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Detroit police officers may have crapped all over the U.S. Constitution when they prevented a reporter from questioning embattled Councilman George Cushingberry — but at least they weren’t “excessive” about it, assures Chief James Craig. The Free Press goes report goes on:
Fox 2 reporter M.L. Elrick reported that, while at the council’s citywide community meeting on Tuesday, he was pushed into a wall by a sergeant when he tried to approach Council President Pro Tem George Cushingberry Jr. Another officer is shown in the video, as well.
Craig said Elrick encountered a supervisor and officer assigned to the City Council protection detail. Craig said the incident was a use of force, but, preliminarily, it doesn’t appear to be an “excessive” use of force.
The footage shows Elrick, a former Detroit Free Press reporter, being pushed out of the way as Cushingberry walks by inside of the church, where the meeting was being held.
But this isn't about "excessive" force. What need was there for any force? Elrick wasn't threatening anyone. He wasn't damaging property. He was doing his job, which is covering a City Council meeting in the city where he lives. Until and unless Elrick physically prevented Cushingberry from entering the meeting, there was no cause for force of any magnitude, excessive or otherwise. Judging by the tape, the reporter was restrained before he even got the chance to talk to, let alone impede, the councilman.
And no, this isn't about what the videotape doesn't show either. Unless the tape shows Elrick issuing a fatwa on Cushingberry, or trying to tackle the councilman before he entered the church, what does it matter?
Isn't About Race
This isn't about the race of any of the parties involved.
Is media in Detroit racist? Hell yeah. I'll be the first to tell you that. I live it, baby. There's never been a regular black male news columnist at either of the two major dailies. The dearth of strong black voices in popular media arenas like local sports talk radio is pathetically glaring. The coverage of black politicians, of black people in general, is decidedly unfair and negative. White men with deep corporate sympathies and deeper pockets control much of the mainstream agenda.
That said, Cushingberry still is a public official. ML Elrick is a reporter. Cushingberry is well within his rights to cuss Elrick out Coleman Young style or to tell him to go cover something else. He can say "no comment" or nothing at all. He does not have the right to turn armed agents of the state on an inquiring press.
And people who themselves demand to be free from abuse of police power have no business cheering anyone who seeks cover behind it.
(And while we’re talking race: There’s nothing sinister about Elrick later following the black sergeant and not the white officer who also shoved the reporter against the wall. The black man had seniority, headed the unit securing the venue. Black people still run some things in this town. And we know good and well that when you’re in charge, you’re also accountable.)
You know what else this isn’t about? Whether Cushingberry has been unfairly hounded by the media or whether there are other stories that merit coverage. Cushingberry is the second-highest ranking member of what is, ostensibly, the legislative body for the largest city in the state and the 18th-largest U.S. city in the country. The existence of other stories -- even more important ones -- doesn't alleviate the media of its obligation to cover local leadership.
Are there more pressing stories? Yes:
- The theft of the water department.
- The murder rate of Michigan children.
- The midterm elections.
Need to Watch Elected Leaders
Even so, the behavior of elected leadership still merits coverage.
Has the press been unfair to Cush? Probably. I mean, he definitely deserved criticism for that dumb-ass traffic encounter with the police. And I'm always worried when an elected leader is accused of stealing from widows. But I can get over him losing the law license. And I think it's much to-do about nothing to criticize him for having friends on his payroll. Who doesn't? Is he supposed to employ enemies instead?
But again, Cushingberry has no obligation to respond to questions, allegations, anything. Either talk or don't.
But the man is "government." And in the United States, government has no right to intimidate the press.
This is not about whether the meeting was in a church. People accuse Elrick of somehow violating the sanctity of Bethel AME by having the nerve to question a public official within its walls.
Frankly, we need to stop having these kinds of meetings at churches. Just as we ought to uphold the right of a press to question elected leadership, we really need to get a grasp of the notion of separation of church and state in this town. Let the city foot the bill for opening a school gym or auditorium for these gatherings.
But if we've got to use churches for public meetings, then let's be sensible enough to recognize that the church becomes a public space in that moment. In that moment, your church is no more sacred than the corridors of city hall or the reading room of the public library.
If Elrick wasn't kicking out stained glass windows or carving his name in the pews or harassing ushers, what about his being there was so disrespectful?
Media is Essential
The presence of the media isn't an "abomination," but rather an essential element of a functional -- and avowedly secular -- American democracy.
And really, that's what this is about: who we are or, at least, who we have been and who we ought to be.
We are a city where politicians and community leaders changed history by battling against abuses of authority and for a more open and honest political atmosphere. We aren't some banana republic where strongmen send in the secret police to thump on those who dare to ask questions -- no matter how tired we are of those questions, no matter how much we want them directed elsewhere.
We're a city where divergent grassroots religious institutions put boots to ground to advance labor movements, women's rights efforts and the black power struggle. We aren't some ass backwards theocracy where the fundamentals of freedom defer to Dark Ages ignorance, pretentious ceremony and misplaced reverence.
Even to this day, Detroiters fight too hard to make this country honor its stated ideals for us to allow elected leadership to mock one of the most cherished -- the notion of a free press -- when convenient.
This isn’t about whether you like Fox2 or think local coverage is missing other stories or believe Cush to be an unfair target of a racist media. And this isn’t about how hard those officers shoved M.L. Elrick.
This is about understanding that, anytime the government resorts to brute force to stop citizens from innocently questioning public servants, we should always view it as excessive.
