'It changes nothing:' Detroit police chief defends department after judge issues restraining order
Updated Sep 07, 2020; Posted Sep 07, 2020
Protesters against police brutality march near Detroit's west side, where 20-year-old Hakeem Littleton was by Detroit police earlier in the day Friday July 10, 2020. Video footage released by Police Chief James Craig, within hours of the shooting appeared to show Littleton firing a gun at an officer before being shot. Anti-police brutality protesters have been marching in Detroit nearly every day since the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.Nicole Hester/Mlive.com
By Samuel Dodge | sdodge@mlive.com
Detroit Police Chief James Craig defended his department on national television Monday after a federal judge issued a restraining order restricting the use of tear gas, batons and rubber bullets against peaceful protesters.
U.S. District Judge Laurie J. Michelson issued the ruling Friday night, granting a temporary restraining order against the city and its police department, ruling in favor of Detroit Will Breathe, an activist group that has been protesting police brutality.
Read more: Detroit Police cannot use striking weapons, chemical agents, rubber bullets against protesters, judge orders
Craig stopped by "Fox & Friends" on Fox News Monday morning, Sep. 7 to say the order "changes nothing" about how his officers will treat protesters, arguing the only force used against them has been "necessary."
In a separate statement to MLive, Craig said the judge's order "is no different than what we've always done."
"Every time we've had to use less-than-lethal force, it's been to address violence by protesters, resisting arrest, or when they've tried to take over an intersection in violation of the law," he said. "Technically, nothing has changed."
He accused Detroit Will Breathe of not being as peaceful as the group has claimed.
"The protesters are masterful at changing the narrative have always claimed that they were peaceful and we used force," he said in the Fox interview. "When you look at 100 days of protesting, there have been six instances where we have had to use some level of force ... When they refused to be arrested and then resisted arrest, yes, force was used, but just force that was necessary."
The number of nights in which force was used exceeds six, and the court order focuses on seven protest nights that occurred between May 29 and June 2, on July 10 and on Aug. 22.
Read more: Michigan police brutality protests have cooled, but Detroit's recent flare-up points to fragile calm
The ruling says there is a verified complaint and a number of affidavits for the Aug. 22 incident, in which Detroit police beat protesters with batons, sprayed them with pepper spray, fired tear gas and rubber bullets at them and rammed them with a police car.
The order references a number of videos from the Aug. 22 protest, which appear to show officers throw tear gas into a crowd and grab, shove and use batons to beat people standing at the front of the group. Other videos show officers chasing people who are "running or walking away from the chaos, apparently not posing any threat, and violently shoving them into the ground or a building."
Craig "does not condone excessive force... period," said Detroit police spokeswoman Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood in a statement to MLive.
Regarding the Aug. 22 interaction, Craig said the police response was a reaction to protesters trying to form an autonomous zone similar to the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHOP) in Seattle. He told Fox News that the ruling won't change how his officers interact with protesters, and that he won't follow Seattle's lead on overseeing the city.
"Our intent is that we will continue to arrest you without incident," he said, "but when you resist, and there's video to support our claim that protesters are literally grabbing officers so they can free their comrades from being arrested, that's not peaceful."
Police in Seattle have said the lack of law enforcement in the CHOP led to multiple fatal shootings, robberies and assaults, reported the Associated Press.
The only charge against Detroit protesters on Aug. 22 was disorderly conduct.
The Detroit protests saw one fatal shooting of an Eastpointe man on the first night on May 29, as well as protesters climbing onto a police cruiser on June 29 before it rammed through the crowd to escape. The only other charges protesters faced over the 100-plus days of marches were resisting arrest, disorderly conduct or violating the mandatory curfew set for a few days in early June.
The city and the police department must respond in court to the temporary restraining order by Sept. 18, and pre-hearing meetings will follow a few days afterward.
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