Thread: WI State Fair attacks - witnesses describe mobs

Scare at State Fair: witnesses describe mobs, including some claiming racially-charged attacks
By Jay Sorgi and the WTMJ News Team

CREATED 5:21 AM
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VIDEO AT LINK.


Did you witness the attacks outside State Fair, or were you attacked? Were you hurt? E-mail us your story!

WEST ALLIS - Witnesses tell Newsradio 620 WTMJ and TODAY'S TMJ4 of a mob of young people attacking innocent fair-goers at the end of the opening night of State Fair, with some callers claiming a racially-charged scene.

Milwaukee Police confirmed there were assaults outside the fair.

Witnesses' accounts claim everything from dozens to hundreds of young black people beating white people as they left State Fair Thursday night.

Authorities have not given official estimates of the number of people involved in the attacks.

"It looked like they were just going after white guys, white people," said Norb Roffers of Wind Lake in an interview with Newsradio 620 WTMJ. He left the State Fair Entrance near the corner of South 84th Street and West Schlinger Avenue in West Allis.

"They were attacking everybody for no reason whatsoever."

"It was 100% racial," claimed Eric, an Iraq war veteran from St. Francis who says young people beat on his car.

"I had a black couple on my right side, and these black kids were running in between all the cars, and they were pounding on my doors and trying to open up doors on my car, and they didn't do one thing to this black couple that was in this car next to us. They just kept walking right past their car. They were looking in everybody's windshield as they were running by, seeing who was white and who was black. Guarantee it."

Eric, a war veteran, said that the scene he saw Thursday outside State Fair compares to what he saw in combat.

"That rated right up there with it. When I saw the amount of kids coming down the road, all I kept thinking was, 'There's not enough cops to handle this.' There's no way. It would have taken the National Guard to control the number of kids that were coming off the road. They were knocking people off their motorcycles."

Roffers claimed that as he left the state fair with his wife, crowds near that entrance were large, and someone in that crowd .

"As we got closer to the street, we looked up the road, and we saw a quite a bit of commotion going on and there was a guy laying in the road, and nobody was even laying there. He wasn't even moving. Finally a car pulled up. They stopped right next to the guy, and it looked like someone was going to help him. We were kind of stuck, because we couldn't cross. Traffic was going through. Young black men running around, beating on people, and we were like 'Let's get the heck out of here.' The light turned, and I got attacked from behind. I just got hit in the back of the head real hard. I'm like, 'What the heck is going on here?' I heard my bell ring."

Roffers further described what witnesses said happened to the man who was lying in the street.

"People were saying he was on a bike. They tore him off his bike and beat on him. We were walking to the west on Schlinger. I was watching behind me a lot more diligently, making sure there wasn't anybody coming to get us anymore."

One person claimed that someone was knocked off a motorcycle.

TODAY'S TMJ4 video shows West Allis police handcuffing at least one person, but they won't say how many people they took into custody.

Some witnesses described attacks on the State Fair Grounds as well.

Milwaukee Police said that their officers were sent to State Fair Park for "complaints of battery, fighting and property damage due to a large, unruly crowd."

A police sergeant told TODAY'S TMJ4's Melissa McCrady that the number of calls describing injuries are still coming in, so they could not give an accurate number of people who were injured.

That sergeant explained that some injuries were serious, and local hospitals were attending to the injured.

Milwaukee Police said they had no one in custody.

One woman told police that she was sitting in her car with a window down when some teenagers reached through her window and started attacking her.

"I think once we get all the info in it'll be just like that, like what happened in Riverwest," said the police sergeant.

Eric: "I feared for my life"

Eric, who asked Newsradio 620 WTMJ not to use his last name, talked about the incidents that happened as he, his wife and a neighbor left the fair Thursday.

"We exited at the Schlinger and 84th exit, and we walked south about a block, and then went up and got our car, came back up and around down Schlinger. When we made a left hand turn, we were stopped in traffic. I looked toward the bridge, right before you get on the freeway, and all I saw was a road full of black kids, jumping over people's cars, jumping on people's hoods, running over the top of them."

Eric then claimed that he saw hundreds of young black people coming down a sidewalk.

"I saw them grab this white kid who was probably 14 or 15 years old. They just flung him into the road. They just jumped on him and started beating him. They were kicking him. He was on the ground. A girl picked up a construction sign and pushed it over on top of him. They were just running by and kicking him in the face."

