Eastpointe mayor blasts residents for high crime rate complaints: 'Blame yourselves'

EASTPOINTE, Mich. (FOX 2) - Eastpointe Mayor Monique Owens recently put her residents on blast.

"You can never say the mayor disappointed you. You all disappoint me," Owens said. "Don't blame the mayor for your city, blame yourselves, because it’s deep rooted."

Mayor Owens closed the Jan. 17th council meeting with a 15-minute fireworks-filled finale after starting out with remarks honoring Dr Martin Luther King for his teachings on love and unity.

Owens made it clear that she’s sick of taking unfair criticism for what residents call a rise in crime.

"It’s a little rough. It’s getting a little rough," said one resident. "I don’t know why. It didn’t used to be."

Another of the mayor's hot takes: "A puppet doesn't say anything, they are moved by whatever goes on," Owens added during the meeting.

FOX 2 showed video of the tirade to Eastpointe residents. Many are stunned.  

"That was surprising that the mayor did all that," said one resident.

"She was kind of rough I mean, I thought she would have spoke a little better," another resident said.

FOX 2: "You were shocked by that?"

"Yeah I didn’t even know that until you just told me," he said. "I didn’t even know that was the mayor talking like that."

Owens said she’s been subjected to a double-standard as the first Black woman elected mayor of Eastpointe and referenced an alleged incident with a fellow council member.

"The same rules and the standards apply to different people. That’s not love," Owens said. "I had someone up here that actually got in my face and I had to make a police report. Put a PPO put on that person.

"If you can't respect the people that lead your community, how you expect people to respect your property, respect your car, respect your families, when you can't even respect mine."

Related: Eastpointe mayor gets sued for her silencing of residents at meetings

When FOX 2 arrived at City Hall to find the mayor, it was closed for the day. We then went to Mayor Owen’s house and we’ll see if we can have a chat.

"(Knock) Madame Mayor it’s Dave Kinchen from FOX 2, could we have a word?"

Well, no luck finding the mayor.

And we do want to point out that many residents we talked with say they understand where Owens is coming from.

"She kind of has a point," said another resident. "If everybody as a community could come together."

Mayor Owens is currently faced with a lawsuit brought against her and the city of Eastpointe by a group of residents who say they were cut off during public comment at a previous meeting. That case is ongoing.