Police Tear Gas Crowd at College Party

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Police early Sunday used tear gas to disperse a crowd at a large party near the campus of Michigan State University after fights broke out and officers were pelted with bottles and cans.

Police said in a statement that 3,000 to 4,000 people had gathered for the Cedar Fest party in East Lansing on Saturday night. Police said 52 people were arrested and 48 others ticketed for various offenses.

It wasn't immediately whether there were any injuries.

Police said the crowd became increasingly unruly about 1 a.m., the Lansing State Journal and The State News reported.

Tear gas was fired about 2 a.m. after repeated loudspeaker warnings to leave were ignored, and the crowd had dispersed about an hour later. Police said about 80 officers from area jurisdictions worked to contain the crowd.

Wibert said police initially only used loud, smoking munitions without the burning affect of tear gas to try to get the crowd to leave, but only about half dispersed. At that point, he said, tear gas was used.

Wibert said police tried to avoid the use of tear gas. "The hardcore ones wanted to be tear gassed, that's what it is," he told the Lansing State Journal at the scene. "Our guys were just taking too many bottles."