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♦ Update: "The Detroit Police chief ran to Fox to call for my resignation. He even said he’d 'throw [me] a goodbye party.' I’m not going anywhere," Rep. Rashida Tlaib responds in an email Monday to backers, reported by the local station.
Original post, Monday:
Detroit Police Chief James Craig continues to lash out at Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, saying Sunday: "I'd love to see her resign. I'd throw her a goodbye party."
Detroit's congresswoman and police chief
In a remote appearance on Fox 2's "Let It Rip" with Charlie Langton, the chief attacked Tlaib, as he had last week after she criticized policing in America following the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minn., on April 11. A white officer said she was trying to use a taser, but instead shot him.
"Let her go," Craig said of Tlaib, serving a second term in the House. "Who is she speaking for, Charlie? Let me just say this. When you talk about abolishing police, incarceration, ... safe cities. What do you think the residents in Detroit want? I know. I speak with them."
"Is she truly representing the people, or is she representing a fringe group? She does not speak for black and brown people in our city." (Video below.)
A day after the Minnesota shooting, Tlaib tweeted:
It wasn't an accident. Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist.
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) April 12, 2021
Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence. I am done with those who condone government funded murder.
No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can't be reformed.
Craig on Sunday again called her comments "reckless" and expressed concern about her sitting in Congress. "If I made comments on par with her, they'd be calling for my resignation."
After her tweet, Tlaib's chief of staff qualified that Tlaib doesn't feel that more investment in police, incarceration and criminalization will deliver greater safety in communities. He said more should be invested in education, jobs and combating poverty.
Craig said: "I'm all for social service programs. I support that. But not on the backs of our men and women who serve."
Asked if the city is prepared for the Derek Chauvin trial verdict expected this week, he responded that the department is in a "constant state of readiness."
