ANGRY CADETS RIOT FOLLOWING DRUG SEARCH

West Point - Cadets angry over a drug search rioted for more than an
hour last week, throwing fireworks and garbage from their barracks in
an uproar one officer described as "shameful."

"Hundreds of cadets were hollering obscenities out of their windows
and some were throwing objects," in what the unidentified officer
termed a riot in an incident summary obtained by the Times
Herald-Record.

"A team-size element of firemen responded to the scene as cadets were
throwing objects that were on fire out of the windows in Bradley
Barracks," the summary continued. "It was a shameful, pitiful day for"
the U.S. Military Academy.

Lt. Col. Kent P. Cassella, a West Point spokesman, confirmed the
events but downplayed their significance. He said no one was injured
and nothing was damaged during the disturbance on April 19. He said no
one was disciplined as a result of the incident.

One cadet apparently was hit with a flying peanut butter jar around 11
p.m., the incident log said, but wasn't hurt.

"It sounded like the cadets were blowing off a little steam," Cassella
said. "Basically, there were some cadets voicing their frustrations,
and there were some firecrackers going off. But in the end, there was
nothing more than that."

The frustration apparently stemmed from an unannounced drug and
weapons search of cadets' quarters earlier in the day. Around 6 a.m.,
cadets awoke to a fire drill in the barracks complex. They left the
barracks, as ordered.

Then, while cadets were still outside, teams of drug-sniffing canine
units entered the dormitories. The academy's 4,000 students waited
while military and local police combed through their rooms.

While it's common in the military for commanding officers to toss the
rooms of subordinates, Cassella said some cadets felt like they were
tricked by the timing. He said leadership made a mistake by scheduling
the fire drill and the search so close together.

An Orange County sheriff's deputy who participated in the search said
no narcotics were found.

Most cadets who witnessed the subsequent riot, which started around
10:30 p.m. and ended an hour later, said the disturbance was no big
deal. The chaos subsided after cadets and officers began cleaning up
the barracks' courtyard.

"It comes down to people being immature," said one freshman, who asked
that his name not be used. "The majority of cadets were apathetic."

But the incident report suggested otherwise.

"About 2,000 cadets were involved and witness to this travesty," it
read. Officers on duty "could not believe what they were witnessing!"