Emotional Red Sox Fans Kiss Marathon Finish Line

Meanwhile, riots break out in New Hampshire, at UMass
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 31, 2013 7:59 AM CDT

Celebrations—and, occasionally, riots—broke out all over Red Sox Nation following last night's World Series win, the team's first at Fenway since 1918. But one gathering had particular poignancy: Many of the fans pouring out of Fenway made their way to the Boston Marathon finish line, bringing traffic to a standstill, ABC and Fox Sports report. Video from the scene shows a huge crowd breaking into a "Boston Strong!" chant, while social media photos show fan after fan kneeling to touch or kiss the line itself.

Of course, not all the celebrations were so uplifting. Other stories from the night:

  • The night's ugliest riot appears to have been up north at the University of New Hampshire, where police used pepper spray and pepper balls to disperse a crowd of around 3,000, arresting five, WMUR 9 reports. Fans were throwing bottles, lighting fireworks, and damaging cars, a town official tells Sea Coast Online, adding that Main Street was "littered with glass."
  • Elsewhere in New Hampshire, police reported "riotous" crowds in Keene, where one student was hit with a thrown rock, while at Plymouth State University, students set small fires around campus and ran around naked.
  • A big riot also hit the UMass Boston campus, where police arrested 15, again using pepper spray to disperse a crowd of about 3,000, the Daily New Hampshire Gazette reports. Students threw water bottles and toilet paper and climbed trees. Two were charged with assault and battery of a police officer.
  • Outside Fenway Park itself, police swiftly herded the crowd away from the area, and down onto the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Boston University's Daily Free Press reports, saying that, "The crowd was pushy, but no serious violence or rioting broke out." Nine people were arrested, according to the Boston Police Department.
(More World Series stories.)

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