Dangerous Forces
The impeachment trial is over. The outcome was clear before the first words were spoken. In spite of overwhelming evidence of Trump’s responsibility for the Capitol attack, only 7 Republican senators had the courage to acknowledge his guilt. After voting against impeachment, Senator Mitch McConnell felt compelled to try and salvage his position by saying “There’s no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”
McConnell’s hypocrisy reflects the problem we all face. The mob unleashed by Trump is not going away. It will haunt us all. Republicans out of a combination of fear, foolishness, and a desire to garner votes, have encouraged more violence to come.
The coming months will challenge us all in ways that we can only begin to imagine. It will be especially critical that we understand the difference between public actions that press for peace and justice and right-wing mob violence.
Unfortunately, our Police Chief will be of no help. He fosters the misguided and dangerous reasoning that formed some of the main arguments of the Trump defense. He consistently confuses mob violence with public demonstrations for justice. He minimizes the racist treatment of BLM protestors, while excusing the hands-off approach accorded to right wing mobs.
Shortly after the attack on the Capitol, Craig went on Fox News to offer an argument in support of Trump. He invoked an example from Seattle, where the city decided to remove barriers from a police precinct in the face of a Black Lives Matters action, and claimed this was like the failure of law enforcement’s response to the Capitol. He said, "In those instances where law enforcement retreated and didn’t respond to criminal behavior by BLM protesters, what’s different with that than what was seen in the Capitol?" The Chief’s posing of this question, let alone his inability to answer it, is dangerous.
The Chief’s support for excessive force against people who challenge white corporate power is clear. He has established a record of hostility to those who challenge injustice. He refuses to protect First Amendment rights. Instead, he attacks those who exercise them with as much force as he can amass.
Consider his first challenge after he was appointed Police Chief by Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. In the midst of draconian water shut-offs, as people protested and challenged a clear violation of basic human rights, Chief Craig backed outlandish charges against two young Detroit Artists who whimsically painted “Free the Water” on an abandoned water tower that graced the Detroit skyline. He supported the charges of “trespassing at a key facility,” a post 9-11 charge that could have resulted in 4 years of imprisonment for the artists. Charges were ultimately dropped.
More directly, he supported the three year ordeal of the Homrich 9, water activists who had used their bodies to block Homrich Trucks from leaving a garage to shut off water to homes. The case was finally dismissed when the 36th District Court ruled the defendants’ constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated by “numerous unexplained and unjustified delays.”
Most recently, after a federal judge found that the Detroit Police used excessive force against Black Lives Matters demonstrators and barred the use of these tactics approved by the Chief, Craig backed an expensive counter-suit, claiming Detroit Will Breath protestors have engaged in a civil conspiracy.
Chief Craig reflects the kind of thinking that most of the people in Detroit have rejected. He, like his republican friends in the Senate, are unleashing dangerous forces, while attacking those who offer the best hope of moving us forward as a people.