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Detroit protest

Cases against 28 Black Lives Matter protesters in Detroit dismissed

By Eli Newman | WDET • Jan 15, 2021
Demostrators in downtown Detroit protest police-involved shootings that have killed African-Americans.
Sarah Cwiek / Michigan Radio

A judge has dealt a blow to the City of Detroit’s criminal prosecution of Black Lives Matter protesters. Judge Larry Williams, Jr. dismissed - without prejudice - cases against 28 people who were arrested during last summer’s anti-police brutality demonstrations.

John Royal is president of the National Lawyers Guild chapter in Detroit. He is defending those charged by the city. Royal says he’s asked judges to dismiss cases because city attorneys have withheld evidence.

Stateside: College COVID outbreaks; outdoor classrooms; activists call for DPD chief’s resignation

By • Sep 15, 2020
A young Black child with curly hair writes in a notebook while sitting in the grass
Adobe Stock

Today on Stateside, new data finds that colleges and universities are now Michigan's biggest COVID-19 hot spots. We talk to an epidemiologist about the challenges of containing campus outbreaks. Meanwhile, to make in-person learning safer, one Detroit school is moving all of its classrooms outside. Plus, one of the Detroit activists leading protests against police brutality talks about how the game changed this summer.

Legal Observer of Detroit protests recounts violent clash with Detroit Police Department

By • Aug 27, 2020
Sara Habbo

As protests against police brutality toward Black Americans continue across the country and in Detroit, reports that Detroit Police Department officers are using excessive force on nonviolent demonstrators are increasing. And this violence isn’t solely directed at protest participants. A volunteer Legal Observer said police officers beat, pepper sprayed, and arrested some of her fellow Legal Observers at a protest Saturday, too.

Protesters plan to sue Detroit Police Department over its response to Saturday protest

By • Aug 25, 2020
Demostrators in downtown Detroit protest police-involved shootings that have killed African-Americans.
Sarah Cwiek / Michigan Radio

Protesters say they will file a lawsuit against the Detroit Police Department over its response to a Saturday protest.

Organizer Tristan Taylor says the protest was against Detroit's acceptance of help from federal agents to crack down on gun crimes.  

More than 40 people were arrested when police moved in to clear them from an intersection where they had established their protest.