Do you think Law Enforcement Officers were justified in their actions following ECU’s win over West Virginia Saturday?

We are 70 year old alumna and were at the game. We saw the celebration on the field and know that the police did use excessive force. My wife even thought of joining in, but I talked her out of it, without using excessive force.

I wasnt at the game but was watching from home and to see this video and to know how hard the fans have cheered over the past years and how hard Coach Holtz has worked to prep this football team for big wins...it had to be know that a win would bring fans out of the stands. Even the folks I was around had already stated that it was going to be crazy as soon as it was over, we could tell and it well should have been! I do not feel or think that any fan who took the field were thinking of being stopped they only wanted to celebrate and show how proud WE R of OUR FOOTBALL TEAM...WAY TO GO PIRATES!

Even though it has been over 25 years since graduating from ECU - I still remember running onto the ECU field after some huge victory like this when I was in school and for the record everyone who did this was not drunk. Excited, thrilled and happy - yes!! Take a good look at the pages of The Daily Reflector - does the picture of Johnathan Willaims surrounded by fans look scared or happy and excited with celebration? When things like beating students happen with force it makes it tough to think and wonder am I only a Pirate Club financial donor for the money to ECU or not for the pride and excitement of being an ECU Pirate Fan? What an insult to ECU Pirate fan morale! Which image makes you want to be part of the ECU fan base and be a Pirate Club Season ticket holder?

I'M A WVU FAN AND AS HARD AS IT WAS FOR TO LOSE, IT WAS EQUALLY AS JOYOUS FOR ECU FANS TO WIN. THE STORMING OF THE FANS IS LIKE A RIGHT OF PASSAGE WHEN A BIG GAME IS WON. EVERY ONE KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN IF ECU WON. IT WAS NOT DONE DONE TO SPIT IN THE FACE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, SO WHY THE HARSH TREATMENT OF THE FANS? INSTEAD OF TREATING THIS KIND OF SITUATION AS AN ANGRY MOB RIOTING, LAW ENFORCEMENT SHOULD HAVE TAKEN A STEP BACK AND BABY-SAT THE CROWD AND INTERVENED ONLY IF THERE WAS A REAL THREAT OF INJURY TO SOME ONE. LET'S FACE IT WAS REALLY WOULD HAVE HAPPENED? A GROUP OF HAPPY PEOPLE ALL FEELING LOVE FOR EACH OTHER, THE TEAM AND THE SCHOOL MIGHT HAVE SANG SOME VICTORY SONGS AND CHEERED THEN LEFT.

We are loosing our Rights a little bit at a time. "We Will Not Be Silenced"! Speak up!

My husband,3 kids and I have been going to every ECU football game since graduation and are members of the Pirate Club. We have great seats down front and witnessed not a "riot" but very happy alumni and students celebrating a victory!! Everybody knows ECU was going to rush the field.The police were just picking and choosing who they were going to beat down! Our entire section was booing and standing in disbelief as we watched this. I did not see any fans throwing punches or being disrespectful to the officers. It is sad that a few law enforcement officers can make the entire police force look bad.

Its a shame that people have to endure pain for someone else poor judgement of not knowing when to have a good time and is taking their job to serious. Its just goes to show how our policemen are not train right. They are put in those positions to protect not to beat people who opposed no threat.

You understand that ECU just won a really BIG Game! Yes you want to celebrate the big win but NO ONE is talking about the fine that the school gets for people storming the field. Has anyone told the public this information??? Nope not at all. The officers were just doing there job and yes some took it out of control but the footage doesn't show what the kid did. Two wrongs don't make a right. Because these few officers did bad why does it make the rest bad? Some where down the line these "people" who are saying they don't have training I am sure they do...they put there life on the line everytime they get into there cop car. While you are ensured of a safe place to sleep at night they are out leaving there families to protect you. Everyone HATES a cop until they need one.

There is not much to investigate. The pictures should be enough. But if not how about the at least 40,000 or so fans that were still in the stadium when the students were being thrown and slammed and punched. The evidence is unsurmountable and the students wre the victims. The law enforcement officers involved should be ashamed for bringing such disrespect to your title.

