Riots.....
Pre-riot
(getting ready to fire the first round of tear gas for the night (there was no violence in the mob)
people running from the tear gas
a girl crying because she got shot in the face with pepper spray
Perhaps my favorite picture. This guy was screaming at the police because they shot him and his girlfriend in the face with pepper spray for being near them.
Grand River.... was...... chaos. (the smoke in the back is tear gas)
Me on one of my run ins with tear gas
WOW! Tonight at Michigan State was chaos. After the basketball game, I went down to see what the riot was all about and because I saw over 100 police officers walking in front of Abbot. They were in full riot gear. I watched the police suit up first. After that I heard a booming voice over a loudspeeker, ordering the crowd of students that gathered in Cedar Village to head to Grand River or else they will use chemical reagents to move them. The cops then moved into position and started firing tear gas into Cedar street. I was behind them in the 'safe area' that soon turned to chaos. I saw people getting sprayed in the face with pepper spray. I also saw this one guy, who took a picture of the pepper spraying get beat on by 4 cops with billy clubs. I decided to then RUN to Grand River, where they told us to run. The tear gas followed me there. They ordered students to head to Grand River just to tear gas them..... sigh. Soon Grand River was complete CHAOS with tear gas canisters coming from the right, then from the left. They were trying to push us back further from campus. I remember at one time, a tear gas canister landed 2 feet from me so I ran as fast as I could, a few seconds later one landed in front of me again, so I had to pivot and run the other way. I was terrified. They were not letting me go back to my dorm, and whenever I asked an officer of a safe way to get to Abbot Hall, the "safe way" soon got ambushed with tear gas. (I was taking as many pictures as I could, but not many turned out well because of the darkness). I soon gave up on going home and traveled the backroads (around QDs and Quidobas), but soon the police decided that the backroads were too rioty and started tear gassing those roads. By that time, I had so much adrenaline running through my veins I decided to explore what was happening all around campus since I couldn't go back home for a while. It was facinating. I found a huge mob of students at the corner of MAC and the street that's behind Grand River. They were chanting "GO GREEN, GO WHITE" and "NO MORE TEAR GAS!". Every 15 minutes or so the police would break up the mob via tear gas and rubber bullets, only to have the mob return as soon as the gas dissipated (apparently it happened a few times). I didn't have time for any good pics due to running, and having my face feel as though it was dipped in a vat of tobbasco sauce. I then started walking back to my dorm, because I felt like going home. Grand River was more or less clear of students (and thus tear gas) so I called it a night and went inside. Thinking back on it now, It seems VERY surreal.
I do not believe in rioting, but what I saw seemed more like a congragation of people. There was no violence initially and I don't see the need for the police to turn violent unless the crowd became unruley. Heh, on the plus side, I broke up a fight between 2 drunk guys. Also, I was interviewing the police officers who did not yell at me to go away. Apparently a few of them thought that it was wrong, but they were just following orders. One liked the way his voice sounded from underneath the gas mask. I got a look of DEATH when I asked one police officer if the tear gas hurt the environment. I also intervied a few students, but was not pleased with the results. Most of the interviews consisted of FUCK THE POLICE or drunken ramblings. Another real interesting thing I found was the police tear gassed a news reporter filming the incident, he did not look happy. I wonder what spin the press will put on this incident.