Meeting Tuesday to decide fate of Shelby Twp. police chief after racist tweets

SHELBY TWP, Mich. (FOX 2) - A public meeting is set Tuesday night with the Shelby Township Board of Trustees to decide the fate of the city's police chief. 

Chief Robert Shelide was put on paid administrative leave about two weeks ago after he admitted to making derogatory and racist comments on Twitter. 

Most of the comments revolved around the protesters who were reacting to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and he ended up calling the protesters in some of the tweets names like "barbarians," "bottom feeders," and "sub-humans."

Protesters have been gathering outside the Shelby Township Police Department calling for Shelide to be fired. 

Meanwhile, he has issued a statement asking for forgiveness for posting the tweets but protesters that we spoke to say that's not enough, that he should lose his job over all of this. 

"I feel like the commissioners here, you should not sit by and worry about your job and worry about if you're going to be voted in next go around - you should stand up for what's right, stand up for the truth and stand up to this man and let him know that he's out of order," said Rev. W.J. Rideout III, founder of the Defenders of Truth and Justice.

The Shelby Township Board of Trustees is set to meet at 7 p.m. A rally outside City Hall is also planned for Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, Detroit police chief James Craig has spoken about the matter. 

"If he can just publically and blatantly make statements like that, he is a disappointment to myself and all of my colleagues across this country that wears the badge of chief of police," Chief Craig said. You can read more about that conversation here.