Rallying against police brutality in Michigan
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LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Families of victims killed during confrontations with police are calling for change.
Alongside those families at the rally Friday at the Michigan Capitol, civil rights attorneys, state officials and other members of the community spoke about what they’re calling injustice in recent officer-involved deaths in Michigan.
“Mothers don’t have to go through this,” said Andrica Cage, the mother of 25-year-old Samuel Sterling. “I don’t care what color you is; shouldn’t nobody run your child down.”
Cage lost her son, Samuel, on April 17 after a Michigan State Police detective ran into him with his care. The driver, Sgt. Brian Keely, was charged with murder just last week by the state Attorney General’s office.
Families and supporters of police victims Samuel Sterling and Riley Doggett, Friday, June 7, at the Michigan Capitol (WLNS) Samuel Sterling, 25, died in 2024 after an MSP officer hit him with his car. (WLNS) Riley Doggett was hit and killed by a Kent County deputy’s car. (WLNS) Ben Crump is representing the families of Samuel Sterling and Riley Doggett. (WLNS) Families and supporters of Samuel Sterling and Riley Doggett spoke at the Michigan Capitol on Friday, June 7, 2024. (WLNS) Community members gathered at the Michigan Capitol for a march against police brutality, Friday, June 7, 2024. (WLNS) Community members led a march for justice to victims of police brutality, Friday, June 7, at the Michigan Capitol. (WLNS) Andrica Cage is the mother of 25-year-old Samuel Sterling, who was killed in 2024 by a police officer’s car. (WLNS)
“This officer took his car, pinned him to the wall at Burger King, and when they pulled that car back, he fell to the ground…he was not trying to hurt nobody; he was running away,” Cage said.
The Sterling family stood alongside the family of Riley Doggett, who was also hit by a police car last month during a chase.
But the Kent County officer involved in that case has not been charged.
“Don’t say no more, don’t say no more; just watch the video, just watch the video,” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who’s representing both of these families, as he did with the case of Patrick Lyoya two years ago.
“‘Welcome to the state of Michigan, Attorney Crump, where we don’t waste money on guns and bullets,'” Crump said. “‘We just line them up and run them over with police cars; it’s cheaper that way, apparently.'”
At Friday’s march, Crump and the Doggett family were calling on Attorney General Dana Nessel to reevaluate the decision for the Kent County deputy.
“Shame on us if we look at that video and don’t have accountability,” Crump said.
Friday’s rally is a cry for help, directed toward state leaders, Cage tells us, in order for her son’s death to not be in vain.
“He was the world…and he’s about to change this world,” Cage said.
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