Then, Eric talked about trying to get out of the car to help the victim.

"My wife pulled me back in because she didn't want me to get hit. Thankfully, there was surprising a lady that was in the car in front of me that jumped out of the car real quick and went over there to try to put her body around the kid so they couldn't see he was laying there and, obviously, defenseless. Her husband, or whoever was in the car, was screaming at her to get back into the car. She ended up going back into the car. These black kids grabbed this kid off the ground again, and pulled him up over the curb, onto the sidewalk and threw him into the bushes like he was a piece of garbage."

Eric claimed that the victim in that beating was by himself, and that there was a split of white people on one sidewalk and black people on the other.

"There was nobody else around to help him. There were no other white people, period, on that side of the street. They were going in the opposite direction because, those people who were coming out of the fair that saw these people coming, they either went back into the fair or took off running south on 84th Street."

Eric expressed anger at the State Fair Police for what he considered a lack of response.

"The thing that irritated me, the State Fair Police, the State Police, were down by the Pettit entrance to get in there," said Eric. "There was probably 5 or 6 officers down there. That's where all these kids came from. They came out of the Midway, across the front of the Pettit. They were still filing out of there. The State Fair Police, they knew this was going on. They knew these kids were beating these guys in between that exit and Schlinger at the next gate."

"They were stopping traffic, and I said 'What in the hell,' excuse my language, 'what are you guys doing directing traffic when there are 300, 400 black kids up the road beating the hell out of everybody, pushing people off of motorcycles?' I was livid. I could not believe they were directing traffic."

Roffers: "What in the hell's going on there?"

Roffers described his emotions and reactions to the attacks outside the park.

"I turned around and looked, there was this black kid standing there laughing, thinking it's funny. My wife's like, 'Let's get out of here.' It's one of those things, you don't expect it. Your reaction to it is, first of all, quite surprised, then you get so angry, it's like, 'What in the hell's going on there? Why are these guys acting like such hoodlums? What are they picking on anybody for?' We were just like cattle being herded out of the park, and they were picking and choosing who they wanted to beat on."

He said his injuries were limited to a headache.

Roffers said the attack wouldn't stop him from attending the State Fair.

"We will be going back," said Roffers.

"It's a family event for us. We get together with our family and we do stuff at the park to enjoy the fair. My biggest concern is that the State Fair Park Police and West Allis get their heads out of their butts and figure out how to do some security over there. This isn't the first year State Fair has been going on. They should know what the heck they've got to do and where they've got to have people in place by now."

But according to Roffers, they did not have enough people there to handle the crowds, and he claims that the main stage acts - MC Hammer, Young MC and Tone Loc, were the draw for a crowd he claimed was there.

"I think the headliner they had last night is what drew the type of crowd they had last night. I've never been at that fair where they had so many African-American people. There's never usually that many of them, at that park, for whatever reason that I can figure."

He said that the fear spread beyond those who he believed were the target.

"There were a lot of people scared," claimed Roffers.

"There were even some young black girls. They were screaming. They were running across the road. This one girl was like, 'I don't know how I'm going to get out of here. I'm all by myself.' My wife heard her saying that. She said, 'Walk with us. Stay with us and you'll be OK.' We told her we were going down the street. If she needed any assistance, we were just going down to our car. She needed to go quite a way."

"There was this terror going on when you leave the place, you just wonder. Luckily, all the violence that was happening stayed right close by the park entrance. As we got a block away from the park, that's when the cops started showing up."

He said the lack of police and security presence will bring about his complaint up the various channels of State Fair and local police.

"They should be able to provide safety and traffic control," said Roffers. "I've never worried about it before."

He said he would give a written complaint to the State Fair and put in a call to West Allis Police, but that's not all.

"I will be contacting the State Fair Park Board and I'm going to chew on their butts a little bit about what happened."

State Fair spokeswoman: "Unfortunate situation, hopefully an isolated situation."

State Fair Director of Marketing and Communication Kathleen O'Leary told Newsradio 620 WTMJ's "Wisconsin's Morning News" that the incidents should not stop people from coming to the fair.

"Certainly, don't change your plans," said O'Leary. "Please understand that this is an unfortunate situation, hopefully an isolated situation."

