Stabbing occurs at UMass fashion show
By Dan O'Brien
Collegian Staff
March 07, 2005
A brawl inside a fashion show at the University of Massachusetts Student Union Ballroom may have resulted in the stabbing of a UMass football player late Saturday night, according to eyewtiness reports.
Sources said the altercation took place inside a fashion show after-party sponsored by "Soul TV," a registered student organization that promotes artistic programming for UMass students. Unconfirmed reports said the fight took place between a group of men from Springfield and a few UMass students.
Multiple witnesses have said a UMass football player identified as "J-Mart" was slashed in the face by a knife during the altercation. However, no one would divulge his identity.
The fight caused the party to turn to chaos, according to Monique Jemmott, director of the fashion show.
"It was very chaotic," Jemmott said. "At the time, even the police couldn't figure out who was involved in the stabbing."
Apparently the fight occurred about 15 to 20 minutes into the party. The after-party was originally scheduled to be held in the party hall at the top of the Campus Center, but due to an unexpected high number of attendees, the party was relocated to the fashion show's location at the Student Union Ballroom.
The ballroom was cleared for about 45 minutes between the end of the fashion show and the start of the party. Jemmot says she and her staff didn't anticipate the high number of people in attendence.
"Our biggest mistake we made was that we didn't search the people who were coming back in," Jemmot said.
Because Soul TV did minimal promotion of the event, organizers only expected less than 300 people to attend. However, about 500 people showed up, reaching the ballroom's capacity only 30 minutes after the event had started. After the fight broke out, police used pepper spray, rubber bullets, and K-9 units to control the crowd, according to witnesses.
"People were saying it's just like the sixties because the police treated the situation like it was riots," said Alex Demonsthe, a Daily Collegian photographer who was taking pictures of the fashion show. "There was a lot of confusion."
Jemmot complained that the police used pepper spray just outside the doors of the ballroom, the same location where innocent bystandards were trying to escape the violence of the brawl.
"Anyone who went outside was hit with pepper spray," she said.
An unidentified witness outside the event says there were many people who were visibly trying to catch their breath and crying.
"I saw a guy carrying a girl over his shoulder... She was coughing and gasping. She was like choking and crying."
Jemmott says no one from Soul TV knows why the fight took place. But she added the fashion show "went beautifully."
She added that the show made more money than any other event this semester, according to Tickets Unlimited.
UMass Police have not released any information on the stabbing as of press time, but did say they will release information to the media today.
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