EAST LANSING — Tom Wibert, chief of the East Lansing Police Department, told Michigan Messenger this morning that it was “less and less likely” that charges will be filed against the Facebook account holder who organized the Saturday night street party that turned into a riot.
“At this point, the prosecutor is saying no,” Wibert said in an interview Tuesday. “It is less and less likely to charge that person. We presented a case to the prosecutor, and it’s unlikely we can charge him with electronically inciting a riot.”
The Cedar Fest announcement has since disappeared from the social networking Web site.
In the past, thousands of people, mostly students, have attended the annual block party near the Michigan State University campus. In 1999, revelers caused $500,000 of property damage and police made 132 arrests. This year, 52 people were arrested and police described the damage as modest.
Early Sunday morning, as police were making the final sweeps and arrests in at the Cedar Village apartment complex, police spokesman Capt. Kym Johnson told Michigan Messenger that the account holder could be charged. Wibert repeated that in a Sunday morning press conference but that that assessment has since been changed.
Wibert said police believe they have identified the anonymous account holder.