Letter from the Editor: A state law let a police officer walk and all of us are worse for it - MLive.com
On the night of May 31, 2020, in downtown Detroit, three journalists’ rights – personal and professional – were violated in the bang of a police riot weapon fired in their faces.
The dismissal of charges last week was a second violation. And the antiquated Michigan law that allowed the officer who fired the weapon to walk free needs to be changed.
The journalists, including an MLive photographer, were walking to their car around midnight after covering protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police a week earlier.
Two Detroit police officers in riot gear came around the corner. The journalists – all wearing press credentials, and with cameras hanging from their necks – stopped and began to raise their hands.
Without provocation or warning, officer Daniel Debono raised a weapon and fired a round of riot pellets, wounding all three.
Last week, Wayne County 36th District Court Judge Roberta Archer dismissed three assault charges against Debono, citing a 90-year-old Michigan statute that gives immunity to law enforcement officers for injuring or killing anyone during an “unlawful riotous or tumultuous assembly.”
That ruling is deeply disturbing on many levels. It highlights how difficult it is to hold police officers accountable for their actions when they use force against citizens, and it adds to the perils that journalists face when they do their work to hold government agencies accountable.
There was no gray zone here: Debono fired on three people with their hands in the air who were no threat to him or his partner. They had identified themselves as members of the press.
It was so blatant that the Detroit Police Department turned its internal investigation over to the Wayne County Prosecutor Office, which in turn issued felony assault charges.
“We saw a number of incidents like this across the country last year arising out of these same types of circumstances,” said Andrew Pauwels, a partner in the Honigman law firm who assisted MLive in the Debono matter. “As far as I know, this was only one of a handful of cases where charges were actually pressed against a police officer.”
Indeed, the Brookings Institution in a 2020 report on police accountability noted: “Most people perceive that if a police officer did something, he or she was doing it for their protection or the greater good of society. So, the bar for charging and convicting police officers is higher than the bar for regular citizens. Prosecutors, then, often take more time to ensure that a case is solid before they bring charges.”
The Debono case was solid, and the facts were indisputable. The incident was captured on security videotape. But the judge, in dismissing the charges after a preliminary examination, leaned heavily on the Michigan statute that says officers can do anything they feel necessary during unrest and be “guiltless and fully justified.”
That’s outrageous, and that law needs to be changed. Our country is amid a new reckoning on race relations and police accountability to its citizens and communities. These are difficult conversations, but necessary in the America of 2021.
Noted Pauwels: “There’s the risk of unfettered police action – lining up protesters and shooting them would seem to be immune (under) this type of statute. That’s the nature of the language.”
That’s a chilling message to citizens who wish to assemble to protest on any matter, but especially, those who gather to protest police overreach. In those situations, police often act as counter protestors.
It also suggests open season on journalists, who are granted broad protections by the First Amendment to cover the actions of government agencies.
In fact, the MLive photographer who was hit by as many as a dozen pellets, including to the face, said she was told by an officer after the shooting, “Maybe you’ll write the truth someday.”
Pauwels said the dismissal of charges against Debono “shows the uphill battle that journalists and anyone who’s harmed by police at a protest face in finding accountability.”
It is a battle that the Michigan Legislature should step into, and up to. Am I optimistic? No. But there are encouraging signs from elsewhere.
Last week, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against Minnesota police agencies preventing them from harassing the press. That includes using physical force or weapons on journalists or arresting them unless there is probable cause to believe they have committed a crime.
“The potential harm arising from suppressing press coverage of the protests is great and the public interest favors protecting these First Amendment principles,” the judge wrote. “It also is in the public’s interest to control unrest, violence, and other chaotic situations. But constitutional rights are not diminished during a period of “chaotic unrest.”
On May 31, 2020, those rights were abused on a street in Detroit. Not just for three working journalists, but for everyone who believes we need a new standard for police conduct.
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To hear my entire discussion with attorney Andrew Pauwels on the Debono case, the Michigan law that led to charges against him being dismissed and the state of press freedoms in covering civil unrest, tune into this week’s episode of MLive’s Behind the Headlines podcast. Hit the “play” button below.
John Hiner is the vice president of content for MLive Media Group. If you have questions you’d like him to answer, or topics to explore, share your thoughts at [email protected].
source: https://www.mlive.com/news/2021/11/letter-from-the-editor-a-state-law-let-a-police-officer-walk-and-all-of-us-are-worse-for-it.html
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