“Why don’t I remember this?”

Unless you were one of the 800 people who were forced out of Edmonds Hall, or certainly one of the 30 people who had to go to the hospital, there is a good chance that you have forgotten many of the details of the Tear Gas Incident. Even at the time information was hard to come by. The only Boston Globe article appeared on page 34 - two days after the incident. On the next Monday, The Heights, a weekly publication, ran an in-depth story, but it was overshadowed by the top story - the elimination of beer kegs on campus.

Over that fall semester The Heights was dominated with stories about other issues, such as the presidential election, the Oliver North speech, and that December, the death of BC students in the Lockerbie Scotland terrorist attack. It seems like interest in the tear gas incident, much like the investigation, had run cold.

When fellow alumni hear of the death of Officer Devlin they are shocked and saddened, but also surprised that such a dramatic event, the death of a Boston College Police Officer, had slipped their notice. “Why don’t I remember this?” remarked one classmate. With such a long timeline, Officer Devlin passed away 19 years after sustaining his injury, and such little publicity, it is no wonder why the story has not had much impact on those not directly involved.

I wonder if more people knew about and discussed the incident, would those responsible for Officer Devlin’s death be more likely to examine their conscious and provide a conclusion to this story?