Though witnesses had reported incidents inside the fair, she said the problems were mainly outside the fairgrounds.

"Not so much inside," claimed O'Leary.

"We had complete control inside of what was happening inside of our gates. It's what what spread into the neighborhoods."

O'Leary also pointed out that the fair has "taken measures already with the bag checks, when you come into the fair," but will increase authorities' presence for the remaining days at the fair.

"We will be taking severe measures, significant measures. We are in task force already, circling back around, doing everything that we can to make sure the experience is enjoyable and that the safety is insured," said O'Leary.

"They see the yellow security shirts. We have mounted police. We have bike police. We have our patrolling police. We have undercover police. That's all because that's exactly what we want. We want the safety measures intact at every turn."

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/126825018.html

Isolated Incident?

Get your freakin heads out of the sand.

Oduma will get right on that one............

Hey wait, someone help me out here.

Didnt this same thing happen last year or earlier this year? I remember some story about WI or Iowa and the police officer or dispatch officer that told the press and public is was black on white crime got transferred out.

Anyone remember that?

Also, I'm guessing that Wisconsin is NOT a conceal and carry state?

I just dont see things like this happening in conceal and carry states because that mob would lose some members about time they tried to assault an armed family.

W

This has been happening in Philadelphia. Mobs of black kids attacking only whites. Nothing "racial" about that, eh?

THIS is what Obama has brought about? Yes, I DO blame Obama, since he is supposedly a role model to young kids. See Obama jump in when non-whites are attacked (verbally or physically) and see him ignore when whites are attacked, or otherwise preach about not jumping to conclusions.

Professor Gates
Fort Hood
are just the first two that come to mind. Sad days in America indeed.

REPORT: BLACK ‘MOBS’ ATTACK WHITE PATRONS OUTSIDE WIS. STATE FAIR

Posted on August 5, 2011 at 10:18am by Jonathon M. Seidl







“It looked like they were just going after white guys, white people.â€

Rise of the Mob: Wisconsin Fairgoers Attacked, Violently Beaten
Mac Slavo
August 5th, 2011
SHTFplan.com

Comments (76)


You head out in the minivan for a fun-filled day with the family at your local mall or the fair. The next thing you know all hell breaks loose and hundreds of individuals are attacking shop keepers, stealing, and violently attacking patrons.

The police, as is typically the case during such incidents, are nowhere to be found until it’s too late.

This is exactly what happened in Milwaukee at the Wisconsin State Fair when hundreds of individuals attacked patrons and passersby:

Witnesses’ accounts claim everything from dozens to hundreds of young black people beating white people as they left State Fair Thursday night.

Authorities have not given official estimates of the number of people involved in the attacks.

“It looked like they were just going after white guys, white people,â€

State Patrol called in, youth policy imposed after violence at State FairBy Don Walker and Mike Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Updated: Aug. 5, 2011 2:58 p.m.

Today's TMJ4 Video
Chief Flynn press conference Page 1 of 6 VIDEOS (Cheif Flynn is worth watching.)

In response to incidents involving rampaging youths Thursday night, the Wisconsin State Fair is instituting a policy requiring those under 18 to be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Gov. Scott Walker has ordered the Wisconsin State Patrol to provide additional law enforcement help at the Wisconsin State Fair after several incidents involving rampaging youths broke out on the fairgrounds and on the streets outside Thursday night.

Cullen Werwie, Walker's spokesman, said the governor made the decision after reviewing the events from Thursday night, in which at least 24 people were arrested.

"We will continue to evaluate the situation and make any adjustments necessary to ensure a successful and safe event. We will be doing everything in our power to ensure that parents feel that it is safe to bring their children to the world's best fair," Werwie said in a statement.

Also, Rick Frenette, CEO of the fair, announced that, because of the violence overnight, the fair would immediately implement a policy in which no youths under 18 years of age would be allowed onto the grounds after 5 p.m. without a parent or guardian who is at least 21 years of age. There will be no changes at the Midway.

Frenette, a veteran of 40 years in the fair management business, said he had never implemented such a policy before. The International Association of Fairs and Expositions said there is only one other fair in the country -- the South Carolina State Fair -- that has such a policy.

On Friday afternoon, Mayor Tom Barrett announced an increase in police presence at community events planned for the week. He said there would be no tolerance for violence at festivals and that perpetrators will be prosecuted -- regardless of race.

