While the actions of Sunday night rioters were malicious and should not go unpunished, those who took to campus and city streets in rage were not the only wrongdoers in the melee. It also should be recognized that police perverted their authority.
It is safe to say police were not prepared for the celebration that consumed the community after MSU's victory against Maryland on Friday.
No one was, it was a spontaneous event, the likes of which East Lansing hasn't seen in a while. Nevertheless, police managed to keep the peace as animosities remained low. Both students and police could easily be spotted getting along with each other.
But Sunday was different. Police were prepared - over prepared.
Even before MSU and Texas tipped off, parades of police cruisers could be seen traveling along Grand River Avenue and a cavalry headquarters was set up at the Hannah Community Center on Abbott Road.
The presence of the police infantry in East Lansing was both intimidating and out of place. Despite the breakout of Sunday's riot, the ends of any situation rarely justifies the means.
Following the string of riots that plagued this community from 1997 to 1999, city and university leaders put their heads together to find ways to ease tensions between students and police.
And their efforts have been working.
The improvements were noticeable this fall, when we commended local law enforcers for taking a friendlier approach to policing football Saturdays by patrolling campus in smaller, less intimidating groups.
But Sunday's use of an overbearing and trigger-happy police force was a giant leap backward. Whoever made the decision to preemptively put down a disturbance by calling up the presence of massive gangs of riot-ready police made a serious error in judgment.
In effect, law enforcement agencies got precisely what they came looking for.
It is a common response from students who took to the streets following Sunday's game that they felt more threatened and bullied than served and protected when they exited residences to see columns of officers who resembled soldiers more than police.
And then rained in the tear gas to solidify their concerns.
It took a little more than an hour for police to begin firing tear gas canisters into rowdy crowds along Grand River Avenue causing the mass of people to disperse onto campus to vent their frustrations. Police released more than 135 canisters of tear gas on campus and in the city.
We find it curious that police began firing canisters so soon - as if to signal they had too little patience.
But what we find even more alarming is their trigger-happy nature in which they released their tear-gas arsenal.
Stories such as Claire Munger's aren't unique in regard to Sunday's melee.
The political theory and constitutional junior said when she noticed the havoc after coming onto campus to pick up her boyfriend, she decided she would be wiser to park near Grand River Avenue to avoid damage to her car.
But little did she know what damage tear gas would do to her and her boyfriend's respiratory system when police fired chemical mutinous at the two and a few other bystanders as they carried books while crossing a street near Albert Avenue on the way back to her car.
In a similar story, two State News staff members reported being the target of two tear gas canisters as they stood along Grand River Avenue near three other passers-by.
Although police say they used the chemical munitions sparingly, two canisters to disperse five bystanders is excessive. In addition, the individuals were not around fires being set or cars being tipped over despite police claims that those were the only situations in which they would fire chemicals.
Sunday's rioters were clearly in the wrong, but law enforcement officers are not free from blame. Police were excessive in both their preparation and response to the post-basketball game events.
