A northern Michigan police chief says his department will launch an internal investigation after a longtime officer allowed Donald Trump winning the election, to cloud his judgement.
The officer was seen revving the engine of his pickup truck and flying a Confederate flag in a threatening manner, as he drove past a black family participating in a rally at a city park per MLive.
Marshall Collins Jr. and his relatives were at Friday’s gathering where people were protesting Donald Trump’s election when he said the truck’s driver came by once, then sped back past where his family was standing.
“As he came back by, I kind of stood out and I held up my fist very quietly. For me, that’s a sign of solidarity and black pride. So that’s what I did,” said Collins, a father of two and an instructional services health coordinator for the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District.
He said the officer made a show of grabbing a beer and joining a small pro-Trump group in a parking area. That’s when Collins said he decided to address the issue.
Collins said he asked the driver why he would bring the Confederate flag to a community gathering.
This was before Collins even knew the man was a cop.
“He said, ‘You don’t know the history of it …That flag didn’t do anything to you.'”
Police Chief Jeff O’Brien told the Traverse City Record-Eagle on Saturday, Nov. 12 that the department will begin an investigation on Monday.
“That’s not what the Traverse City Police Department represents,” O’Brien told The Record-Eagle. “We are to provide protection for everybody. The Confederate flag is not something we consider an oath of office. We take an oath of office to the Constitution, not the Confederacy. I personally feel that flag stands for hate and hatred.”
Collins said it wasn’t his first time experiencing racism in his 10 years of living in Traverse City.