For 21 years, I had subscribed to the delusion that police existed for the protection of the innocent. On Saturday, I saw a different side of the police.

In dealing with crowds in East Lansing, the police attacked the student population. While walking down Grand River Avenue, far from any of the "riotous" crowds that the police would later claim were violent, I was exposed to tear gas, shot several blocks away. The police claimed they warned the "mob," but they clearly made no attempt to warn the innocent students down the street.

My eyes burned, and I suddenly found myself blind and unable to breathe. A Good Samaritan student saved me a trip to the emergency room by handing me a water bottle to wash my eyes out. I blindly was led back to my friend's apartment to wait things out.

Several hours later, I decided to try to get home again. I encountered tear gas twice more, again, blocks away from any crowd. When I came upon a barricade, blocking the way to my dorm, I asked three different police officers for help and direction on how I could get to my dorm. All three of them told me that they didn't know, didn't care and that my only choice was to walk the opposite direction. One of the officers even puffed his chest out at me as if to suggest he would commit physical violence against me if I asked anymore questions.

When I returned to my dorm, my halls were filled with the remnants of tear gas fired down the street. I had difficulty seeing and breathing and on Sunday morning was still feeling the ill effects of the "harmless" gas. The police should be ashamed of their aggressive behavior. I did not see students acting out or starting fires. All I saw was the MSU Gestapo and the gas.

Michael Codd
history senior