“I saw fathers carrying their crying children to safety. I saw a girl being carried down the aisle screaming, ‘I can’t breathe!'”
When Nick Olson, a regional editor at Colorado State University’s Collegian student newspaper witnessed the events above, which he later wrote about for the Collegian, he did what any good reporter would do: he grabbed his camera and began shooting.
Olson was among thousands of Colorado State University students who had just finished watching their football team beat rival University of Colorado at Mile High Stadium in Denver when students say without warning police launched tear gas canisters into the stands and began using mace and pepper spray on celebrating students.
Olson said that he remained in the stands taking photos until he was overcome by gas and pepper spray. He then went out into the stadium parking lot where he followed a group of about a dozen police toward their cars. He said that when one of his friends asked the police “Why did you gas us? What can I do about the tear gas in my eyes?” he was arrested. Olson said that when police saw him standing across the street taking photos of the arrest, he was also handcuffed and arrested.
Olson said he was cited for failure to obey a lawful order and trespassing.
After he was handcuffed, Olson said a number of the police officers laughed at him and one shouted out: “Did you get your story? How’s that for freedom of the press?”