Snowball fight escalates at Florida State University as cops fire pepper balls

Olivia Lloyd, The Charlotte Observer on Jan 23, 2025

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Students took to the streets near Florida State University to throw snowballs, break out their skis and make snow angels as a rare snowstorm passed through the Southeast.

The night ended with officers firing pepper balls to disperse a crowd they called “disorderly.”

Snow blanketed north Florida and other parts of the South during a recent storm that saw “prolific” historical snowfall, meteorologists said, leading Florida State University to close campus for several days.

Videos shared on social media document the celebrations, with students seen throwing snowballs, building snowmen and getting towed by cars while riding makeshift sleds.

The fun came to an end when the Tallahassee Police Department said it received a report of a motorist being hit in the head by a snowball on the bar-lined Madison Street on Jan. 22.

“When the first officer arrived to investigate the criminal mischief and felony of throwing a projectile into a moving vehicle, and to protect other citizens, he too became a target, with both the officer’s patrol car and face being struck by an ‘ice projectile,’” police wrote in a news release.

The officer warned the crowd on the PA system, then another person ran up to the officer and threw a snowball at him, hitting him in the face, police said.

Additional officers showed up and said they were also struck.

In response, the officers got out their pepper ball launchers and fired rounds into the crowd “to encourage the dispersal of the disorderly crowd,” according to police.

A video shared by Barstool FSU on Instagram shows an officer appear to aim the device into the crowd, causing people to scream and run. Officers said no one was hit by the pepper balls.

One person was arrested and charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, police said.

Videos of the incident sparked outrage on social media, with some shaming police for pointing a pepper ball launcher into a crowd, and one user calling Tallahassee police “ruiners of fun.” Others said it seemed like a reasonable response to students throwing snowballs at vehicles driving past.

“The Tallahassee Police Department reminds the public that while winter storms can be exciting, throwing hard ‘ice balls,’ can be dangerous due to the hard impact when thrown and can be illegal,” police said.

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