Some 2,000 Spartans fans took to the Cedar Village area in the 9 o’clock hour Saturday after the men’s basketball team beat Connecticut in the Final Four. Police made some arrests for disorderly conduct among the crowd, but the revelers were mostly peaceful in their celebrations.
Despite an increase in arrests from last year’s Cedar Fest riot, police said they are happy with the “peaceful” celebration that lasted until early Sunday morning in East Lansing following MSU’s Final Four victory Saturday night.
East Lansing police Lt. Kevin Daley said police never considered declaring the gathering of about 2,000 people on Cedar Street an unlawful assembly due to the celebratory mood of the crowd. Police made 60 arrests during the night, but no felonies were committed.
“I’m pleased the kids had a very good time and they celebrated the Spartan win with very few issues,” Daley said.
Daley said police used Saturday night and Sunday morning as a “dry run” for an anticipated gathering after Monday’s national championship game.
The crowd that gathered in East Lansing after the Spartans claimed the national championship in 2000 was “humongous, but happy,” East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert said.
Revelers filled the streets Saturday in the Cedar Village area and downtown East Lansing shortly after MSU defeated Connecticut 82-73. Police blocked off Cedar Street by 8:37 p.m., and cries of “Go Green, Go White!”, “M-S-U,” and “UConn who?” filled the air until police dispersed the crowd shortly before 2 a.m.
Wibert said the crowd peaked at about 2,000 people at 10 p.m. He said the final number of arrests is a citywide tally which, along with the longer time that streets were blocked, accounted for the increase in arrests compared to Cedar Fest in April 2008, when 52 were arrested.
“The people trying to do harm were doing harmful things to the crowd, punching people and throwing cans and bottles,” Wibert said. “The majority of people saw who we arrested and understood why we were doing it and, I think, were happy to get those people out.”
Wibert said police have not compiled an estimate of how much damage was caused by the celebration, but said he observed a minimal amount. The East Lansing Department of Public Works cleaned the areas where the crowd gathered shortly after the crowd dissipated.
Robert Frisk, a biochemistry and molecular biology and biotechnology junior, said at about 8:45 p.m. that he didn’t expect the celebration to get out of hand. Frisk lives in Cedar Village and wasn’t worried about the effects the crowd might have on the complex.
“It looks like Cedar Fest, but I imagine it’s much more of a positive feel,” Frisk said. “There’s not any reason to riot; it’s not destructive.”
As was the case during Cedar Fest, observers from the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, were on hand to observe police and crowd actions. Theresa Melendez, one of at least a half dozen ACLU observers who were present, said the group was thrilled with the way both the police and the crowd behaved.
“It’s going great; everyone’s behaving really well, it’s not a problem,” Melendez said. “No issues out here (with police), and it’s much more peaceful than last year.”
Daley said the most serious crime committed was an attempt to burn property, when offenders were caught pouring lighter fluid onto a chair. Most of those arrested during the celebration spent the night in jail and arraignments will begin on Monday, Wibert said.
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