"Two years ago I was a victim of a random attack at State Fair… last night's events took place at State Fair that I don't believe are random," he said at a City Hall news conference.

Barrett didn't indicate if he believed the events were racially charged.

Barrett said this weekend is of special importance because of the Historic Third Association Jazz festival, the African World Festival and the Milwaukee Comedy Festival in addition to the fair. He said police presence will be increased at all events.

Alds. Bob Donovan and Joe Dudzik issued a joint statement in reaction to the violence: "Let's face it, it also has much to do with a deteriorating African American culture in our city. Are large groups of Hispanics or Hmong going out in large mobs and viciously attacking whites? No."

On Friday, police from three jurisdictions - West Allis, Milwaukee and Wisconsin State Fair - were piecing together a series of incidents late Thursday night at the fair in which large groups of youths rampaged through the midway and outside the grounds after closing. At least 24 were arrested, and seven officers were hurt, a State Fair official said.

Tom Struebing, chief of the State Fair Police, said two of the seven injured officers were hospitalized. One was hit in the face with an improvised weapon; the other suffered a concussion.

Struebing said the fights that broke out in the midway area involved black youths fighting other black youths. He said those fights were not racially motivated.

The incidents at the fair also caused confusion among police agencies. Anne E. Schwartz, the Milwaukee police spokeswoman, said West Allis police did not request mutual aid from the Milwaukee Police Department.

Schwartz said Milwaukee police responded to four incidents connected to the fair incidents, but those came from citizens calling police directly. She said one person was arrested by Milwaukee police on a warrant.

Officials could not say what started what witnesses said was a series of racially charged incidents that apparently began as early as 7 p.m. in the midway. The midway is located just east of the Pettit National Ice Center and adjacent to the Hank Aaron State Trail.

Milwaukee police confirmed there were assaults outside the fair as the fair was closing down. The fair closes at 11 p.m.

A State Fair official said most of those arrested were cited for disorderly conduct.

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn scheduled a news conference later Friday afternoon to discuss the incidents and his department's involvement. He is expected to be joined by officials of the NAACP and the Historic Third Ward Association, which is sponsoring Saturday's Historic Third Ward Jazz Festival.

Common Council President Willie Hines said he was at the fair Thursday night and witnessed black on black crime, but did not see any blacks attack whites.

He said that if there was, those individuals should be charged with the crime as well as a hate crime.

"They should be penalized for the prime incident and we should have a racial enhancer," Hines said.

Hines said State Fair Police acted appropriately and professionally. "They were working hard to control the chaos," Hines said.

He said there may have been some coordination problems with other police departments outside the grounds of the fair.

Witnesses report attacks
Witnesses told WTMJ-AM (620) that dozens to hundreds of young black people were beating white people as they left the fair late Thursday night. Patrice Harris, a spokeswoman for the fair, said a police alert she was given indicated four people were hurt.

"It looked like they were just going after white guys, white people," Norb Roffers of Wind Lake told WTMJ. He said he left the State Fair entrance near the corner of S. 84th St. and W. Schlinger Ave. in West Allis.

One eyewitness, a concession worker who works near the midway area, told the Journal Sentinel that large groups of African-American youths ran through the midway area, knocking over young children and adults, disrupting midway rides and tearing signs up.

"I have never seen anything like it," the worker said. "It was mob mentality."

The concession worker said the incidents began at 7 p.m. "All of a sudden a wave of kids were running through the midway," he said.

The worker said there was police, including officers on horseback, as well as other security, but it was not enough.

"All of a sudden we were hearing whistles," the worker said.

A 34-year-old Muskego man said he was riding on the Ferris wheel in the midway with one of his children when he heard shouts of "fight."

"The trouble really started somewhere between 7 and 8 p.m.," said the man, who did not want to be identified because he was worried about the safety of his family. "We just heard this roar start. It was almost like you're at a football game and a touchdown is scored and you just hear the crowd start roaring."

"I've never seen anything like this in my life. There were hundreds - like 200 to 300 would be my guess. It wasn't like 10 or 20. There was definitely a fight going on in the middle. There were so many people you couldn't see who was fighting. There was just this big group that kept growing and chanting, 'fight, fight, fight.' "

"That lasted for one to two minutes. Then when security showed up blowing some whistles, all of this mob started running. It was like a herd of cattle," he said.

