SAGINAW, MI — Protesters gathered outside of the Saginaw Police Department, 612 Federal, Monday to demand answers from authorities regarding the shooting death of Milton Hall.
Saginaw resident Mike Carter protested outside of the police department a few weeks ago, when the officers involved in the shooting of 49-year-old Hall went back to desk-duty after a 30-day leave. Residents were demanding that the officers not work before the investigation is complete.
The U.S. Justice Department, Michigan Attorney General's office and Michigan State Police are conducting separate probes of the shooting.
Carter said since seeing the an amateur video of the shooting aired on CNN, which shows several Saginaw police officers firing at Hall, he feels it is even more necessary for citizens to be out demanding answers.
"We are concerned," he said as three cars drove by honking in support of the protest.
"If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then I don't know what the video was worth. We want to know what is taking so long.
"We, as a community, feel that police are not giving us answers. We want the names of the officers involved to be released. We want to know who they are," Carter said.
He said that since the shooting happened July 1, it has been a main topic of discussion in Saginaw.
"People are talking about this all over in the community. They're talking about it in barbershops, in their kitchens. We are peacefully protesting for some answers," he said.
Savarra Elamin, a Saginaw resident, said what happened to Hall is unjust.
"They wouldn't put a dog down the way they did him," Elamin said.
"We need names of the officers. What they did was unjust, and we want to be safe. We're a part of this community. If we can't trust the police, that's an issue. We should all be together in this community," she said.
Pastor Cirven Merrill of the Lifeline Coalition said that seeing the video gave members of the community more motivation to go protest.
"Seeing the video intensified our effort and allowed us to know that we're here for a just cause," he said.
"We were already fired up, and seeing that video let us know that we're doing the right thing. Now we are out here more enthusiastically."
Elamin said the video clarified things for residents.
"You can see in the video that (Hall) wasn't posing a threat. You can tell that there were a number of ways they could have non-lethally disarmed him.
"You can see that it was very wrong," Elamin said.
"What happened shouldn't have happened. We won't stop our efforts until we get answers."
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