Hundreds of people poured into the streets of Detroit day after day in the summer of 2020 to support Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality following the murder of George Floyd.

Then-Detroit Police Chief James Craig repeatedly claimed that his department was committed to protecting the constitutional rights of peaceful demonstrators, going so far as suggest that “we are in this together.” 

The emptiness of those words has been laid bare in a shocking documentary by filmmaker Kate Levy, who created the piece largely by compiling video taken by media, bystanders and the protestors themselves, capturing footage while putting themselves at risk of retaliation from Detroit Police Department officers being caught on camera viciously abusing protesters — and then bragging about it to each other. 

Some of the most damning scenes, however, come from police body-camera videos. 

Those videos were obtained through a federal lawsuit brought by the National Lawyers Guild on behalf of Detroit Will Breathe, a grassroots activist group using direct action to promote racial justice in Detroit, and seven individuals who allege they were the victims of unconstitutional police violence while attending the protests. It is one of at least four lawsuits launched against the city by people who say they were abused by police and had their constitutional rights violated by the city during last summer’s demonstrations.  

To read the full article on the Detroit Free Press, click here.

Hundreds of people poured into the streets of Detroit day after day in the summer of 2020 to support Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality following the murder of George Floyd.

Then-Detroit Police Chief James Craig repeatedly claimed that his department was committed to protecting the constitutional rights of peaceful demonstrators, going so far as suggest that “we are in this together.” 

The emptiness of those words has been laid bare in a shocking documentary by filmmaker Kate Levy, who created the piece largely by compiling video taken by media, bystanders and the protestors themselves, capturing footage while putting themselves at risk of retaliation from Detroit Police Department officers being caught on camera viciously abusing protesters — and then bragging about it to each other. 

Some of the most damning scenes, however, come from police body-camera videos. 

Those videos were obtained through a federal lawsuit brought by the National Lawyers Guild on behalf of Detroit Will Breathe, a grassroots activist group using direct action to promote racial justice in Detroit, and seven individuals who allege they were the victims of unconstitutional police violence while attending the protests. It is one of at least four lawsuits launched against the city by people who say they were abused by police and had their constitutional rights violated by the city during last summer’s demonstrations.  

To read the full article on the Detroit Free Press, click here.

TARGETING VULNERABLE VOTERS 

Because of the work done by the ACLU of Michigan and our allies, our state has had a voter ID law that successfully balances voter access and election security for more than a decade. As it is now, anyone without a valid photo ID can cast a ballot if they sign an affidavit affirming their identity.

It's that simple. But the Republican-controlled Legislature proposes requiring anyone who fails to bring photo ID when voting at the polls to file a provisional ballot, forcing them to go their clerk's office within six days with their photo ID for their vote to count. If they have no photo ID, their vote isn't counted at all. Either way, requiring photo ID creates needless barriers, and mostly impacts vulnerable communities, including: 

Black people and other people of color: 

• Research shows that minority voters in Michigan are about five times more likely to lack access to ID than white voters.
• Voters living in 100 percent Black precincts were 16 times more likely to cast an affidavit ballot than voters living in precincts with no Black residents.

People living on low incomes: 

• Even if photo IDs are offered for free or at a reduced cost, the underlying documents required to obtain ID cost money, and place a needless burden on people with low incomes.
• The cost of document fees, travel expenses and waiting time range from $75 to $175.
• Roughly half of the affidavit ballots cast were in precincts with a median household income of $34,680 or less.

People with disabilities, the elderly, students, and rural residents: 

 Members of these communities would be disproportionately burdened by the cost, travel time, loss of pay from work missed and lack of transportation if forced to go to their clerk's office after Election Day to have their vote count.

To review the full mailer click here.