An already strained relationship between Thomas Aquinas College (TAC) and Wyoming Catholic College (WCC) escalated today in tensions with the detaining of a WCC student on a visit to TAC.
JohnJohn, having just escaped with his life after a harrowing visit last week to TAC, decided to return two days ago to the school. Probably a very foolhardy decision, given that the reception he received the first time can at best be said to be cold, he nevertheless chose to brave it again. His words were few his tone somber: “I have friends there.”
So he tried it today, but they were waiting. Rather than drive him off their grounds as they did last week, however, TAC extremists chose rather to detain and effectively hold him hostage. He was imprisoned in a closet overnight, but as word of his detainment got out quickly and a crowd of angry WCC students soon showed up outside the TAC perimeter fence in protest.
“Everyone was terrified,” reports Junior Sophia Donaldson. “I learned of what happened to JohnJohn at 1 in the morning and by 5 am we had twenty people headed toward Santa Paula to rescue him. Unfortunately, it took all day, but everyone was terrified over what might happen to our poor John.”
By the end of the day, however, the full WCC Emergency Response team had gathered at TAC with several other dozen students, all rushing to protest the treatment of JohnJohn and come to his aid. To Joseph Nemec, “it was all a blur, that day. I found myself in a crowd, angry, chanting, I had trouble remembering anything after that mad rush of a day to get to TAC, but when I finally realized what I was doing, I knew it was worth it. But what a horror show though!”
TAC students also showed up to defend their compound, urged on by rumors spread by their school that WCC aimed to create the situation from the beginning as a pretext to conquering them. Things could have gotten deadly, except for the fact that TAC students, being as they were in California, weren’t allowed to own weapons and the WCC students, in their mad rush to reach JohnJohn, mostly flew to California, and weren’t allowed to bring any either. Nevertheless, angry chanting and screaming consumed both sides for most of the day (Thursday).
In the midst of the confusion and crowds, however, one WCC student, Pat Tippman, managed to sneak past the crowds of guards into the compound. Having visited TAC before in the long distant past, he had a map of their campus with him and had a pretty good guess of where JohnJohn was being held prisoner. Accompanied by two other WCC students, disguisedly entering the school by wearing TAC t-shirts, and unbeknownst to either side, he stealthily made his way to the dorm in which JohnJohn was being held. They climbed through a window, after discovering John had hung a flag as a signal from it and rushed the room. Three guards had been posted, all burly Katins, but luckily for them, these guards were on a philosophy break, a session on the roof of the dorm.
Still, it was a close escape as the four of JohnJohn, Pat, Louisa, and Camille, jumped ten feet out of an upper-level window, snuck close to the gate through the shrubbery, and approached it, commotion still ensuing on both sides there. Almost immediately they were spotted and attacked, but full hand-to-hand combat ensued as both sides realized JohnJohn had escaped and was there.
As quickly as possible, however, WCC forces grouped for an escape onto waiting horses, two or more to each horse, with them the rescuers and a bewildered but overjoyed JohnJohn.
TAC students made some attempt at pursuit, but their efforts since have been mainly diplomatic as they attempted to justify their detainment of JohnJohn. In a statment, they submitted to local news authorities they say JohnJohn was captured “in the act of trespassing with reason to commit sabotage”. Of what, they do not say, even as this report is contradicted by many anonymous TAC students who say he was merely visiting friends and relatives who happened to be at the school.
Local police were surprisingly uninvolved in the entire incident but reportedly ignored the situation over fears that “it could turn into a racial incident and provoke legal trouble if they got involved. We find this argument unconvincing unless of course school identity is now a California protected class. In that case, uhhh!
JohnJohn has not yet made an official statement as WCC security makes an investigation of this incident and his experience last week. “We’ll announce an intent to press charges if that is the decision of the Student Life office once they review our report,” stated WCC Security chief Andrew Matthews in the only statement that has yet come out from WCC on this developing situation.
Will this lead to a full-on war between TAC and WCC and their respective students and supporters? Share your opinion below.