2024-05-08 00:46:32
Detroit City Council members urged the Detroit Police Department to handle public events differently after officers stormed southwest Detroit’s Cinco de Mayo festivities Sunday.
Detroit Police start crowds detained and dispersed around 5:00 pm that evening, causing riots among the residents and visitors who felt that the police had prevented celebrations. Deputy Chief Franklin Hayes told Council members on Tuesday that more than 50,000 customers were on the streets, on the sidewalks and parking lots and that a “decision had to be made” to keep pedestrians away from vehicular traffic.
“We will constitutionally serve this community without apology and put the safety of our residents and visitors first,” Hayes said. “In the media, there was a specific business that came to our attention that grossly violated the special event process that this body approves.”
The venue was overbooked and had “a full-sized wrestling or boxing ring, and they wanted to put on a Lucha libre, or WWE-style wrestling show. And there was also an artist that was supposed to perform,” Hayes added.
Torres Saenz, who said she was a scheduled performer at an El Club event, was preparing for her show before police officers rushed to the venue, causing her set to be cancelled.
Commander Shelley Holderbaum said when officers went to the venue, they had a “wrestling ring outside, as well as a stage and as well as two food trucks, which really reduced the capacity of the event, but they still had the people there.” Waters asked if 20 officers rushed into the area. Holderbaum said police shut down the outdoor, unsanctioned event.
“We did get there and we determined that they didn’t have a permit for the event. We also had another one down the street that didn’t have a permit either. We didn’t shut down El Club. But we closed it out,” Holderbaum said. “We allowed the actual business itself to remain open.”
El Club officials could not immediately be reached.
Hayes told council members it’s not that unusual for venues to hold events without permits.
“If we had allowed this to happen and something catastrophic would have happened, we would have been right here before you had another conversation,” Hayes said.
Council members Gabriela Santiago-Romero, who represents southwest Detroit, and Mary Waters asked the city’s Legislative Policy Division to produce a report that provides insight into the city’s efforts to educate residents and businesses about Detroit’s permits and regulations. They called for more such education to be consistent.
“I do want to make sure we have a better plan moving forward,” Santiago-Romero told Hayes. “I mentioned that what happened is unacceptable. I think we all have a responsibility to make sure that our communities are properly educated to know about the permitting process and that we know how to keep each other safe during these events .”
Santiago-Romero said she spoke with community members who said officers would not give their badge information or names, indicating there is a legitimate fear and anxiety within the community among the police. The police department was also labeled “racist” for their actions on Sunday.
Hayes said the labeling of the department is divisive, given their “strong track record of working major events” such as fandom, sports, fireworks, entertainment, heritage and more.
Waters said she was upset to hear about the impact on businesses that had an opportunity to make money, and referred a visitor who told Fox 2 Detroit that “it felt like we were in a military state. It was scary.”
“Coming off the NFL draft, you had a lot of people you had to patrol,” Waters said, claiming Hayes didn’t have all the details of what happened.
“It’s not to say that someone isn’t telling the whole truth, but it was so great to see all those people there and the businesses thriving. I just don’t understand what happened … it would be the community so scary,” Waters said.
Hayes said, “Businesses were affected and that’s because the customers who were down there took over businesses and customers couldn’t get gas or food. So there were times when we had to move the crowds.”
Dana Afana is the Detroit City Hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: [email protected]. Follow her: @DanaAfana.
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