Accusations of police misconduct rose quickly after Sunday’s riot in Campustown. Yet questions of whether police actions antagonized the crowd are still unanswered.

Records requested by the Iowa State Daily of 28 complaints to the Ames police were released Thursday. A majority of the complaints came from individuals who said they were sprayed with pepper spray when they left bars on Welch Avenue or tried to go home.

“About 90 percent of the information [from the complaints] have been people saying, ‘I was walking and got sprayed,'” said Ames Police Cmdr. Jim Robinson. “[Police have] no idea if there was abuse by an officer because there was no description or name of an officer.”

Robinson said a majority of the people who complained are upset about being exposed to chemical gas because they were not participating in violent behavior.

“What I’ve posed to individuals is, ‘What would you like to see happen?'” he said.

Robinson said he suspects there were three groups in the Campustown area: those involved in destructive behavior, those who were in the area or came to see what was going on and those leaving the area who became entangled with the crowds.

“And for those people who became entangled with the crowd trying to leave, we sympathize. We are sorry they became exposed to chemical agent,” he said. “But, the fact that they were in the area, these gases can’t distinguish people who are involved with violent behavior and those who are not.”

Only one of the complaints contains the name of an officer. Because most do not contain information that can be used to identify officers, it is hard for the police to determine if excessive force was used, Robinson said.

“This is why if someone has a name, badge number or a description, we want to hear from them,” he said. “If anyone has a complaint, yes, we want to hear about them.”

Sunday morning, many people asked for officers’ identifying information, but officers either ignored their requests or didn’t volunteer the information.

Despite a majority of grievances being expressed by people who say the police were being overzealous in their use of pepper spray, officials say tactics and actions taken by enforcement agencies were “lawful” and “appropriate.”

Robinson said people near the riot were told to disperse, as the police department made a general announcement on its public address system at about 1:04 a.m.

Brad Bell, 2144 Sunset Dr., in his complaint, wrote he was Maced by officers while doing what they instructed.

“I was walking home with a friend home from Welch and not saying a word or throwing anything, was sprayed with Mace,” Bell wrote.

“After that I told officers that I had no problem and wanted to go home. They said, ‘Fuck you’ and other profanities as I started walking away.”

He said as he walked away, officers followed him to where he sat to take care of his burning eyes. There, he was Maced again, and Bell’s friends took him to the hospital.

Robinson said he did not witness such behavior from officers, although he said that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

“If it’s true that happened, we are sorry,” he said.

“But, if someone is trying to leave the area, and they are following the commands of police officers, I would suspect that the officers are not going to be deploying chemical agents if, in fact, the individual is following the directions of officers.”

Story County Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald said he agreed.

“It’s a common-sense issue,” Fitzgerald said. “It doesn’t take long to figure out with tear gas around you and objects being thrown, that it’s not a place you should be.

“It’s hard to believe that at 1:30 or 2 in the morning, when this happened at midnight, to say, ‘I had no idea what was going on.’ Even in a bar, they’re going to be hearing what’s going on.”

He said individuals were given “ample opportunity and ample space” to leave the area.

Robinson said he is not currently aware of police misconduct, and said officers acted with restraint for the circumstances.

“I think the fact of not having serious injuries sustained by the mob or serious injuries sustained by the officers lends itself to indicate that the police acted appropriately,” he said.

ISU Police Capt. Gene Deisinger, whose department has not received complaints but was involved with controlling the riot, said he is not aware of excessive force by his officers and did not witness excessive force by officers he was with throughout the night.

“I did not see at any time of use of pepper spray without verbal warning,” Deisinger said.

A few complainants reported observing officers beating individuals with no provocation.

Jade Monahan, freshman in pre-business, wrote in a complaint: “I got to the intersection of Welch Avenue and Lincoln Way. I turned the corner and was immediately pushed by a female officer who told me to get back. I went back … a male officer working with her told me I was arrested and took me around the corner … I went into a cloud of tear gas. As a natural response, I pulled around and turned away from the gas. The officer yelled that I was resisting arrest and took me to the ground … hit me in the back and pulled my hair.”

Scott Davis, the owner of Big Shots, 2522 Chamberlain St., filed a similar complaint, alleging a Big Shots employee was beaten.

One thing remains clear from discussion among complainants and law enforcement officials.

“I don’t think that any one person involved with this has a complete perspective of what happened,” Deisinger said.

“The riot grew so big, so fast, that it’s impossible for any one person, at any one place, at any one point in time to have had a complete understanding of what happened.”