The fires have been extinguished, but discussions surrounding the civil disturbance following the Big Ten championship game is far from over.
As the court proceedings continue for those arrested on the morning of Dec. 8, some involved are beginning to speak out and share their stories. Police saw a minimum of 57 fires that night, and 27 people were arrested in connection to the events of the night.
Music education senior Maura McGlynn was standing on a lawn on River Street when she was arrested for being within 300 feet of a fire without the intention to put it out.
McGlynn and others have opted for a plea agreement that gave them a six-month deferral on sentencing, meaning their charges could be dropped to a civil infraction littering charge after six months. McGlynn said she faces about $900 in fees.
“I asked (the arresting officer) why me? And he said, ‘It’s kind of like fishing, you can’t catch them all,’” she said.
McGlynn said she was arrested at about 2:30 a.m., two hours after the initial blaze started. She maintained that police were in Cedar Village the entire time, but didn’t start arresting people until after the majority of the damage was done.
She said she witnessed an earlier fire on Victor Street that had a much larger number of people around it earlier in the night. She said a police car tried to drive through the crowd but couldn’t because the mob was too big.
McGlynn said the arrest is not a “life ruining” event for her.
She said her lack of knowledge of city ordinances likely contributed to her arrest.
“I had people ask me, ‘Why didn’t you just run?’” she said. “I didn’t run because I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong.”
Senior social relations and policy and political theory and constitutional democracy Emily Cracolici was not in Cedar Village that night, but based on accounts from McGlynn and others, she thinks the department was not prepared to handle the situation.
“As bad as it is, Michigan State has a reputation for rioting after big wins,” she said. “They should have been more prepared and known that when riots happen, they happen in Cedar Village.”
In the first city council meeting after the incident, East Lansing police Chief Juli Liebler addressed the department’s preparedness following the meeting.
“We were adequately prepared for what we usually face,” she said during the meeting. “Based on the past we’ve never had a riot after a football game.”
McGlynn said she was not satisfied with the methodology behind deterring people during the civil disturbance. East Lansing police Capt. Jeff Murphy previously told The State News that of all the methods the department has tried to use, randomly arresting to deter the crowd has worked the best.
“We’d rather use the fire ordinance over tear gas,” he said.
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