A party attended by thousands of students from the Michigan State University early Sunday turned violent as quarrels broke out and police officers who were trying to maintain order were pelted with bottles. East Lansing police said it arrested 52 people and ticketed 48 people after using tear gas on the crowd.

"It was supposed to be Cedar Fest. It's a tradition we're just trying to have fun," said a Cedar Fest participant.

Between 3,000 and 4,000 people gathered to celebrate the Cedar Fest party in East Lansing Saturday night, but after heavy drinking the crowd turned disorderly about 1 a.m.
And at about 2 a.m. police officers deployed at the party were already tear gassing the participants.

"Our officers could no longer go through the crowd without being pelted with bottles and they started pulling up the street signs," the East Lansing police department said in a statement.

Of course, the almost 80 officers deployed by the local police first warned the crowd several times through a loudspeaker and used smoke and firecrackers, but these measures dispersed only about a half of the crowd.

Those who remained reportedly chanted “tear gas, tear gas” so the police gave them what they asked for. After using tear gas, police managed to contain the crowd.

There were some police officers and people hurt in the process, but the injuries were minor, said the East Lansing police chief.

The event was an attempt to revive a drunken tradition dating back to the 1980s. A posting on Facebook.com fueled tension surrounding the event and about 6,477 confirmed their presence at the party organized in Cedar Village, an area with a history of similar events that turned violent.