The man described the crowd gathered around the fight as African-American, predominantly male and mainly 15- to 20-year-olds.

Fights break out
Another eyewitness, a Children's Hospital of Wisconsin worker who was with his wife, a daughter, a friend of his daughter's, a brother and a sister-in-law, said they arrived at the midway at 9:15 p.m.

At about 9:40 p.m., he said he saw the first of two fights break out.

"I couldn't see who was fighting but there was an incredible mob mentality," he said. The eyewitness estimated the mob at between 30 to 50 black youths.

"We felt threatened. Without a doubt," the eyewitness said.

He said a game-booth operator allowed his group to seek shelter in the booth while fights broke out.

"Fortunately, the police on horses arrived quite quickly," the eyewitness said.

The eyewitness said he was the recipient of several racially charged comments from the black youths. At one point, he said, he approached a security guard and told him he had better get more security to the scene. He said he told the security officer that "trouble was brewing."

"The scariest part is that we were trapped between the midway and the exits by the mob, we had no way out. It was very frightening," the hospital worker said. "It was glaringly obvious something was going to happen long before it did," the hospital worker said.

One woman, a Marquette University employee, had left the fair with a friend. She said they had just turned onto S. 84th St., across the street from the fair and were headed north toward I-94 when they saw young black youths running between cars on the street.

"Then groups of kids began surging, all running at cars," she said. "Some kids ran up on the hood of the car in front of us, bounced on it and jumped off. That guy looked like he got out of the car. When he came back his face was bloody."

She said she wasn't sure if the man was able to get medical attention. "I saw somebody in the car with cellphones, probably calling police."

"It was scary and it was confusing," she added. "We didn't know what was happening. We didn't see any law enforcement officer."

She said she and her friend were concerned that somebody would try to break into their car. "There were so many people coming at you. Yes, it was scary."

Another woman said she and her boyfriend were leaving the fair on a motorcycle about 11:30 p.m. Thursday when she saw a "mob of black teens picking on a very tall white teen" around S. 84th St. and W. Greenfield Ave.

"I stated to my boyfriend that there is going to be problems over there and I hope the cops are watching this and within seconds I saw the white teen attempting to punch his way out of a circle of black teens," the woman said in an e-mail to the newspaper. "My heart just fell for him. As we turned, I saw security at the entrance to the State Fair and I yelled get over there! They are beating up a kid! We turned, as we went toward the expressway we then had to witness the police involved in multiple stops and incidents down 84th."

Harris said Friday that police officers were involved in breaking up numerous fights at the midway. She could not immediately provide a number, but said a number of arrests were made. Most of the arrests were for disorderly conduct.

"Throughout the night we had fights, but that's not atypical," Harris said.

Rick Pries of Milwaukee had spent the entire day at the fair with a friend and her two grandchildren.

"We were in the midway and it was very crowded. While the kids were waiting in line I noticed large groups of black males running through the very crowded midway, yelling there was a fight," Pries said. "There were several of these large groups all converging to this location."

Pries said he decided to take the two children he was watching out of a line they were waiting in and leave the fair.

"There was very little security," he said. "And the few that were there would have been overwhelmed by the sheer number of troublemakers," Pries said.

The concession worker said he was not personally hassled, but he was concerned the youths would attempt to take his cash register. He closed his concession stand early for safety reasons.

"I was planning to take my kids to the fair tonight," he said Friday morning. "I definitely won't now."

The Wisconsin State Fair is located in different jurisdictions. The north side of the fairgrounds from the Hank Aaron State Trail north is in the city of Milwaukee. The rest of the fair is in West Allis. Adding to the confusion is that the Wisconsin State Fair Park police has jurisdiction only on the fairgrounds, not outside of it.

Similar disturbances
The fair incidents are similar to mob-like disturbances that occurred over the Fourth of July weekend in Milwaukee.

About 60 young people beat and robbed a smaller group that had been watching fireworks from Kilbourn Reservoir Park. The injured people were white; the attackers were African-American, witnesses said.

Another group looted a convenience store at a gas station at the corner E. North Ave. and N. Humboldt Blvd.

