A former MSU student living in Illinois will go to court for charges relating to the 2003 riots after he was informed of the three-year-old warrant out for his arrest earlier this month.
Illinois police told Kyle Thomas Manning, 22, about the warrant and East Lansing police have tried since then to extradite his case back to East Lansing to undergo court proceedings, East Lansing police Lt. Kim Johnson said.
Manning is charged with unlawful assembly — a felony punishable by up to five years in prison — and arson of personal property valued at less than $200 — a misdemeanor, Johnson said.
Johnson said Manning willingly came back to Michigan for his arraignment and court dates.
"It saves us a lot of time," he said. "Looks like he came up here to get it squared-away."
Manning appeared in front of 54-B District Court Judge David Jordan and pleaded not guilty on July 17. His bond is set at $5,000. His next scheduled appearance is Friday, but district court records show Manning informed the court that he cannot make an appearance on that day.
Reynolds Law Firm partner Scott Mertens, Manning's defense attorney, said Manning didn't know there was a warrant for his arrest before Illinois police informed him.
"He's a good kid and comes from a good family," Mertens said. "I would say he is shocked.
"The guy has been around the ring on this."
Johnson said it's hard to say if there are more outstanding warrants relating to the 2003 riots.
East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert, who was out on the night of the 2003 riots, said it was a smaller crowd than in some other riots — the 1999 riot had about 10,000 in the crowd — and most of the damage was done on campus.
"The crowd grew to about 2,000 (people)," Wibert said. "Like any civil disorder, the problem isn't all 2,000 but a small crowd of about 200 that rushed onto campus and within 10 minutes caused $90,000 worth of damage."
The NCAA Basketball Tournament ended early at about 7:25 p.m., Wibert said. Soon after, people started to gather in the streets, which initially made a crowd of 500 people, he said. Once officers blocked the access to Grand River Avenue on Cedar Street, the crowd headed west, he said.
"The big change with the 2003 riot was that the crowd went mobile and sprinted to another location," Wibert said. "We had never had that before."
A car was flipped over at the Kresge Art Museum, vending machines and windows were smashed and eight fires were started, he said. One fire in front of the Main Library ended up two stories tall, Wibert said.
According to video footage and a Lansing State Journal photograph obtained by police, they identified Manning as one of the two people throwing paper into a fire.
"In the video, the subject is seen looking around for paper on the ground, crinkling it up and throwing it on the fire," Wibert said. "There's one still photograph from the Lansing State Journal that shows the same thing, also."
Although it's been three years, Manning should still be charged, Wibert said.
"It's based in principle — you can't go and light other people's stuff on fire," he said. "It's a law I agree with, and he should be punished."
