Police aim to charge more Cedar Fest revelers

screw the police sparty on baby

When a scene is considered a riot it is 4 or more people breaking a law. I never saw 8 breasts at the same time. For any graduate that is reading this article, Did you guys throw crap at the cops and people, like 40s? Who does that? The 80 trashy dudes from Michigan. Make it a MSU block party and nothing would have happened.

Next: double-secret probation.

For the record, the 1999 riots and the ELPD’s reactions to them have little relevance to any current student at MSU. We weren’t here for them, many of us aren’t from MI and didn’t follow the story, and quite frankly, we were most likely not older than about 8th grade. That message was never sent to us.

That said, I was at Cedar Fest and the corner of Waters Edge and Cedar Street is visible from my bedroom window. I came inside when people started ripping out street signs because I figured things would get bad. I’m not really a fan of the ELPD, but in general I thought they did a good job of handling the situation. There were a lot of people who weren’t going anywhere until they got tear gassed. There were a lot of people who just wanted to see what happened. It’s unfortunate that the entire night, which until about 12:30 or 1:00 was mostly a few thousand people enjoying nice weather and having a block party, was colored by this ending. Yes, there were troublemakers. The police were well-equipped to deal with the few who caused problems at the beginning.

I think you people might be taking the reputation issue a bit too seriously. MSU has been known as a party school for a looong time. That’s not exactly the best reputation either but people have bragged about it for years. The riots pissed me off just as much as the next person but I think I don’t think the declining “reputation” of the school will affect any of you in any way. So someone might ask “Oh hey, that’s where people rioted” but it doesn’t mean that they’ll automatically classify you as some piece of shit just because you went to MSU.

Again, check some history. A facebook posting may or may not be prosecutable, but there are other ways to punish anybody who posted. I was around for the late 90’s / early 2000’s riots. I especially remember the riot that formed after admin banned alcohol on Munn Field tailgates, which used to be 10 times bigger and crazier than the tennis courts are now. That started as just the same “Peaceful gathering”, and was initiated as a campus-wide email written by a James Madison undergrad. Things got out of hand, and Grand River was trashed. The student was threatened with expulsion unless he made some very public and embarrassing apologies. His face was plastered on every newspaper and tv newscast in Michigan. Personally, I’d rather take a fine from ELPD than have my parents and every prospective employer in the state see my picture with the headline “this guy incites riots and might be expelled from school”.

All of the above-stated commentary has already been spoken. Do a bit of historical research on what happened to those prosecuted in relation to the events of 1999 and you will be truly sickened.. This is the fate of those who were involved in the recent event, and believe me there will be no “kid gloves” when it comes to prosecuting or “grey area” theft of information to get what they consider “the job” done.
“Incite to Riot”, “Unlawful Assembly”, and “Indecent Exposure” are all terms that the MSU community will become very familiar with in the next couple of weeks. Those charged will face the reality of being charged with up to a 5 year felony to being listed on the sex offender registry simply for exposing breasts. There will be fines per individual that total over 10,000.00 for taking down a street sign, but disproportionately 1000.00 to someone who destroyed a car- keep tabs, you will see my numbers will not be far off. These fines will only be doled out to MSU students after investigation of family monetary worth- honestly, you cannot charge someone that cannot pay the mass of fines and restitution can you?
Please do not get me wrong, those who are responsible must be held accountable, but if they did not arrest the non-students at the event it is bloody unlikely for them be able to move forward with locating/prosecuting them in the future. Instead, they will “mole” through the networking sites, confiscate photos that are being developed locally(if anyone uses film anymore), put pressure on your friends at your front door for information, and pay your enemies a few dollars to locate you even if it is the middle of the summer.
I hope that you the reader take heed to what I have written- it is all out there for you to research, but ultimately I hope that this sparks interest— and a student, or group of students become involved to involve the ACLU, investigate MSU and ELPD “grey area” procedures. Prosecute those who are TRULY guilty though it might involve bit of detective work vs. “shooting fish in a barrel”, and ultimately involve ALL related parties and LISTEN to the MSU community to SOLVE the problem not compound as has been done for nearly a decade.

