Penn State riot: Students react to Joe Paterno firing
Penn State riot: Students held a protest rally Wednesday night after head coach Joe Paterno was fired in the wake of a sex-abuse scandal. Then, Penn State students flipped over a media van and riot police moved in.
Penn State students overturned news van on College Ave in s protest against the firing of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno in State College, Penn., November 9, 2011.
REUTERS/Pat Little
State College, Penn.
More than 1,000 protesting Penn State University students poured into the streets around campus on Wednesday after head football coach Joe Paterno was fired in fallout from a child-abuse scandal at the school.
Chanting "Hell no, Joe won't go" and "We want Joe back," they also cursed former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, who was charged on Saturday with sexually abusing eight young boys over a period of nearly 15 years.
Two other university officials have been charged with failing to report an incident in 2002 when Sandusky allegedly was seen sexually assaulting a child.
IN PICTURES: Fallout from the Penn State scandal
Paterno, who has been head coach for 46 years, was dismissed Wednesday by the university's board of trustees along with university President Graham Spanier hours after the U.S. Education Department announced an investigation of conduct at Penn State.
The students filled two city blocks near the campus and turned over a media van before earth-moving equipment was brought in to right the vehicle. Members of the crowd also damaged at least two light poles.
Scores of police and state troopers, some in riot gear, tried to clear the streets, and some officers used a chemical spray to disperse the demonstrators. Crowds thinned somewhat after a light rain began to fall.
At least three people were escorted away by police but it was not immediately clear if they were arrested. A police spokeswoman had said she was not aware of any arrests.
