Campus conservatives have filed five police reports against protesters from a Nov. 30 discussion about illegal immigration.

The conservatives said protesters assaulted members of the MSU College Republicans and Young Americans for Freedom, damaged vehicles and broke equipment.

Jeff Wiggins, chairman of the MSU College Republicans, said members of his group filed the reports with MSU police on Monday and on Nov. 30.

"We feel that something like this cannot be tolerated anymore," Wiggins said. "If the university does not address the seriousness of this situation, we will be forced to pursue greater means of dealing with this."

Protesters came to oppose the Nov. 30 event, during which Colorado Republican congressman Tom Tancredo spoke. While the event was being set up, and before Tancredo arrived, the protesters gathered on the fourth floor of the law college with signs that read "Ignorant Racist."

The protesters said the campus conservatives also were verbally and physically aggressive that night.

Claudia Gonzalez, who protested the event, said she wants to see if anyone has charges filed against them and what evidence the police plan to collect.

"I'm interested to see how this plays out," she said, adding that MSU College Republicans and YAF have misled the public about what happened that night.

"Many people of color are feeling very ethnically intimidated and violated," Gonzalez said.

MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor confirmed Thursday that five reports were filed — one on Nov. 30 and four on Monday — but said the incidents are still under investigation.

"We've yet to locate some of the suspects that were described," McGlothian-Taylor said.

"Once the investigation has been completed, it will be turned over to the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office for review."

The prosecutor's office will then determine whether or not charges will be filed against individual protesters.

Wiggins reported that several members of his group and YAF were spat upon and verbally assaulted. He added that cars were keyed and tires were slashed.

Wiggins said he didn't mind the activists staying at the discussion because he encourages debate but wouldn't allow the protesters to be disruptive because it's forbidden by the MSU Code of Conduct, which restricts disorderly behavior in the law school.

"We've dealt with protesters at other events, and we've protested their events several times, but never have we been violent," Wiggins said. "They're going to try to turn this around and put it on us and say they were misrepresented, but we all know that's not true."

The skirmish drew national attention when Wiggins and Kyle Bristow, chairman of YAF, spoke on Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor.

Student protesters said during a press conference Thursday that Bristow has received too much media attention and skewed the facts, making situations look worse than they were.

"Like I've said before, YAF and the MSU College Republicans won't say those hateful things in front of video cameras or on the news," Gonzalez said later Thursday evening.

On Monday, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon released a statement condemning the protesters' behavior.

"Both MSU and the MSU College of Law are committed to providing venues for the free exchange of ideas," Simon said in the statement. "While thoughtful debate is certainly central to the critical assessment of any issue, disruption is not — and it has no place on our campus."

Alex Altman can be reached at altmanal@msu.edu.

Lindsay Machak can be reached at machakli@msu.edu.