Michigan State University Student Riots, 1999-2013
After reading such brutal and tragic narratives, let’s allow ourselves a break, and chuckle at the next two riots on the list. In the same year that Iranian students were rioting about the freedom of the press and injustice, students at the Michigan State University had problems of their own: their college basketball team losing to Duke University in the NCAA Final Four. Between 5 and 10, 000 students mobilized at the behest of one ‘Taco Dave’, night shift manager of the East Lansing branch of Taco Bell, causing $250, 000 – $500, 000 worth of damage to the area.
Michigan State students are clearly a rambunctious lot. In 1998, 3, 000 students protesting against a ban on alcohol at tailgate parties were tear-gassed by police when they ignored orders not to trespass on Munn Field. Another loss in the 2005 NCAA Final Four, this time to the University of North Carolina, resulted in another riot which caused a slightly-more-reasonable $8, 275 worth of damage to East Lansing, but costing $198, 389 in police fees. The 2005 riot is controversial, however, as video footage shows no violence taking place until the police again used tear gas against the furious students.
However, it seems Michigan State students are equally violent even after a victory. The most recent riot of 2013 came after the college football team beat rivals Ohio State to qualify for the 100th Rose Bowl. Overjoyed, the students flipped a car and burned anything they could find: benches, couches, trees, and tables. When police walked from the main couch bonfire, rioters followed them chanting ‘nah, nah, nah, goodbye!’ Riot police eventually ended the celebration after 2 hours. The students were spared tear gas on this occasion, but there were multiple arrests. Well, Ohio State had been undefeated until then…