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At about 11:30 pm last Friday, an angry mob of Japanese students gathered outside of New Dorm B and made its way up Thayer Street looting and burning shops, according to Providence Police. At the height of the riot, there were an estimated 97 students involved. Three were arrested and charged with felonies.
The rioting allegedly began after the
Japanese Student Association's karaoke machine broke in the middle of an alumnus's singing The Bloodhound Gang's "The Bad Touch." Katie Ellomoto '11, an attendant at the party, described how the chaos began.
"The music just cut in the middle of the song and everyone became silent, except for the wails of children. Someone tried fixing it but had no luck. Then I think he noticed a little sticker on it saying 'MADE IN CHINA,' and that's when all hell broke loose."
Ellomoto says that word quickly spread about the karaoke machine's manufacturing origins. Most of the Japanese students believed it was a Chinese conspiracy against them that resulted in their rioting. Sakura Kato '08, one of the rioters arrested, says the outcry could have been prevented.
"We were all calm even when the machine broke. Worst case scenario was crashing the Filipino Alliance party, though admittedly, their karaoke selection is much weaker. But as soon as we heard that China was involved, how could we not get angry? I just hope no one licked the machine in their rage-I don't want to see anyone getting lead poisoning on top of all this."
The rioters began destroying the party room in New Dorm. By the time they reached the quad, their numbers had expanded greatly, consisting mostly of Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese students. There were also 6 white students there who didn't know what was going on but joined anyway because they really like anime.
They all walked up Thayer Street, breaking shop windows with bricks provided by Haruki Express. Kato says they all had one destination in mind.
"Everyone knew to go to Shanghai. No one told us, we just knew. We looted the other shops, but Shanghai was going to be burned down. I also hate their General Tso's Chicken-it's always too sweet."
The rioters, however, never accomplished their final goal. Providence Police were waiting for them at the restaurant and the rioters immediately scattered. Ellomoto watched it all happen.
"I watched it all happen," she recounted.