The incidents Thursday night come as the State Fair board over the last decade has worked to increase diversity at the annual fair, expanding its entertainment lineup and marketing to appeal to a younger, more multicultural audience. Diversity was a priority for State Fair Park Chairman Martin Greenberg, who spoke often of making it "truly the people's park" - a "place of inclusion, not exclusion."

Thursday night's Main Stage performer was rapper MC Hammer, but a number of people who attended the concert said the show wasn't to blame at all for the disturbances at the fair. One woman said the crowd watching Hammer was mostly white and adult and any children there seemed to be with parents.

Another woman said the concert was "very laid back and had no craziness that we witnessed at all. The craziness was in the midway," she said.



http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/126828998.html

Haven't heard a word on the MSM.

State Fair melees produce 11 injuries, 31 arrests
Jeff Sainlar


By Don Walker, Mike Johnson and Breann Schossow of the Journal Sentinel

In response to incidents involving rampaging youths Thursday night, the Wisconsin State Fair is instituting a policy requiring those under 18 to be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Unprecedented violence on the opening night of the Wisconsin State Fair by rampaging youths prompted extraordinary measures Friday: The head of the fair implemented new rules to keep unattended teens off the grounds at night, and Gov. Scott Walker ordered the State Patrol to help keep order.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Police Chief Ed Flynn, meanwhile, promised Friday to beef up policing at this weekend's major public events around the city to limit any chance of the State Fair events being repeated.

The violence left workers and patrons of the fair in West Allis shaken and reminded many of the mob-like disturbances that occurred over the Fourth of July weekend in Milwaukee.

The trouble at the fair started around 7 p.m. Thursday in the midway area, where amusement rides are located, when fights broke out among black youths, said Tom Struebing, chief of the State Fair Police. Those fights did not appear to be racially motivated.

Then around the closing time of 11 p.m., witnesses told the Journal Sentinel, dozens to hundreds of black youths attacked white people as they left the fair, punching and kicking people and shaking and pounding on their vehicles.

At least 31 people were arrested - many for disorderly conduct - in connection with the incidents on the fairgrounds and on the streets outside. At least 11 people, seven of them police officers, were injured, officials said. Twenty-four people were arrested within the fairgrounds by State Fair Police. West Allis police arrested seven people, five of them juveniles, outside the fairgrounds.

Struebing said two injured officers were hospitalized; one was hit in the face with an improvised weapon, the other suffered a concussion.

"We normally can handle anything in the park," Struebing said.

Because of the violence, Rick Frenette, CEO of the fair, announced that the fair would immediately implement a policy in which no youths under 18 years of age would be allowed onto the grounds after 5 p.m. without a parent or guardian at least 21 years old.

Frenette, a veteran of 40 years in fair management, said he had never implemented such a policy before.

Walker made the decision to provide extra State Patrol help after reviewing the incidents, said his spokesmen, Cullen Werwie.

"We will continue to evaluate the situation and make any adjustments necessary to ensure a successful and safe event. We will be doing everything in our power to ensure that parents feel that it is safe to bring their children to the world's best fair," Werwie said in a statement.

West Allis Mayor Dan Devine said in a statement that "thuggery has no place at the Wisconsin State Fair, or anywhere in our society."

Devine said he was disgusted by the reports of violence. "It is appalling that a group of hoodlums has cast such a negative light on what is traditionally a safe and family friendly event," he said in a statement.

Barrett said there would be no tolerance for violence at festivals and that perpetrators will be prosecuted - regardless of race.

"Two years ago, I was a victim of a random attack (outside) State Fair . . . last night, events took place at State Fair that I don't believe are random," Barrett said at a City Hall news conference. The attack by a man wielding a tire iron left Barrett with stitches in his head, broken teeth and broken bones in his right hand. On Friday, security started setting up extra metal fencing at entrances around 5 p.m.

Patrice Harris, communications manager for the State Fair, said identification will be checked at each gate in the area where bags are searched. She said the time spent checking for identification shouldn't affect the time spent waiting in line before getting into the fair.

At Gate 3, at least 70 people had their IDs checked within the first hour. All appeared to be minors without guardians.

Jeremy Chavez, Anthony Henderson and Anthony DeHoyas, all 16, were among those stopped.

"I didn't know about the adult thing," Chavez said, although he had heard that IDs would be checked. Henderson and DeHoyas were also taken by surprise.

DeHoyas, who was celebrating his birthday Friday, was upset at being turned away and said he doesn't plan to come back.

