Protests against Shelby Twp. police chief lead to two arrests
SHELBY TWP. Mich. - Two protesters were arrested during demonstrations at the Shelby Township police headquarters Wednesday evening after law enforcement warned them against blocking traffic.
Calling for the resignation of Police Chief Robert Shelide over online comments made about Black Lives Matter Protesters, more than three dozen protesters gathered at a rally on Van Dyke. After receiving a warning from officers about blocking traffic, two protesters were placed in handcuffs shortly afterward when they waded onto the busy road.
While the police chief's reinstatement following a multi-week suspension for referring to protesters as "wild savages" and "subhuman", people were also calling for more transparency within the department.
Two arrested for blocking traffic during Shelby Township protest
Two people protesting against the reinstatement of the Shelby Township Police Chief were arrested on Wednesday for blocking traffic on Van Dyke. Demonstrators want to see Chief Robert Shelide's resignation and more transparency from the department.
Rev. R.J. Rideout III who was has been arrested in previous protests and was present again at Wednesday's demonstration was happy to take the fine for an arrest.
"To fight for injustice - to fight against it - to fight against racism, discrimination, and misogynistic people, it's worth the arrest," said R.J. Rideout.
Urges for more openness come after criticisms of a former police-involved shooting when an unarmed man was killed by Shelby Township officers in 2018.
Video from that night shows a 25-year-old man outside his stolen mother's vehicle who was using drugs telling police he wouldn't be taken alive.
At one point, an officer asks Kanwribir Malhi if he's armed. "You got a gun? Let me see your hands. He says he's got a gun," an officer can be heard saying in the video.
When Malhi reaches into his pocket, an officer shoots him.
An investigation by the Macomb County Sheriff's Office found no evidence of Malhi having any firearm on him or in his car. However, the officer was not charged.
The state attorney general has agreed to take a second look at the incident.