Charge em, expell em, put there names, addresses and pictures in paper and make em all pay for damages…cost of police, cost of cleanup, cost of broken car windows etc. E Lansing and MSU has 50 or so right now. Start the process. If any of the 50 were underage and drunk..dont release em until they tell who gave em the booze. if store or friend or parent..start arresting and charging and if fellow MSU student..expell them too.

ie, none of the things SAID on facebook would ever hold up in court

the facebook shit is gonna laughed out of court. any idiot knows that. the idiots that got busted will get what they deserve. the cops got what they deserve by not breaking it up sooner. only an idiot would give a shit about the “reputation of the school”. college is all about getting drunk and laid, the idiots that worry about “reputation” don’t get drunk and laid enough.

It’s true that East Lansing cops go out of their way to bust people. But those people are breaking the damn law so how do they not deserve what they get? When I was young with the “I think the whole world revolves around me” attitude I would get very angry with the police when they would stop me for doing something that was obviously illegal. Now I look back and realize that they were just aggressively doing their job, and there is nothing wrong with that.

they were there cause of the planned riot and they failed. 80 officers and only arresting 50 scum bags. They should have had double that there and a few water cannons as well, to sweep the streets of the scum and trash. Expell em and Bill em. And if they are not students lock em up..6 months jail time…resisting arrest, drunk, indecent exposure, disrupting the peace and inciting to riot.
Oh and my favorate offering sex in public.

as long as you’re not an ass the cops leave you alone. try being polite and not talking back…not reciting your “rights” and not being disrespectful and you’d be amazed at how the cops will treat you.

the cops aren’t going to prevent you from partying…just from having your parties turn destructive.

it’ll be interesting to see how these charges against facebook organizers go…they could go after them in the same way they would go after someone who hosts a party in their house that gets out of hand…we’ll just have to see.

Karl2002 you’re dead on.
I was there for the munn and the final four riots, and this will (just like those did) turn into a witch hunt.

the school and the city don’t care about the students. it’s all about the money. aren’t they making that blatantly obvious? you’re going to have the kids pay for the police overtime? what a joke.
how about asking the tough questions like why is this happening? why here and not other places?
they won’t do that. it’s far easier to blame and punish the out of control kids.
i graduated from that school 8 years ago now, and the day i left campus i vowed i will never give a dime back. the administration is a whore to the enrollment number and the almighty dollar.

Again, no charges against the organizers. Nothing in the message to start the party had anything unlawful in it. They are only prosecuting those like the guy who wrote he tore down the sign, idiot, and those that post aftermath stuff admitting illegal activities.

Steve, if you were there then I’m sure you saw how drastically the crowd was decreasing by 2 right? So then with 80 cops there, why didn’t they just spread out in groups of 10 and just arrest those people? You really think that everyone there at 2, or even a quarter of the people still there were causing a problem? The police could have done a lot more to minimize the actions they ended up taking….that is what pissed people off. Then, since they did take the action they did, the justify it by making it sound as if everyone there was being unlawful…..that just isn’t the case. really most people were just there to watch and have fun.

The Cedarfest/End of the World parties have been going on since at least the late 70’s…every time its the same thing…everything is ok…then the police move in and crack heads…arrest the idiots that need it and people in the City & MSU Administration freak out…

I know a lot of people don’t see it this way but…

Number 1…its a free country and if people want to have a Cedarfest..there is NOTHING that can be done. The party will take place. The questions is what to do about it…

The answer is…about what they did…allow it to go on….bust the idiots…and break up the part at 2 a.m.

