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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Liquor law violations skyrocket at concert

The University Police Department logged three times as many liquor law violations during Sunday’s Spring Fling concert than during Fall Fest and last year’s spring show.

Twelve students were charged with liquor law violations in University Yard starting at about 6 p.m., compared to three violations in the Smith Center during last April’s Spring Fling. Officers reported a total of 19 liquor law violations Sunday, four of which occurred in residence halls.

UPD recorded few or no liquor law violations at past Spring Fling concerts, which before 2010 were part of the Mount Vernon Campus event Fountain Fling.

At this year’s Fall Fest, three students were charged with alcohol violations as hundreds swarmed University Yard to see Diplo, a performance that ended in downpours.

GW capped the number of attendees at 800 for last year’s spring show, after it was forced indoors due to predicted thunderstorms. UPD recorded one charge of disorderly conduct that day in a residence hall.

UPD Chief Kevin Hay did not return a request for comment on the concert violations or on how officers prepare for large events that tend to attract students who have been drinking.

Some students said Sunday’s concert, held during one of the first warm weekends of the semester, was rowdier than in prior years. UPD charged six students with disorderly conduct at the show that featured Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Walk the Moon.

Police arrested a student at about 7 p.m. for assaulting two police officers after he was denied access to the concert. He was not allowed past the gate because students had already packed the area around the stage. Thousands lined up as early as 2:30 p.m. to watch the show.

The student then shoved one of the officers and as police tried to arrest him, he resisted and struck another officer in the ear, Hay said.

UPD also charged a male subject with underage drinking after he was caught trying to get backstage. EMeRG assessed him, but he was not sent to the hospital. Officers barred the man from campus.

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