Audio By Carbonatix
Will you step up to support Westword this year?
We’re aiming to raise $50,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to this community. If Westword matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
On March 8, the City of Boulder released a cache of photos and a video of the March 6 party in the Hill neighborhood that went from a pandemic-defying bacchanal to a chaotic destruction fest in which at least three SWAT officers were injured and multiple vehicles were damaged, including one that revelers flipped.
Since the incident, the Boulder Police Department has received more than 750 tips, including 250 in the hour following a press conference held on March 7. “Due to the magnitude of information and the prevalence of social media,” the BPD notes, “the amount of tips is unlike any other previous investigation.”
In Boulder, perhaps. But the plenitude of social media images recall those that circulated following the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol — and like investigators in Washington, D.C., Boulder detectives have a wealth of evidence at their fingertips.
Take this brief video from the scene, in which a gaggle of revelers pose on a fire truck.
Video from University Hill Disturbance on March 6, 2021 from City of Boulder on Vimeo.
As for the still shots released by Boulder, most of them capture aggro males — no females are in the forefront of any pic — engaged in behavior that either overtly or more subtly suggests vandalism. Some individuals appear in more than one photo, underscoring the suggestion that only a small percentage of the throng engaged in violence. The majority of the people there merely observed the action, albeit without any semblance of social distancing.
Some of the snaps are fuzzy, making precise identification a challenge — though the lack of masks should be helpful. But if some faces are hard to see clearly, other items come into focus — such as the fraternity T-shirt worn by the dude in the gallery below. And several suspects are said to have already been identified by authorities, though no names have been released.
Here’s the first batch of suspect photos:
Anyone with information about the events of March 6 can share tips on Boulder’s University Hill Disturbance page, provide information to the Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers site or phone 800-222-TIPS (8477).