As usual blame the cops! Yes I was just as excited sitting in those stands as everyone else. But as usual we the public as well as the media are using a few seconds of video to crusify these officers. Did the student assualt one of these officers? Was he complying with commands to stop resisting an arrest? Did any of you stop to think that this officer was not just "punching/beating" this person but that this is called a peraneil stike to the leg taught by every law enforcement academy across this country? Or that tresspassing on private property A.K.A. the field is an arrestible offence? My point is this, maybe there was some excessive use of force but please use your common sense and educated minds and realize there is always more to the story than just a few seconds of video that the media checks into or tells you about. I didn't see where this station or any other checked into the acts showed on this tape to see if it was just a maylay or educated techniques used by law enforcement to affect an arrest. Finally, did anyone notice the lack of cops at the stadium? Or that ECU PD conviently had none of there officers on the field but all up in the stands. I would think that a police dept centered around these type of events on a routine basis would be the ones in main control of these crowds. Sounds to me as if the ball was dropped by ECU Police from the start. Just my observation from the stands.

I felt unsafe with the 12% increase in crime (in the Greenville area) before this. I tried to give the police the benefit of the doubt, but it looks as though the police are adding to the problem more than they are to the solution.

What would Andy do??? The cop pummeling the student was less justified than the fan pummeling the ref after the call that cost the Pirates a victory over Miami back in the 80's! I'm all for law enforcement, but gimme a break! Its not like they were hell bent on rushing into a department store for a little five finger discount after a hurricane! I guess the SWAT team will be in force in a couple of weeks in Raleigh... better hire Gomer and Otis!

I think both sides were wrong, with students setting the pace for the response that occured. But the news reporting has really added more fire to a bad incident, you guys are intensifying what happed and making the memory of it linger on. Give it a break before you provoke an occurence at the next game.

I have to ask, if you lock your door, you expect someone not to break in and steal all your stuff, right? If you have a police officer standing on a field, with a whole lot of other officers, don't you kind of expect that you shouldn't go onto the field they are trying to keep you off of? Or do a bunch of excited, in various stages of sobriety, fans, not understand that concept? Point the finger of wrong in all the directions, not just one that you don't have all the answers to. If you went on the field, you were wrong. Plain and simple. Was everything done correctly, no. Will those issues be dealt with, yes. Are police the only ones to blame, no. Do fans also have a responsibility to behave, yes. We can all choose sides, we can all better ourselves, and each other. Now who will step up and accept it?

Without question the force and reaction was way across the line and this type action causes people to have less respect for law enforcement when a few officers abuse innocent people throwing around their "authority" particularly when it was in no way an out of control situation. After the biggest win in Greenville next to beating UNC and State, it was a huge disappointment to witness as I did from the stands. Several officers were FLAT OUT WRONG and they know it - the officers involved are most likely laughing about it. ECU should have anticipated this and instead of the PA announcer making a statement in the last minute of the game for everyone to stay off the field(which wasn't going to happen) - the annoucement should have been that the goal posts will be removed immediately following the game and any attempt towards the goal posts will warrant an arrest. It will be interesting to see what action, if any, will be taken against those officers that beat, hit and knocked down those innocent fans. It's not like it was 2:00am downtown... ...on national tv live and it's posted on youtube.com and will be posted for a while i'm sure - that's nice...

There is no excuse for what the police did to the students at the game. At the end of the game, put the goal posts down, get the players and coaches to safety, and let the students jump up and down for 20 or 30 minutes. They can only jump for so long. After they settle down, you can have ceremonies if you want but the main thing is to keep everyone safe without having to beat any of them. I know that is a foreign concept for LEOs in the perverted state they have gotten themselves into but that is the way they used to think before SWAT and no knock warrents and such. Everyone at the game would have been safer if there were no police there at all. Sad but true.

The big picture here is that someone should probably inform Mr. Holland and anyone else whom it may concern that you can continue to release comments about how you were saddened that the football team didn't get to sing with the band after the game and so on, but what you are basically saying is that you really don't care about how the students that support your sports teams were assaulted for doing just that, supporting your sports teams. I understand that they don't financially support the programs, or at least not yet, but what I think you are failing to recognize is that lots of the Pirate Club members that do financially support the programs saw themselves as students rushing the field maybe 10, 20, 30 or so years ago and because of this they have taken it very personally. My advice would be to release a comment that at least shows some compassion for the students wither you feel any or not.

