Four men who were "harassing" Department of Public Safety officers outside a party in Alumnae Hall were arrested Saturday night by Providence police officers for disorderly conduct, according to Lt. John Ryan, commander of PPD Dist. 9.
A student who attended the Delta Sigma Theta party, called "Scandalous," said the arrests followed fights that escalated between partygoers on the dance floor.
"Some people got into an argument outside and started harassing the Brown police, so they called the Providence police," Ryan said, adding that he did not know if the four persons arrested were Brown students. A poster for the event informed partygoers they would need "R.I. college I.D." to be admitted, but non-students were instructed to contact the sorority in advance of the party.
Evangeline McDonald '13, who attended the party, said two fights initially erupted between attendees in Alumnae Hall, and DPS officers entered the venue to apprehend them. Shortly after the second scuffle was quelled, "there was a kind of powder in the air and everybody started coughing," said McDonald, who added that she did not know the source or identity of the powder.
Soon afterwards, McDonald said, she "saw blood on a kid's shirt."
"It had several blood splashes — you could see handprints on the shirt," she said.
But the commotion made it difficult for McDonald to discern what else occurred. The powder appeared about 15 minutes after the first fight began, McDonald said, and partygoers dispersed quickly. "The whole thing escalated and went down really quickly," she said.
Ryan, speaking away from his station without access to the official report of the incident, said he could not confirm details of the surrounding incidents.
Delta Sigma Theta Chapter President Dami Olatunji '11 said there was "rowdiness" at the party, but declined to elaborate. "There are different perspectives," she said. "We're still looking at the facts. We're trying to handle the situation internally."
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