Re: minuteman project... waco type event???
I guess tear gas is an appropriate means to disrupt a peaceful crowd?
Published April 3, 2005
Police face off with thousands in Cedar Village area
By Benita Mehta and Kevin Grasha
Lansing State Journal
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(CHRIS HOLMES /Lansing State Journal)
Fans swarm the street in East Lansing's Cedar Village area after Michigan State University's Final Four loss to North Carolina on Saturday. Police moved in with tear gas to disperse the crowd.
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Post game melee at MSU
EAST LANSING - Police fired tear gas into massive and rowdy crowds outside the Cedar Village apartments and in downtown East Lansing after MSU's disappointing loss to North Carolina on Saturday night.
Thirty-eight people were arrested - most on misdemeanor charges of assault and disorderly conduct. One woman was arrested on a felony charge after she tried to set a car on fire, East Lansing police Lt. Kevin Daley said.
A series of small fires were quickly doused throughout the night including some inside garbage Dumpsters, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said. Police sent paramedics to help treat some injuries. It wasn't immediately clear how many people were hurt.
"This is pretty shameful," MSU student Jon Paklaian said as he stood across the street from Cedar Village apartments after midnight watching tear gas canisters fly.
A mass of people poured out of the apartments shortly after the NCAA semi-final game ended. Before long, thousands had gathered and were chanting "Go green, go white." They banged on cow bells and sang the Michigan State University fight song.
Police, who were patrolling the area in full riot gear in hopes of preventing violent and destructive post-game behavior, were surrounded by the crowd, but retreated.
A police helicopter hovering overhead shone its spotlight on the crowd, and officers using mega phones ordered the crowd to disperse within two minutes. The warning was hard to hear over the cheering, whistling and chanting.
The crowd remained and officers fired tear gas canisters. Chants from the crowd then changed to "You can't do that."
By midnight, police had released more than a dozen canisters into the Cedar Village area.
McGlothian-Taylor said police used tear gas to keep things under control.
"With the number of people gathered, chances were things could get out of hand," she said. "Part of the problem is that people were throwing bottles at police."
Some who were gassed ran back into apartments. Many tried to document what unfolded at the complex using cameras, phones and camcorders. Many who tried to capture the moment were forced off the streets by officers with night sticks.
"It was just people cheering. They weren't causing trouble," said Molly Phillips, an MSU sophomore. "The police are making everyone more angry."
The chaos came even after the campus community went to great lengths to prevent a repeat of 1999, when up to 10,000 people swarmed East Lansing and campus streets, causing nearly $500,000 in damage after MSU's loss to Duke University in the NCAA Final Four.
Bars were encouraged to limit drink specials and serve beverages in plastic - not glass. Dumpsters were emptied of all items that could be burned or used destructively. Fliers, mass e-mails and other messages encouraging fans to act responsibly also flooded MSU's campus, area neighborhoods - even local high schools.
Before the game, students were in high spirits as they crowded balconies in the Cedar Village apartment complex minutes before the MSU men's basketball game tip-off Saturday night, singing the MSU fight song and screaming "Go green, go white" back and forth across buildings.
As soon as the clock hit 8:47 p.m., students piled into apartments, eyes glued to television sets, ready to cheer on the Spartans.
The mood turned from hopeful exuberance to intense frustration as it became clear the Spartans would lose to North Carolina in the national semifinal game.
"They were banging it out inside for the first 25 minutes of the game, and they switched after halftime," said Nick Crocenzi, 23, of Waterford, who was watching the game with friends. "I'm a sad panda."
About a dozen friends crowded onto the couch and floor in MSU junior Jamieson Cihak's second-floor apartment to watch the game.
Cihak invited friends over for every MSU game in the tournament. The group always orders Buffalo Wild Wings before the games.
"It's kind of superstition," Cihak said. "So far it's worked."
The luck of the wings ran out Saturday night.
Emily Studer, an MSU sophomore, said her voice was hoarse from last Sunday's win.
"My voice was completely gone and still hasn't come back," she said. "I've been an MSU basketball fan since I was in the uterus."
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...30353/1001/news
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw1138...97_20050403.htm
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/4341106/detail.html