Pigeon-shoot protest ended by fist fights; 27 arrested
Labor Day, 1990
The Republican (Pottsville, PA)
By Karen Hube
Hegins – Mist was rising into blue skies early Monday when the first cracks of shotguns echoed through the Hegins Valley – a declaration of war to some, a mark of a Labor Day tradition to others.
It was 8 a.m. sharp and the 57th annual Fred Coleman Pigeon Shoot had begun.
Over the next hours, 23 protesters and four shoot supporters were arrested, three state policemen suffered cuts and bruises and at least five activists wore bandages or bore bloodied cuts and scrapes.
About 300 protesters chanting and waving signs clashed with a jeering crowd of equal strength near the entryway to the Hegins Park.
A contingent of 40 state police troopers was joined by 30 more after about 20 protesters stormed one of two shooting grounds and succeeded in delaying the shoot for about 10 minutes.
All restraint from violence finally collapsed about 1:15 p.m., in the last minutes of the protest as the activists were leaving the grounds.
A car window was smashed; troopers grappled for control as confusion erupted and activists deemed unruly were wrestled into handcuffs and led to patrol cars, marking a heated end to the day’s protests.
But that was later in the day.
Enticing smells from French fries and hamburgers were already drawing customers at 8:15 a.m., even while breakfast was still being served in the park’s indoor pavilion.
As at every Labor Day at Hegins Park, breakfast was hot by 6 a.m., in time for early arrivals. Eating ham, eggs and potatoes under an early sun has become a favorite and part of a tradition for many shooters at the annual event, according to Robert Tobash of Hegins, one of the shoot planners.
The Hegins shoot, one of the largest live bird shoots in the world, is also considered one of the most prestigious and challenging.
Topping last year’s registration of about 200 competitors, 248 shooters participated on Monday. The limit was 250.
About 6000 pigeons were used as targets in the shoot, according to shoot planner Warren Stutzman of Hegins.
Each competitor pays at least $75, the base cost, and up to $245 depending on how many, if any, betting options are chosen. Any amount above the initial $75 goes toward prize money, the rest supports the Hegins Park Association.
Last year, about $10,000 was raised. This year, Stutzman said he hopes to reach $15,000 but by this morning the final amount had not been calculated.
Each shooter gets to shoot at 20 birds in two different competitions. The felled birds are collected by young trapper boys who wrings the necks of the maimed ones to kill them and dump them in enclosed bins.
Monday, trouble was brewing from the very start.
Before the first shooter of the day called “pull” to release a pigeon-filled trap, a small cluster of animal-rights activists looking on from outside the shooting grounds set the tone for what grew into a chaotic clash with shoot supporters by afternoon.
“Don’t do it, don’t do it,” the protesters demanded – pleaded – as the first shooter took aim.
Crack-Crack.
The two shots characteristic of the double barrel Fred Coleman shoot echoed off the lush Hegins hills and aggravated the activists into a rage.
But further shouts in support of the pigeons were stifled after a warning from a state trooper to quit harassing the shooters.
With obedience that was to dissolve later, protesters adhered to the voice of the law and tried to incite debates with shoot supporters who had gathered around them.
Nearby, pigeons, frenzied and oblivious to their imminent fate after traps were pulled, would flap up to a few feet before being met by a spray of bullets from shotguns 32 yards away.
Some fell like dead weights leaving a flurry of shredded feathers and bits of their insides hanging in the air for a split second.
To the competitors, including some who traveled from Florida, New York and New Jersey to participate, the event is a challenging sport.
“Protest all you want, we’re going to stay here and do what we want,” said Joseph Kost of Pottsville, who stood inside the shooting grounds on the opposite side of a fence from activist Steven Hindi of Plano, Ill.
The shooters and “people of the valley” just want to be left alone, Kost said.
Not a chance, say the protesters who call the shoot cruel and have promised to see it ultimately ended.
“I’m here to stir people up. I’m here to wreck their day as they slaughter and they murder, “ said protester Gregory Hindi of Wichita, Kan., Steven Hindi’s brother.
The shooting fields on Monday held a mood of solemn concentration throughout the day, while a more relaxed audience passed beer, burgers, fries and boisterous conversation and freely on bleachers and benches.
At a glance, people fixed on the competitions seemed oblivious to the trouble that was developing on the edge of the shooting grounds.
By late morning, as promised, busloads of protesters had arrived from throughout the state, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.
“Stop the slaughter, stop it now.” or “Stop the killing, ban the shoot,” they chanted, waving signs reading “This Is Murder,” “Sport’ of Fools, Stop The Shoot” and “Killing For Fun Is Sick.”
Crowds of shoot supporters apparently found the protest more entertaining than the shoot. They gathered at the edge or on the outside of the grounds, jeering, arguing or just looking on at the protesters. Beer bottles collected at their feet and exchanges grew more and more tense under a raging sun.
Action broke unexpectedly.
Forty state policemen who had their eyes on the massive crowd were taken off guard by three women protesters who stormed onto the field of the single-barrel shoot, feigning a writhing death, simulating the suffering of shot pigeons.
The dramatics of the whole charade were heightened by the wild hooting and hollering from a massive audience inside the shoot and the chanting of the protesters. A loud acoustic beat sounded by someone from a sound stage inside the grounds grew louder as tensions raged.
At least two troopers for each protester raced onto the field to tackle the trespassers, handcuff them and lead them – still chanting and wearing fake blood around their mouths and on their shirts.
At least six people were rounded up by police during these arrests. In the process, one state trooper fell on his back, in mid-run and remained there without moving for several minutes until ambulance sirens screamed in the distance.
Thomas Lynn, press secretary for state police in Harrisburg who was at the protest, said troopers are instructed to take no action unless physical violence breaks out.
“They can talk all they want. Words don’t hurt anyone,” Lyon said.
Within the next hour, violence broke in a neighboring parking lot and the final arrests were made.
Inside, past the crowds gathered along the fences to watch the protest, children filled the swings and seesaws while their parents relaxed in cool shade.
And, other than the few minutes that the protesters ran out on the shooting grounds and were arrested, the competitions carried on as usual holding the attention of steady crowds.
Most shooters did not want to even comment on the protesters’ presence, and confronting them was not even a consideration.
Herman Clemens of Pine Grove, when asked why he would not accept a challenge for a debate that was being offered freely outside the shoot grounds to any takers, said, “I’m not about to give them a forum…This is my pleasure. To me, this is heritage. It’s my birthright.”
“It’s a legal activity,” he said.
The shoot was threatened. I wanted to keep numbers up,” Clemens said.
Apparently the protests had a positive effect on the park association take, attracting more people than in past years.
“I think it’s the biggest shoot we’ve ever had,” Sutuzman said, adding that no official estimations of attendance were available, but he thinks there were about 8,000 people.
Once the protesters had left and the crowd of shoot supporters dispersed throughout the picnic ground, a country band started playing and the huge turnout became more apparent.
“They’re gone and they shouldn’t come back,” said William Davis of Frackville after the protesters left. They have no cause here. These pigeons are trash.”
