A Detroit police lieutenant has been placed on administrative duty after a shouting match in which he told a pro-Palestinian protester to “go back to Mexico.”
Sunday's gathering outside Huntington Place in downtown Detroit, where President Joe Biden was giving the keynote address during an NAACP fundraiser, was recorded by police body camera and video from a cell phone.
In both videos, the protester is seen behind a yellow police barricade while the lieutenant stands with other officers about 10 feet away.
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At one point, the lieutenant tells the protester “why don't you go back to Mexico?” She responds that she is not Mexican and uses an insult directed at the lieutenant.
“Because that's where you hung out,” the lieutenant continued. “Go back and hang out in Mexico. Party in Mexico again.”
Later, the protester identifies herself as Palestinian and asks the lieutenant, “Are you still getting a divorce?”
A Detroit police car sits on a downtown street on July 18, 2014 in Detroit, Michigan. (Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
After reviewing the video, Detroit Police Chief James White said he ordered an internal affairs investigation that will also look into whether department policy was violated. The lieutenant commander, whose name has not been revealed, was relieved of his duties related to policing protests and demonstrations.
“I was offended. In fact, I was outraged by what I saw,” White told reporters Monday. “We support peaceful protests.”
Commander. Michael McGinnis said the department later learned that the protester had been on vacation in Mexico and that the lieutenant was also aware of her trip.
“His comment was related to his return from vacation,” McGinnis said. “When you add that context, it changes the atrocity of the interaction. While it doesn't eliminate the concerns Chief White has, it does change the plot.”
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations said in a statement Tuesday that the protester recently returned from a family vacation in Mexico and that it believes Detroit police had been monitoring her social media accounts.
But McGinnis said evidence suggests that some protesters have been posting personal information about officers and that there is “some knowledge both ways.”
Hamas and other militants swept into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 more hostage. Palestinian militants still hold about 100 captives, while the Israeli army has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
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Groups across the United States have taken to the streets to protest the war between Israel and Hamas and the actions of the Biden administration. Students and others have set up tents on campuses across the country to pressure universities to cut financial ties with Israel.
