UMass Amherst campus police seek more students allegedly involved in rowdy post-Super Bowl demonstration

By Colin A. Young, Globe Correspondent

Campus police at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are looking to identify a handful of people allegedly involved in the disturbance after the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl loss on Feb. 5, in addition to those already arrested.

Rowdy demonstrations after the game ended with the arrests of 13 students and one non-student. The students will face school sanctions as well as criminal charges, officials said.

Six pictures posted on the campus police website show a group of people milling about outside, including one woman wearing a bathrobe, but no shoes. One picture shows a young man wearing a Patriots jersey after coming through a door. Authorities are asking that anyone who knows the individuals’ identities call police.

UMass Amherst police say about 1,500 people gathered in the Southwest residential area of the campus when the Super Bowl ended around 10 p.m. Police said in a statement that officers told the growing crowd to disperse at 10:08 p.m., after “the crowd became unruly and a number of fights broke out.”

The 14 arrested so far face charges of failure to disperse, disorderly conduct, and, in some cases, rioting.

“Our office intends to vigorously prosecute all individuals who were part of the riots on the University of Massachusetts campus,” Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan said in a statement. “This behavior diminishes the image of the university and created a public safety hazard for the community.”

UMass Deputy Police Chief Patrick Archibald did not immediately return a call for comment.