Paterno's supporters run amok over firing

Penn State students flip a television news van during a riot after it was announced that Joe Paterno would no longer be head coach of Penn State Football, Nov. 9, 2011. / AP

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Police in riot gear have confronted hundreds of Penn State students who took to the streets after the ouster of football coach Joe Paterno. Crowds toppled a television news van and at least one photographer has been pelted with a rock.

The students flooded downtown State College on Wednesday night after Paterno and university President Graham Spanier were fired amid a growing furor linked to their handling of sex abuse allegations against a former assistant football coach.

Officers used pepper spray to control the crowd. Some students chanted `We want Joe! We want Joe!" Others kicked in the windows out of the toppled news van.

The van belonged to CBS News central Pennsylvania affiliate WTAJ, which said in a message posted on Twitter that nobody seemed to have been hurt in the incident.

"A WTAJ News live truck was flipped tonight in downtown State College," said the Tweet. "At this point, it looks like everyone is OK."

25 Photos

Penn State riots after Paterno's ousting

About 100 police officers were downtown, many wearing helmets and carrying pepper spray. State College police said early Thursday they were still gathering information on any possible arrests.

Centre County emergency dispatch said early Thursday that State College police would be addressing the protests later in the day.

Paterno had announced earlier in the day he planned to retire after the season and expressed remorse for not having done more after he learned of the sex assault allegations.

(At left, watch the press conference announcing Paterno's termination.)

A source close to Paterno tells CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian that the Paterno family is shocked and outraged over the university's handling of the firing.

The source claims a university employee hand-delivered a letter about the firing to the family home a mere 15 minutes prior to the press conference. According to the source, the reason for the letter was that the university employee said the board was unable to locate Paterno during the day.

"You give your life to this place and that's how you're treated," the source said.

However, according to Surma, Paterno and Spanier were informed by telephone of the unanimous decisions to remove them because "we were unable to find a way to do that in person without causing further distraction."

[simplecomment]

I feel sorry for those Penn State students who are diligent, hard working and caring people....those that didn't participate in the riots. Their institution's image was already taking a beating, when a large group of the fellow students (and, no doubt, other Penn football fans from the area) decided to destruct property. Now their institution's image has taken yet another hit.

[smartasss1]

The generation that was never spanked.

[truth_police]

Every single time you hear someone pretending to express "objective piety" by saying "we do not have enough reliable information" to make a judgment - you know immediately that they have never read the GRAND JURY REPORT - and they probably never will. There's no dearth of reliable, credible 'facts' in that report and there is more than plenty of facts there to warrant what the Board did and to warrant the public outrage over Paterno's falure to follow-up and report a reprehensible vicious crime to the police, who described Paterno's inaction as constituting a moral lapse of judgment. Anyone claiming there's a lack of evidence is either in denial or they're in cover-up mode.

[1988JAck]

What a bunch of immoral losers Penn State is producing.

[formerusmcsgt1]

by Scimajor November 10, 2011 2:14 PM EST
What a wonderful example, not that we need another one as there's a seemingly infinite supply, of religion being used as an excuse to hate people.
---
More like shaking our heads at adults who believe in invisible beings in invisible places.

And the "hatred" you describe is more likely indignination at you and your fellow cultists trying to force your programming on the rest of us.

[formerusmcsgt1]

Penn State students aren't very "educated", obviously.

[PourpaixPourpaix]

I see the point about protesting Joe's firing. There's gonna be a lot of people hurt by just one clown who thought he could take liberties we all know as very, very wrong. Some deserve the punishment, and some don't.

[involved_indi]

Typical Penn State... they win a game the celebrate by getting drunk & burning a car. They lose a game they vent by getting drunk & burning a car. They have a scandal and fire a coach they protest by getting drunk & burning a car.

[omerguy-2009]

How old were the so called "children"? Were they over 18? Probably were if they were in college. age of consent????

[formerusmcsgt1]

At least one was 12.......

[pamom2002]

I hope the idiots seen in the photo laughing and oh so proud of themselves pay heavily for their choices (monetarily, jail time and expulsion from the school if they are students).