Police Use Tear Gas to Break Up Thousands of Partiers Near Michigan State Campus

by Rob Walker | April 7, 2008 at 11:18 am

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Police say around 3,000-4,000 people were gathered in East Lansing, Michigan on Saturday night after an attempt to re-start the Cedar Fest parties that were shut down in 1987 after the parties got too crazy.

People began to slowly gather throughout the day, drinking and getting together in small groups.

As the evening wore on, the small groups turned into small crowds, the small crowds became parties and eventually there were over 3,000 people partying and drinking in the streets.

52 people were arrested and 48 ticketed, authorities were still assessing how much damage had been caused.

Police early Sunday used tear gas to disperse a crowd at a large party near the campus of Michigan State University after fights broke out and officers were pelted with bottles and cans.
Police said in a statement that 3,000 to 4,000 people had gathered for the Cedar Fest party in East Lansing on Saturday night. Police said 52 people were arrested and 48 others ticketed for various offenses. More charges could be coming after police review videotape taken at the scene.

East Lansing Police Chief posted:

A few individuals are responsible for what occurred last night and we will hold them accountable," Wibert said in the release. "To paint their actions with a broad brush covering all MSU students is wrong. We know that a large percentage of the crowd had no affiliation with the university. At most, the crowd was no more than 4,000 people. With a student population of approximately 45,000 it is obvious that well over 90 percent of MSU students do not participate in riots and were not present last night. I graduated from MSU and I am not ashamed for what happened. I'm proud that the vast majority of my fellow Spartans had something better to do."

Police are sorting out the damage caused by what they characterized as a riot near Michigan State University over the weekend.
East Lansing police say Monday information will be gathered from landlords and businesses in the area of Cedar Village before making a damage estimate.

East Lansing Police Chief Tom Wibert said that there was no getting around the use of tear gas Sunday morning to control a violent crowd at the Cedar Village apartments.
"I don't know what we could have done different to avoid it. When 4,000 people suddenly decide that they want to take the streets, it's pretty hard for 50 police officers to stop them," he said during a press conference at East Lansing City Hall this morning.
Police are calling violence that erupted at Cedar Fest overnight a riot.