Santa Cruz Sentinel
May 1, 1992
SANTA CRUZ - As news of the Los Angeles riots spread Wednesday night, several hundred UC Santa Cruz students marched downtown, attacking the police station, an officer's house and the courthouse before being returned to campus on UCSC shuttle busses.
The vandalism was strongly condemned by local and university officials.
"It was a definite mob mentality," said Lt. Rick Bartle. "The vast majority were UCSC students. They are representatives of the campus and it doesn't serve well to establish a good working relationship with the community and campus."
The demonstration began at USC around midnight. Students spray painted slogans, broke bottles and lit a dumpster afire on campus. They then marched down Bay Street, throwing rocks through the windows of a police officer's home and screaming obscenities, police said.
The demonstrators went to the police station, where they smashed most of the windows and threw trash cans through the lobby doors. Demonstrators lit an American flag stolen from McDonalds ...... (clipping cut off)
The burning pillar was extinguished by firefighters as flames moved into the eaves of the building.
A Molotov cocktail was throw against a police car, but failed to ignite the vehicle, police said.
A brick was thrown through Mayor Don Lane's office window.
The marchers then went to the courthouse, where they broke a number of large windows and glass doors.
At 4 a.m., UCSC officials sent two shuttle buses downtown, which picked up about half the thinning crowd and ended the vandalism.
"The decision to send the shuttles was made by a UCSC police sergeant in an attempt to end the demonstration," said UCSC spokesman Jim Burns. "By getting the students off the street, the intention was to protect both parties."
Bartle said the incidents were filmed. Police hope to identify and arrest those responsible, he said. No arrests were made during the vandalism, because of the large numbers of protestors and the fear of igniting even more violence.