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Wow..
So uh, I just got tear gassed. There was a huuuuge block party(though technically it's about 3-4 blocks) in an apartment complex near MSU called Cedar village, which happens to be across the river from my dorm. So naturally I went to go check it out, though I wasn't able to get out there until roughly 2am. Of course, I see a lot of people running around. I hear screams, shouts, hoots and hollers with the odd explosion here and there. Then when I get closer I start seeing cop cars, cops in full riot gear wearing gas masks, and then I see a guy laying in the street being pulled away, and a massive cloud of smoke comes billowing out of Cedar Village. In essence, it was insane.

I guess I came pretty much right in time for the riot squad and the gassing, yay for me I suppose O_o. I also got hit with it while I was trying to get a look at what was going on. It uh, not so surprisingly, burns. It's kind of like you had spicy food shoved in every orifice, and then got punched in the stomach. So yeah, after that I wandered around a bit more examining the carnage and whatnot. Some highlights:

-After all the riot cops cleared out the area, a bunch of the partiers actually started sneaking back in, and music and fireworks started up along with some chants. This was followed by several much bigger explosions and a second wave of riot police coming through. It was actually quite cinematic. You heard a bunch of blasts, then a wall of smoke billowed up through the area, and wall of men and women in riot gear hurling tear-gas grenades emerged from the haze and partiers ran away screaming.

-a guy actually smashed a bottle on the back of a cop car and got away with it.

-a guy on a bike followed the cops yelling "FREEEEDOM! WE'RE ALL FREE! THESE PEOPLE HERE ARE PAID TO ENFORCE YOUR FREEEEDOM!" He was wearing cowboy boots. A guy standing near me told him to fuck off, and he walked up to him looking like he was going to start a fight or something and said "YOU CAN TELL ME TO FUCK OFF. BECAUSE YOU'RE FREE! ISN'T THAT AMAZING?! WE'RE ALL FREEEEEEEE."

-A guy who looked like a Vin Diesel reject started screaming at some random guy on the street, and it looked like a fight was going to break out. In about 2 seconds a crowd formed around them and started yelling "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT" and similar such things. Right before the fourth wave of cops arrived (the fourth wave, incidentally, didn't have any tear gas, so I assume they ran out..), aaaand then he ran like a little girl.

-Homeless people had a friggin' can harvest (cans were everywhere, and broken glass lined the streets in the apartment complex). I saw some of them lugging around 2-3 full sized garbage bags worth of cans.

-random guys were actually picking up the exploded flashbangs/smoke grenades/tear gas grenades, and walking off with them in their pockets, showing them off to any passers by.

-At one point the school chant ("GO WHITE" "GO GREEN") started up. Then one guy yelled as loud as he could " SPARTANS, WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION?!" At which point a particularly loud explosion went off a block over. Then everyone in the area laughed and the guy yelled "THANK YOU!"

Um, but yeah, that's mooooost of what happened. Sadly I didn't have a camera so I wasn't able to get any pics of the event, but I'm sure you'll find pics plastered all over the web and in the news by the time you read this.

Oh, I also heard a couch was indeed set on fire in the street, but I didn't want to venture in far enough to see it.

Anyhow, take care everyone.

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