An Ingham County sheriff sits in a detainee van full of arrested rioters at Cedar Fest early Sunday morning at the intersection of Cedar Street and Waters Edge Drive.
The 52 people charged for crimes committed during Cedar Fest all face misdemeanor charges, but that could change as charges are finalized, East Lansing police said Monday.
“Some people may be charged with additional crimes after they review the reports,” East Lansing police Capt. Kim Johnson said.
East Lansing City Attorney Dennis McGinty said since charges haven’t been finalized, more changes still are possible.
“I haven’t even seen the reports yet,” McGinty said.
As of Monday afternoon, Johnson said he didn’t know of any arraignments that had taken place. Individuals who have been charged have 10 days to appear in East Lansing’s 54-B District Court for an arraignment, he said.
Johnson said all those charged had posted bond and were released from jail. At a press conference Sunday, East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert said charges range from disorderly conduct to inciting a riot.
The number of Cedar Fest participants charged with crimes from the event could increase in the coming weeks as police search videos and photographs for footage of individuals committing crimes.
Police plan to review their footage of Cedar Fest and are asking citizens to submit photographs and footage to aid the investigation. They will spend the next several months identifying offenders in the footage and making arrests.
Johnson said police will seek to prosecute offenders identified in the footage with the same force as those who have already been arrested.
Computer science junior Joe Meleca said he doesn’t think police should be able to make arrests based on the use of technology.
“I think they got their point across by arresting and teargassing people (at Cedar Fest),” Meleca said.
“Going further with that is kind of like beating a dead horse.”
But others, such as business graduate student Tom Stewart, said lawbreakers should be punished regardless of where the evidence comes from.
“If it’s legal for (police) to do, I guess they should have the right to do it,” Stewart said.
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.
But Johnson said police decided at a department meeting Monday not to pursue those individuals until police have finalized charges against people who already have been arrested and anyone they are able to identify from videos and photographs.
“Our priorities are people at the party, and they need to be held accountable for their actions,” he said.
This is the first time the department has dealt with the possibility of making arrests for riotous comments posted on the Internet.
Johnson said police could be making arrests throughout the summer and after MSU classes resume next fall. He also said the city will seek repayment for property damage and police overtime costs from those convicted of Cedar Fest-related crimes.
“Those penalties are going to be extremely high,” Johnson said.
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Police do not yet have an estimate of the overtime wages for police and other crews on duty during the riot, but with 80 police officers at Cedar Fest and cleanup crews to take care of the aftermath, Johnson said the cost will be huge.
After the March 27-28, 1999, riot in downtown East Lansing after a Final Four loss, those convicted following the event each paid up to several thousands of dollars in restitution, Johnson said.
A cost estimate of the damage done during Cedar Fest won’t be determined until police have contacted landlords, but Johnson said he expects the damage to be minimal.
“The damage is going to be minimum, we think,” he said.
In addition to private property damages, Johnson said replacing street signs, broken police car windows, trampled wooden fences and fire-damaged trash bins will factor into the cost.