He called his mother, who came to the fair to supervise the three teenagers.

Police from three jurisdictions - West Allis, Milwaukee and Wisconsin State Fair - spent Friday trying to piece together what happened. But they could not say what started the situation.

Witnesses, though, told the Journal Sentinel that the attacks appeared to be unprovoked and racially motivated.

"You could just tell they were after white people. That was the main thing. If you were white, they were coming after you," said Jon Stikl of Oak Creek.

He said he was stuck in traffic as a group of young people blocked cars near the fair gate on S. 84th St. near I-94 after he picked up family members attending the fair.

"We noticed a group of five to 10 young black males run up and jump a young white male for no other reason then him being white," Stikl said.

They knocked him to the ground, and then a group of 15 black men kicked and stomped on him, Stikl said.

"My wife's brother jumped out of the car - his natural reaction was to try to break it up. Before you knew it, five or 10 guys were on him and started punching at him. My wife was able to pull him back in the car. So now they surrounded my car and just started punching through the windows, kicking and shaking the car, screaming racial things."

He said there should have been more police presence, given that disturbances were reported inside the fairgrounds shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday.

"I was disgusted by the lack of security. It's a black eye on the State Fair" and police, he said.

Andrew J. Coleman, a recent University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee graduate, said he and a friend were attacked about 10:30 p.m. after they left the fair through the gate off S. 84th near the Pettit National Ice Center.

"I just heard footsteps behind me and I turned around and I got hit in the face. There were six or seven just beating on me," said Coleman, who has a sore jaw from the punches.

His friend was stomped on and his sneakers stolen, said Coleman, of Milwaukee.

A concession worker who works near the midway area told the Journal Sentinel that earlier Thursday night, large groups of African-American youths ran through the midway, knocking over young children and adults, disrupting midway amusement rides and tearing signs up. The midway is east of the Pettit National Ice Center and adjacent to the Hank Aaron State Trail.

"I have never seen anything like it," the worker said. "It was mob mentality."

The worker said there was police presence, including officers on horseback, but it was not enough.

A 34-year-old Muskego man said he was riding on the Ferris wheel in the midway with one of his children when he heard shouts of "fight" sometime after 7 p.m. He saw a big group of people, perhaps 200 to 300, gathered around a brawl.

"I've never seen anything like this in my life. . . . There were so many people you couldn't see who was fighting. There was just this big group that kept growing and chanting, 'Fight, fight, fight,' " he said. "That lasted for one to two minutes. Then when security showed up blowing some whistles, all of this mob started running. It was like a herd of cattle."

Milwaukee Common Council President Willie Hines said he was at the fair Thursday night and witnessed blacks fighting each other, but did not see any blacks attack whites.

He said that if it happened, those individuals should be charged with the crime as well as a hate crime.

"They should be penalized for the prime incident, and we should have a racial enhancer," Hines said.

Although some fairgoers were critical of police response, Hines said State Fair police acted appropriately and professionally.

"They were working hard to control the chaos," Hines said.

He said some coordination problems with other police departments might have happened outside the grounds.

The Wisconsin State Fair is in different jurisdictions. The north side of the fairgrounds, from the Hank Aaron State Trail north, is in Milwaukee. The rest is in West Allis. Adding to the confusion is that the Wisconsin State Fair Park police have jurisdiction only on the fairgrounds, not outside of it.

The incidents Thursday night come as the State Fair Board has worked to increase diversity at the annual fair, expanding its entertainment lineup and attempting to appeal to a younger, more multicultural audience. Diversity was a priority for former State Fair Park Chairman Martin Greenberg, who spoke of making it a "place of inclusion, not exclusion."

The violence is similar to what occurred in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood over the July 4 holiday, when about 60 young people beat and robbed a smaller group that had been watching fireworks from Kilbourn Reservoir Park. The injured people were white; the attackers were African-American, witnesses said. Another group looted a convenience store.

Thursday night's Main Stage performer was rapper MC Hammer, but a number of people who attended the concert said the show wasn't to blame for the disturbances at the fair. One woman said the crowd watching Hammer was mostly white and adult, and any children there seemed to be with parents.

Another woman said the concert was "very laid-back and had no craziness that we witnessed at all. The craziness was in the midway."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/126828998.html