Two Keene State College men’s soccer players have been identified as allegedly partaking in the riots surrounding Keene Pumpkin Fest, following weeks of investigations into social media, pictures and videos posted online or submitted to KSC Campus Safety.
Owen Gillis, a freshman on the men’s soccer team, was charged with one count of disorderly conduct for knowingly creating a condition which was hazardous to himself and another in a public place by retrieving and throwing a CS canister [tear gas] deployed by the police on Blake Street on Oct. 19, 2014, all according to the Oct. 30 Keene Police Department press release.
Also according to the KPD press release, junior on the men’s soccer team, Mark Keller, has been charged with one felony count of reckless conduct. Keller allegedly threw a beer can into a crowd. According to the press release, the beer can is listed as a deadly weapon and placed another in danger of serious bodily injury.
The press release stated that Keller was released on bail for $1,000. Both men will be arraigned at the Eighth Circuit Keene Court on Dec. 9, 2014.
Head Men’s Soccer Coach Rick Scott had no comment on the issue except to state, “We expect our guys to behave.”
“We have the twenty-four / forty-eight [hour] rule and we’re just going to move on and whatever our athletic director [John Ratliff] tells us to do, we will abide by what he tells us to do,” Scott said.
The 24/48 hour rule prohibits student athletes from drinking prior to games. The rule was in effect Pumpkin Fest weekend.
Junior Bentley Reif, a teammate of Gillis and Keller commented on the arrests.
“I don’t think this will affect the team at all — I think it’s going to make us work harder, play harder, it almost gives us a sense of purpose. Mark [Keller] was dealt a really bad hand of luck and it’s unfortunate, but we are moving forward,” Reif said.
He continued, “We have to take the best things we can out of this situation and stay as positive as we can. As this situation plays out we have to take it day by day.”
Kendall Pope can be contacted at kpope@keene-equinox.com