It doesn't matter who cast the first stone in last night's riot. The fact of the matter is that stones were thrown--at car windows, store fronts and riot police. The peaceful gathering of students in opposition to Joe Paterno's immediate termination quickly deteriorated into a swarm of vandalism and misguided aggression. What remains now is a campus full of debris and a tarnished image of the Penn State community. Read more about how the belligerent actions of a few are negatively affecting the institution as a whole after the jump.
It is difficult for me to put into words how I feel at this moment. Having been at the Board of Trustees press conference last night, I had heard rumors that Joe Paterno would not be permitted to coach the season's concluding matches. I immediately feared that there would be a riot, but I could have never predicted what actually transpired.
The time for Joe Paterno to no longer be associated with the Penn State football program was on the horizon, and it finally ended Tuesday night inside Deans Hall at the Penn Stater Hotel.
Students flood campus and downtown State College in reaction to Coach Paterno's firing.
Below is a series of photos from the Board of Trustees Press Conference, the silent gathering at the JoePa statue following the announcement of his firing, and the scene downtown.
After 62 years, 409 wins, 2 national championships, millions of dollars donated, one library, and countless lives touched, Joe Paterno is going out in the worst possible way. After a lengthy private meeting, Penn State's Board of Trustees announced in a press conference late Wednesday that Joe Paterno, the face of a university, and perhaps of college football, would not be able to leave this football team on his own terms.