My only suggestion is to keep this in perspective…it wasn’t that bad…

Note this link…a Cal Berkeley party TOTALLY out of control…

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2000/10/16/MN19008.DTL&type=printable

Maybe it is becoming obvious by now that whenever MSU students gather in larger groups without corperate sponsorship the police will also be there because of past problems with such large crowds. It has now become a catch-22. If as a student you participate in these gatherings you run a high risk of a police encounter. If you’re a cop and a large crowd is gathering you are probably going to have to put on your gear and go deal with what will envariably happen. Happy drunks seeing large numbers of cops coming to harrass them. Cops seeing large numbers of students drinking and getting stupid. Confrontation, no one wins, everyone loses something. Yes other colleges have had huge groups gather without incident. This is no longer an option at MSU because of the past problems and any future gatherings will end up the same because of mutually assured destruction from both sides of the issue. The police see a large crowd that will probably riot as they usually do at MSU. The students see the police and resent their presence because all they’re doing is enjoying themselves. Maybe a little drunk, but hey it’s college not boot camp. In EL it will always lead to trouble now. It’s not liberals, it’s not conservatives, it’s not a police state, it’s not too much freedom. It’s just too damn bad it came to this.

Living in this world is really quite simple:
If you want to be treated like an adult, act like one.
If you want to be treated like a law abiding citizen, obey the law.
If you want to be treated like a good neighbor, act like a good neighbor.
If you want others to take responsibility for thier actions, take responsibility for yours.
If you want to be treated like a free-thinking individual, think.
If you want to be protected by the law, expect that others will be too.

... and if you have not learned this by the time you turn 18, you are still a child and have no busines in a university – anywhere.

... and by the way – Since when did living in a free country include the right to defy its laws with no consequences? That dear boys and girls is not a free country at all – it is an oligarchy – it is power held by an elite few who are free to defy the laws of the land. Something quite different and quite objectionable from a democratic society. I shudder to think of a day when a handful of spoiled little white boys who have been required to sacrifice nothing at any point in their lives get to set the laws and still choose not to follow them. Oh, wait a minute – that day is here.
My bad – carry on – continue to throw your bottles and pull your pants down and swagger about in your prepubescent glory – you have been unjustifiably challenged and by dog, that must not be allowed to stand.

BEST PARTY EVER!!!

Lochgelly makes a good point about trying to stop parties and the MSU students & community does deserve something fun to do as a group. For example, The Palio di Siena in Italy is a big horse race that the whole city gets involved with. No riots during the fun and afterwards crime and civic unrest declines. It’s a pretty interesting sociological effect. Texas A&M has Bonfire, why can’t State have cool tradition like that? Cedar Fest and the “After Party Riot” is a lame tradition anyway. ASMSU & RHA should start something fun and positive that celebrates State for the students & alumni. That will also have the added benefit of drastically reducing involvement form non-students.

“At Sunday’s press conference, Wibert said police also will prosecute people involved in the creation of the Facebook.com event planning Cedar Fest and those who made pro-riot posts on the page.”

That is a load of crap. For one, do you honestly think that the creater’s of the event expected, or even wanted, a riot to ensue? And unless there was an actual threat on the event, how could someone get in trouble for advertising for a party. If the police charge the group creater’s, people will just come up with other forms of advertising for parties like this. However, the use of technology, such as pictures and videos (which are all over youtube) to identify those inciting a riot is completely fine. If you’re caught on tape there’s no denying your involvement. But pressing charges against people for advertising a party? Come on now, are you honestly that desperate?

As a current student of MSU, I feel sorry for those people who feel that having a good time means throwing things at police and destruction of property. That’s really sad that you have to do that to have a good time. And for those without a univeristy affiliation, thanks for giving us students who work so hard and didn’t want anything to do with the rioting a black eye. You all should be ashamed of yourself. For all you who think that the Facebook stuff is going to not hold up in court and think that stuff published on the internet isn’t grounds for legal action. How do you think that the police catch internet preditors? Ummm the internet. And that stuff holds up in court I may not agree with everything that our President says but her comment about future employers seeing this is true. People wont hire you if they see you deliberlty destroy property and celebrate it! So thanks for all of you few bad apples who just had to riot for no reason and give us a bad reputation.

As an MSU student I am sad to see spartangirls grammer skills are that bad and that she also is an MSU student.

‘truly amazed’ wrote: “As an MSU student I am sad to see spartangirls grammer skills are that bad and that she also is an MSU student.”

As a human being I am saddened by the writing skills of MSU students who criticize the writing skills of other MSU students.