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Despite vandalism, chaos in streets Ann Arbor police 'extremely pleased' with U-M celebrations

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Posted at 4:10 PM, Jan 09, 2024
and last updated 2024-01-09 18:11:30-05

ANN ARBOR. MICH. (WXYZ) — Manager at The Brown Jug off South University in Downtown Ann Arbor, Jayden Dewitt, was not only there for Monday night's National Championship celebrations, he DJ'd them.

Dewitt told us he had the aux to the bar's outdoor speakers Monday night as thousands of Michigan fans and students flooded the streets when Michigan won the National Championship game.

"Mr. Brightside" and "We are the Champions." blared.

"People were on the light poles and in trees," said Dewitt. "That tree right there does not look as full as it did yesterday. It was absolute mayhem, it was awesome! It was awesome!"

Dewitt shared with us the bar's surveillance video of downtown. Amid the celebrations, fans climbed light poles and trees, burned couches, and knocked down a stop sign.

Some people online commented on celebration videos saying they showed "privilege," and that, in other cities, people behaving in such a way would be arrested.

We asked Interim Chief of Ann Arbor Police Patrick Maguire for the department's response to those reactions.

He said, "Those instances that happened, we don’t know who did it, so to say that a person is being allowed to do something for any particular reason, we were not able to take somebody into custody because it was such a large crowd and we, literally, couldn’t get officers to them."

Maguire shared that their overall priority for Monday night was to maintain the general safety of the crowd as a whole and that was a success.

"We had no reports of injuries, we had no arrests, and as of now we have no reports of any crimes," said Maguire.

According to the Interim Chief, people involved in any destruction could still be identified and charged at a later date. However, overall, Ann Arbor police are extremely pleased with the crowd celebration.

"After an hour everyone went back inside the bars when asked to, and well-deserved Wolverine celebrations continued throughout the night... just not in the streets."

There have been whispers of a Wolverine parade or some kind of school celebration later this week to celebrate.

At the time of this posting, Ann Arbor officials say no plans are set in stone.