Police have said in the past they plan to pursue riot charges against the creator of the Cedar Fest Facebook page and any individuals who made inciting posts on the page. While police have since said they first want to prosecute individuals who committed crimes at the event, East Lansing police Sgt. Scott Wriggelsworth said they may still attempt to press charges against the Facebook perpetrators.

“It’s being investigated as we speak,” Wriggelsworth said. “We still have a lot of facts to gather. To think that’s a dead issue, that’s not correct.”

Assistant City Attorney David Meyers said whether police can prosecute the case depends on how much evidence they can compile outside the Facebook posts, such as witness accounts of the individuals’ intentions.

“There’s been a lot of speculation on whether Facebook will be enough,” Meyers said.

Kevin Saunders, an MSU law and communication professor specializing in First Amendment issues, said police would have to prove that the Facebook statements were made with the intent to do harm and not merely as a joke.

“It’s going to depend whether there was intent to incite (a riot) and whether there was a clear and present danger that crime would occur,” Saunders said. “I would think (police) could make the argument. The question would be how believable it is.”

Regardless of whether police are successful in charging the Facebook perpetrators, Wriggelsworth said the creator of the Facebook page should be held as accountable as individuals who threw bottles at the event.

“This whole mess would never have happened if it wasn’t for that first e-mail,” he said. “There should be some culpability there.”