Man sues ATF for taking guns after expungement • Where MI residents are moving • DPD sees recruitment surge

THURSDAY NEWS HIT - A 2008 misdemeanor domestic violence conviction was wiped from an Allen Park man's record last year.

With that expungement, Jeremy Wilburn thought he had gotten his rights back, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said otherwise when they took his guns away.

Now, 34-year-old Wilburn is suing.

"It’s unfair for them to say he should be forever barred, forever prohibited from carrying a firearm just because he potentially could get a second offense," his attorney Barton Morris said. "I could see if I was an ongoing violent offender or somebody who broke the law constantly. Maybe that may be true."

Michigan residents moving to Florida, Texas, other Midwest states

Many Michiganders are leaving The Mitten for other states, data shows.

Michigan officials are working fast to reverse a decades-long population decline that is expected to get worse over the next several years.

But while current solutions are proposed, many aren't waiting around. According to U.S. Census data, some 167,000 people left the state in 2022.

Warmer states and the Midwest are the most popular destinations for those emigrating from Michigan. Florida came in first, then Texas, followed by Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois. California was just behind, data from the 2022 American Community Survey shows. 

Trump to stay on Michigan primary ballot

Michigan's Supreme Court is keeping former President Donald Trump on the state's primary election ballot.

The state's high court said in an order that the application by parties to appeal a Dec. 14 Michigan appeals court judgment was considered, but denied "because we are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this court."

While some voters believe Trump should remain on the ballot, others disagree.

"He’s too dangerous to be on the ballot," said Attorney Mark Brewer.

Brewer represented those who wanted Trump off the ballot, stating his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot should prevent him from being in the Michigan Republican primary.

"He tried to overturn one election… back in 2020," Brewer said. "That's the basis for disqualifying him now."

Detroit police report surge in officer recruitment 

More officers are returning to and joining the Detroit police force, the department says.

According to the Detroit Police Department, 41 officers have rejoined the force, and more than 300 new officers have been hired in 2023.

Department officials say better pay is attracting these officers.

"We all played a great part in fighting and advocating for our officers," said Detroit Police Commissioner Willie Burton. 

DPD administrators point to the new contract reached in 2022 for the success, which raised pay for starting officers by $10,000 and allowed for lateral transfers to Detroit from other police departments. 

Christmas shooting suspect charged

A suspect who police say shot another man during an argument on Christmas in Warren is facing charges. 

Deandre Patrick Lawrence, 23, is charged with assault with intent to murder and felony firearm. His bond was set at $1 million cash/surety.

Police say he shot a man during an argument at a home in the area of 9 Mile and Hoover. That victim was hospitalized in critical condition.

Police said Lawrence fled but was arrested the next day in Center Line. He was the passenger in a vehicle that police spotted while conducting surveillance. 

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What else we're watching

1. The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) is down to 10 members after three commissioners submitted their resignations this month.
2. Domestic violence cases tend to rise around the holidays. Here are resources if you need help.
3. Detroit police say they are still looking for a suspect and person of interest connected to a fatal shooting outside the now-shuttered Third Street Bar more than a year ago.
4. Police in Clinton Township are investigating after a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle and critically injured on Harper Avenue on Wednesday night. 
5. Michigan's unemployment agency potentially issued almost $250 million in improper payments to dead people, incarcerated citizens, and others, a review found. 

Gypsy Rose Blanchard being released from prison

Gypsy Rose Blanchard, the Missouri woman who persuaded an online boyfriend to kill her mother after she had forced her to pretend for years that she was suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy and other serious illnesses, is set to be paroled on Thursday.

The case sparked national tabloid interest after reports emerged that Gypsy Blanchard's mother, Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard, who was slain in 2015, had essentially kept her daughter prisoner, forcing her to use a wheelchair and feeding tube.

It turned out that Gypsy Blanchard, now 32, was perfectly healthy, not developmentally delayed as her friends had always believed. Her mother had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which parents or caregivers seek sympathy through the exaggerated or made-up illnesses of their children, said her trial attorney, Michael Stanfield.

"People were constantly telling Dee Dee what a wonderful mother she was, and Dee Dee was getting all of this attention," he said.

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