He once coached teen soccer though, so basically the same thing. Marina’s plan for the academy was to introduce what he called “Cuban discipline” — he’d been General Director of Public Order back on the island, and if that makes you think he’s both a casino strongman AND a violent cop, you’re completely correct. Full marks, now report to the paddlin’ room to make sure you keep those grades top-notch. The Academy was operated under — instead of educational theories — authoritarian rules. Marina hired an all non-accredited teaching staff who were essentially given full leeway to treat students (many of whom were already delinquents sent there in lieu of juvenile sentences) however they felt was necessary to maintain rule of. Well, not law, per se, but there’s no doubt everyone felt like they couldn’t be touched by the police. Not even in a bad way that almost gets the cop in trouble, but no DA will touch it (that’s probably a movie, right?) You may be starting to see the maelstrom of ingredients for a “riot.” However, it was also 1979 and Satanic Panic was in congruence with a rise in atavistic spiritualism and there’s a reason the Miami News would call it the “Ouija Riot.” Prior to the October 25th events that, to this day, are being referred to as “inspired by demonic possession,” many of the youths gathered for a pre-Halloween spook ‘em party where, allegedly, kids broke into groups to read tarot, contact spirits via Ouija Board (the second most nefarious product in the Milton Bradley universe after Monopoly) and a few choice games of Bloody Mary. It was one of these good time bathroom and broomsticks that would establish the mental state of a young girl when, terrified, went screaming from the bathroom. Other party-goers, assuming she’d actually summoned Bloody Mary, also fled the house. As with all great scary stories involving the Devil, concrete evidence is lacking and only the most trustworthy rage-filled teens with the deep-seeded, nihilistic sarcasm of the abused are available for quotes. Following is a short account of events from the 25th: The 13-year-old girl who’d been scared shitless by her experience with a mirror in the bathroom — correctly in direct defiance of everything Oingo Boingo stood for — became visibly upset. Her teacher thought to attempt hypnosis (granted, this “fact” was only found in one documentary and nowhere else, so pour yourself enough grains of salt to create a magical barrier with which to take this). That further unhinged the girl who fled to the bathroom (maybe not the ideal location for avoiding Bloody Mary), where she broke down into tears. Several friends followed her from the classroom. The girl claimed to have been made evil, levitates — yes, levitates — while in another classroom unattended teens start jawing off and get into a fist fight. One of them — the demonicallyenhanced one with the strength of 10 men — is defenestrated through a second story window, landing on either the top of a bus or directly on the asphalt. What followed, according to yard disciplinarian Josef Wolf, was an “exorciststyle head turn,” and several administrators attempting to restrain the boy, who repeatedly rebuffed them. Meanwhile, the entire school had gone insane. Doors were being torn off of hinges, lockers overturned, windows shattered. Some students had been led upstairs in the hopes of avoiding the random violence of the kinderkrieg. After approximately 3-and-half hours it subsided, with kids offering police and firefighters the vague excuse that they’d been taken over by supernatural forces. And not the ones that famed UFO enthusiast Ariana Grande titled a song for. These were definitely real. Or, maybe — just maybe — starting a disciplinary academy where you offer to take juvenile offenders off of the hands of the state is sort of a great recipe for a bunch of people to flip the fuck out every once in awhile. The world may never know. HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PARANORMAL? SEND THEM TO: WEREWOLFRADARPOD@GMAIL.COM OR TWITTER: @WEREWOLFRADAR IT’S A BIG, WEIRD WORLD. DON’T BE SCARED. BE PREPARED. 23
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