By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
Good Lord! I know low prices are great and all that, but an actual stampede over a low priced laptop? Here’s a story of a crowd that got seriously ugly in Richmond Virginia when an iBook went on sale for $50.
“What started as a sale turned into a mob scene as thousands of people pushed their way through the Richmond International Raceway gates to buy a $50 iBook laptop computer from Henrico County Schools Tuesday morning.
“An estimated 5500 people were on hand when the gates were opened. What followed can only be described as chaos as dozens rushed to get to the head of the line. People were trampled, shoved and pushed. Starletta Wilson pointed to her child’s broken stroller, “Yeah, they pushed me, look at my child’s stroller… they actually pushed me and stampeded over me. Those people who are down there now were behind us.”
“Dustin Coppinger, who attended the sale, said he saw an older man run over by anxious buyers, “An old man in a walker was trampled to the ground. Trampled to the ground… walked all over,” he said. Alice Jemerson was one victim who got trampled.” Look at my knees. They ran on top of me. I just starting kicking the people,” she said.
“There were also heat problems as 17 people were treated for heat exhaustion. Four were taken to the hospital.
There were only 5 police on the scene when the gates were opened at 7 o’clock. Seventy additional officers were called in including 20 in riot gear. Twenty-two firemen were also needed.” Source: NBC 12 Richmond, VA
UPDATE: Gizmodo is claiming the riot is Dell’s fault since Dell outbid the school dumping the iBooks and thus causing the riot.
This is really sad. I mean, a $50 iBook is a great deal, but it’s just not worth it in this case.
um, if McDonalds offered 5 cent burgers and peopled trampled over each other to get to the counter, would it be McDonalds fault? People need to take responsibility for their own actions. If you trampled someone to get a 50$ iBook, it is your fault, not someone else’s. Only in America do we always find someone else to blame.
PS: If you find this comment offensive, don’t blame me. Blame the dell computer and firefox browser that allowed me to compose my thoughts and post them here.
Ok. I see a problem here. I understand a lot of people want cheap laptops, and I also understand that the school system involved has made one hell of a mistake. Oh what I wouldnt give to be in the courtrom at just one of the prelim court actions against the school board. The problem here is that for years the school systems have been insulating themselves against violence with an insulting take-no-prisoners “no tolerance” approach to solving issues with violence(in-house). The answer to all acts of violence or “perceived violence” (even down to kids on the playground playing cops and robbers) was expulsion or PROSECUTION. Just like they do in prisons, it’s all about control. Despite the sheer idiocy of trying to enforce “no tolerance”, all parties involved in disputes are usually punished equally (to give the children some idea of justice).
Then along come the bean-counters who demand that the school board dispose of the no longer needed items “to the public” in order to recover whatever money they can from the used equipment on sale.
A riot ensues. A RIOT CAUSED BY THE SCHOOL BOARD OF HENRICO COUNTY. Now I’m not a lawyer, but it appears to be a double standard operating in the school boards across America today. On one hand, they profess to be extremely sensitive to violence in our schools, and have developed methods to deal with that element.
On the other hand, the school board seems to be completely ignorant of the safety and security of the general public that comprises most (if not all) of the school boards cash income.
So, how long before the school board accepts the inevitable and resigns from the positions they hold? $5 says it will not happen. Those at the top will nail some unlucky underling for the criminal acts that occurred, and they’ll do so amidst the public outcry for blood. Then they will tell us (through the lawyers, of course) that the issues were solved and the matter is closed.
Not likely.
I’d like to say to the school board members of Henrico County, I will not rest until EVERY SINGLE BOARD MEMBER IS BEHIND BARS. You need a little refresher of what life is like when you are “taught” and by your own rules, you get prosecution.
See ya in court, loser.
Isn’t it past your bedtime?
The sale should have been done through a lottery — this would have avoided the ugly scene at RIR yesterday. As I blogged about here, I knew (same as anyone in this area knew months ahead of time) that this was gonna be bad, and when I heard on the news the night before that the school had hired “several” off-duty police officers for crowd and traffic control (“several”! — it should have been “dozens”!), I expected no less explosive a scene.
Nobody has been charged with a crime as yet, though several people were hurt and personal property was destroyed. Some witnesses thought they recognized certain current and former members of the Richmond City Council running roughshod over citizens — oh wait, that’s every other story about the Richmond area.
Bedtime? We don need no stinkin bedtime…
I’m up now.
I agree with post #5: you do a lottery or you have better crowd control and let the first 100 in and keep everyone else away. Or sell them on Ebay.
5,500 People Turn Ugly When a $50 iBook Goes on Sale
Good Lord! I know low prices are great and all that, but an actual stampede over a low priced laptop? Here’s a story of a crowd that got seriously ugly in Richmond Virginia when an iBook went on sale for $50. “What started as a sale turned into a mob…
Has anyone considered the fiscal mismanagement involved in selling so low when interest is so high? School boards are always strapped for cash so why didn’t they start at $200-250 – a better price for the schoolboard and far less likely to cause panic and rioting.
The Inevitable “I Went to Henrico County for a $50 iBook and But All I Got Was Kicked in the Balls” T-Shirt
OK, so everyone knows about the colossal blunder and unfortunate stampede that occurred yesterday when a naive school district in Richmond Virgina tried to sell off iBooks for $50. (Read up on that here in case you missed out.) What we love is how fast…
I agree with comment 2 – people need to take responsibility for their own actions. A bunch of morons trampling old men and kids in strollers are the “at fault” people here. I do think the school board should get some of the blame, however – they should have expected these idiots to show up. It seems lots of other people expected it.
Cattle Chutes would have worked great!!
The school system, the cops, the race-track – NONE of them made any mistakes. NONE. Stop blaming the wrong people for mistakes that the guilty parties NEVER GET PUNISHED FOR.
Its the PEOPLE who are the fools and who made the mistakes:
First mistake, going there. What the HELL did they think they were gonna get for $50? A used up PC that’s only going to be out of date (which it really is already) and then what? Throw it out? Don’t tell me they’re all gonna eBay those things. I wouldn’t give you the lint in my pocket for those.
Second mistake, If these people live in Henrico Country, then they ALREADY bought those laptops with their tax money and now they’re buying them back? Smart. Real smart. Let someone else buy it.
Third mistake, having gone there even THINKING that other’s would be cordial, respectful, honest and considerate. Have you tried to drive on the roads in this area? Have you tried to park in the stores’ parking lots in this area? Have you tried to live in the communities in this area? People are incredibly inconsiderate, disrespectful, dishonest, rude, immature, thoughtless, reckless, self-centered and so on. Exactly what made these people BELIEVE that it would be any different with a gathering of buffoons thinking they were getting something for next to nothing is beyond me.
People are incredible. They’re blaming the school? Ha. The only thing the school did wrong was not put these laptops on eBay themselves, and take the money they made from them and bought kids schools supplies this year, thus easing the burden on the already underpaid teaching staff.
Its situations like this where the TASER guns would have been put to great use. What a bunch of losers.
Whoever it was that said the school board needs to be behind bars is foolish.
Stating the obvious.
The police should have made arrests and filed according assault charges against individuals in the crowd.
phentermine
ideology snuggle Ullman:rib adjutant glamorous Jehovah?periphery calculates phentermine http://phenterminehclhere.blogspot.com/