The Mifflin Street Block Party, an annual event held Saturday just outside the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, descended into anarchy when a car overturned, 80 arrests were made and a police officer was injured.
The event usually draws large crowds, but police said last weekend’s celebration drew the largest crowd since the Covid-19 pandemic.
In one particularly scandalous act, attendees flipped a red Dodge Avenger, leaving its owner shocked and enraged.
Owner Reigna Jackson said the lack of support from the university was “infuriating” and forced her to ask for donations to replace her vehicle, which has been written off.
“I am overwhelmed with a mix of emotions and the lack of support here in Madison is infuriating,” she wrote on her fundraising page after parking her car in a parking lot near Mifflin Street.
His mother, Tamaran Cook, said WISN 12 News that his daughter saw her car vandalized while attending a party two doors down. She said: “I’m surprised to know that people do this kind of thing.” It looks like a lot of wild animals.
Some attendees flipped over a red Dodge Avenger, which belongs to Reigna Jackson, who said the lack of support from the university was ‘infuriating’ as she asked for donations to replace her vehicle, which has been written off.
Thousands attended Mifflin Street Block’s annual party on Saturday
Footage shared on social media shows a group of people flipping Reigna’s car before jumping on it.
Her mother said she was outraged and heartbroken for her daughter, who is attending college on a scholarship and needed her car to get to her new full-time job.
“I was recently offered a job that I had to turn down now that I don’t have safe transportation,” Reigna wrote in her fundraiser.
Their red Dodge overturned around 2:40 p.m. Saturday and officers later cleared the backyards of homes in the 500 block of Mifflin Street. No injuries were reported in connection with this incident.
As of 5:45 p.m., police had arrested more than 80 people, mostly for minor alcohol-related offenses such as underage drinking. Six of the arrested attendees were booked into the Dane County Jail.
A Madison Police Department officer was injured after being struck by a vehicle while working a traffic job, but she was walking and alert when she was taken to the hospital for treatment for her reportedly minor injuries.
The driver involved remained at the scene and was not cited for the collision.
One of the students in attendance, Erik Van Dyke, spoke to local media before the event began and said he was excited to have a house on the street this year.
His roommate, John Polesnik, said the Mifflin Street Block party was one of his last opportunities to celebrate college life with his friends.
It’s one last hurray. “We all just want to celebrate, have a good time and that’ll be it and then we’ll graduate,” he told Spectrum News.
More than 150 officers worked crowd control as people in the 400 and 500 blocks of Mifflin Street set up porches and balconies, and one porch even broke under the weight of the students around 2:30 p.m.
There were also reports of several people climbing trees in the area and were helped down by police.
Another car was also damaged and the fire department was alerted to a downed power line, which turned out to be a low-voltage communications cable.
More than 150 officers worked on crowd control as people in the 400 and 500 blocks of Mifflin Street set up porches and balconies.
There were also reports of several people climbing trees in the area and were helped down by police.
As of 5:45 p.m., police had arrested more than 80 people, mostly for minor alcohol-related offenses such as underage drinking. Six of the arrested attendees were booked into the Dane County Jail.
The party ended around 5:40 p.m. as attendees left when it started to rain.
In total, 14 emergency services were called for medical emergencies, 11 of which resulted in transport to hospital. Most of these incidents were alcohol related.
Arrests nearly doubled from last year, when police arrested 44 people during the party, according to local media.
In previous years there have been reports of vandalized cars and collapsed balconies. In 2022, a rotten beam allegedly caused a balcony to collapse, injuring three people.
Building inspectors have examined homes on Mifflin Street since February and identified 24 porches, balconies and other areas that needed repairs; most of them had already been repaired before the party, police said.
Mike Hanson, captain of the Madison Police Central District, said safety was the most important thing for him and his colleagues Saturday.
“We’re looking for behaviors, safety issues, anything that catches our attention, so our advice to people is: If you come to this event, have fun, be safe and don’t draw attention to yourself,” he said. Spectrum News.
Hanson warned students before the event to be respectful that day. He said: ‘Doing silly activities, getting into fights, rioting, damaging property, opening bins. But don’t draw attention because there are more than 10,000 people and about 200 agents.’
The event began as a protest against the Vietnam War in 1969 and takes place on the last Saturday in April. What started as a political protest is now an opportunity for students, predominantly from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to socialize and drink.
The original event in 1969 did not receive police permission for street dancing and resulted in a three-day standoff between officers and students.
Students threw stones at police and set up barriers to defend themselves while police fired tear gas and batons.
Today, the event is a “rite of passage” and “something to do right before the finals,” Hanson said. Channel 3000.
He added: “95 percent of the people who attend this event are here to have a good time, to have fun and blow off some steam.”
