KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Kalamazoo residents are making sure their voices are being heard in regards to the violence that occurred between the Proud Boys and counter protesters on Saturday.
About 100 citizens called in and left recorded messages during the Kalamazoo City Commission meeting Monday evening. The three hour discussion went well into the night to the point where the commissioners voted to recess the meeting around 1:45 a.m. Tuesday. They will continue their agenda at 6 p.m.
The first public comments came from several residents who were in support of the actions of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety and Chief Karianne Thomas. “She is an amazing police chief and a human being and has earned the highest respect,” one caller stated. Another explained that defunding the police would be an “act of lunacy.”
But a majority of the other comments were from city residents not in favor of public safety and disappointed in the way Saturday’s rally was handled.
“…you chose not to stand in solidarity with your community. You chose to not arrest a single Proud Boy,” one caller stated.
Many called for the resignations of city leaders like Mayor David Anderson, City Manager Jim Ritsema, and Chief Thomas. “I hope that some of you get fired,” another caller said.
Others called actions taken by KDPS “deplorable” and “disgraceful” and one caller even went as far as to say that the City of Kalamazoo is a disgrace to the country itself.
Some even got creative on how they made their point with one caller playing a guitar while singing, “Kalamazoo cops are not very smart.” Another caller gave a poor impression of President Trump while saying he supported Chief Thomas.
Citizens that didn’t even live in Kalamazoo or in the Kalamazoo area called in from areas like Chicago to express their disappointment with the actions taken.
After the hours of public comment and discussion with city commissioners, nearly everyone was blamed in some fashion for the way the rally was handled.
Some commissioners called out public safety for failing to intervene before the violent confrontations began.
Commissioner Erin Knott criticized Nathan Dannison, the organizer of the counter-demonstration, for letting a group with automatic rifles into the Arcadia Creek Festival Place.
Commissioner Eric Cunningham even blamed his fellow commissioners for giving their staff mixed messages. “The accountability comes back to us. Piece of that is protecting our community and a piece of that is protecting our city administration, and honestly we failed at both,” Cunningham said.
Commissioners finally recessed the over six hour meeting around 1:45 a.m. Tuesday and will regroup to wrap up their meeting at 6 p.m. On the agenda is still the housing equity ordinance, which gathered a good number of public comments as well.
(Will Kriss contributed to this report.)
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