police again sprayed the crowd, Hedgpeth said.
Sandra LaClave, general manager for Town East, said the three stores that offered the shoes opened at 6 a.m. as planned and quickly sold out of their supplies. The shoes are being sold for $175-$200 per pair.

[Cirque du So-What]

1. A child was clearly in danger of being crushed to death

I'm among the first to condemn police brutality and other abuses of power, but drastic action was most definitely called for in this situation.

[Statistical]

2. Nobody plays tennis in Air Jordons. You show your age calling them tennis shoes.

:)

Seriously though according to the article pepper spray was used to disperse the crowd which was crushing a child against the store door. I don't see anything wrong with that. In a mob it is difficult to communicate to the individual. The use of pain is useful for breaking a person out of the mob. Suddenly when in pain (like from pepper spray) they are no longer a member of the mob, things become a lot more individual. It isn't the mob being hurt it is themselves being hurt and they react as expected (getting away from source of the pain).

[Bobbieo]

8. Who is their right mind pays $200 for TENNIS SHOES these days? I may be showing

my age, but my house is paid for.

[Angry Dragon]

3. Can't have Christmas without $200 tennis shoes

[Rex]

4. They are NOT sheeple, no

not even sheep will trample their young over a choice watering hole.

[littlewolf]

5. my point was

1. I am all in favor of protecting the child ...
2. who pays 200. for tennis shoes ... even air jordans ...
3. I thought we were in a recession ... and there is a big enough crowd that the police
had to use pepper spray ??? shesh ...

[slackmaster]

6. It's Cabbage Patch Dolls, Tickle Me Elmo, etc. all over again

Almost every year now.

[Stevenmarc]

7. Who doesn't love an artificially created collectible factor