I'm an ECU student and a rock hard pirate football fan. I've been watching pirate football my entire life and this easily ranks as one of the biggest wins in my lifetime. Anyone that understands collegiate sports should realize the intensity that the atmosphere it creates, especially football games. I think most college sports fans would agree that a college football game's atmosphere is what makes it so amazing and fun to be apart of. Winning a big game like the one the pirates had against West Virginia is something that only happens with the extreme rarity of once every few years or longer. With such a big win, creates the wonderful oppertunity for the traditional rushing of the field by the students of the home team to join in the celebration with their team and coaches. Yes, this happens year in and year out in college sports and has become a tradition with joy and excitment that comes from such a victory that cannot be imitated. The point I am trying to make is the ECU staff should have been well aware that the students would partake in the field rushing after the game if we won. I understand that they are trying to ensure a safe environment for the opposing team and staff but do you really think those fans were going to try and bother or provoke any of those players during their exit? All they wanted to do was celebrate the win with their team and show their appreciation and gratitude. Were some of the police officers out of line? Obviously a few used some questionable force but my main concern is with the people who put the security there and told them how to handle the crowd. First, they should understand that you arn't going to be able to stop the students from rushing the field. Secondly, they need to watch the manner in which they treat the students. They are not crimminals, they are just overly jubulant fans. Body slamming, overly beating, and chasing with batons? Come on! That's rediculous. My last pickle is with Athletic Director Terry Holland. From what this news station has reported, it seems that he is more upset about the football team missing out on the alma mater rather than the violent treatment of his student fans. That makes me sick to my stomach. While these students are being handled in such a manner that we all saw, Terry Holland is feeling sorry for the team for missing out on an event that I don't think they have ever participated in before. Chancellor Ballard needs to stand up for his kids, Holland should apologize for his statement, and the Chief of police should do whatever he feels is neccesary after a proper investigation. It's a shame that this game has been overshadowed by this unfortunate event and kept us all from enjoying college football at its best.

Seems to me like Kinston Police just wanted to get a hold of some ECU students. There stuck down there in Kinston and bored, figured they'd come to a college town and get some action. Kinston shouldn't have been there, they don't even have jurisdiction in Pitt County.

Yes, fans are expected to be excited, and to celebrate. However, they should also be respectful of the rules laid out, and follow those rules. Just because a rather large group decided NOT to follow those rules, does that mean they were to be allowed carte' blanche? The videos that have been shown are not nearly enough to show beyond a doubt that any of the LEOs did anything wrong. I'm also disappointed that the ECU PD and officials are apparently so misguided that they are supporting the fans who BROKE THE LAW and IGNORED THE RULES by going onto the field. Please tell me how this is teaching these people to abide by laws and rules??

I think that the students have been told for years they arent supposed to be on the field. I do believe that the images we have seen has been beyond excessive force and that perhaps ECU should look into a more efficient way of keeping the students off the field after the game. It saddens me that everytime we Pirates do something fantastic it has to be overshadowed by someones stereotypical Pirate behavior. Not all Pirates are like that...and for the most part they were just excited college kids not thinking about what they were doing in the fog of their enthusiasm. Perhaps if the police had stood in a row blocking entry to the field then we would still be looking at the amazing win and not all of this negative attention.

ECU had a great WIN!! But it is being over shaddowed by this negative attention. It has been stated that the police were protecting their selves, well none of the extremely excited fans were bothering the Police in any way! They just wanted to get on the field to show how proud they were of the football team and to be a Pirate!! This is a sad moment for ECU and for the Police that do not abuse their authority! I truly hope the police force (Lenoir County) and police individuals responsible for this disgraceful action are held responsible for their actions. Police, county or city, have a hard enough job as it is. Its sad that the goods ones have to suffer bacause of the bad ones!

As an SEC fan (University of South Carolina), SEC rules state that we are not allowed to storm the field after big wins. The university gets fined, and the fines increase for each offense. When Coach Lou Holtz was here (Skip as well), he mentioned on his show that the fans should act like they have been here before. The students were in an area that was off limits to them. If you looked at the ESPN broadcast, Coach Skip Holtz and Holly Rowe were being pushed around. You can hear Coach Holtz tell Holly "You better get out of here" They were in an unsafe environment. The officers where doing their jobs.

If Terry Holland has a problem with security, I am sure all he has to do is ask for volunteers and many like me will be glad to watch the game from the sidelines. It won't cost a thing. I have many more friends that are bouncers and they know how to handle drunken college kids who are just having fun without abusing them. After all, when you run a bar you can't beat down the clientel and expect they will come back. If you want Pirate Club members to bring their checkbook, this better not happen again. Even with a winning team, if I see this again, I will be watching from a sportsbar and saving my thousand dollars next year.

Louis said it best. You can handle kids without beating them up. This should never be allowwss to happen agian. What I saw reminded me not of a college campus but of Russian occupied Hungary or Nazi Germany. The cops even wore Brown Shirts to remind us of Histroy Channel type footage. What I want to know is why isn't the SBI or FBI involved??? Don't they handle cases of police abuse? The thugs in uniform involved should be publicly exposed as the filth they are, fired and charged. Do a google news search on "ECU police". You will be stunned. This has received international attention. The administraiton and the police forces involved had better get in front of it.