Grosse Pointe Park Officials Meet With Protesters Over Allegations of Harassment

Members of the Marcus Garvey Movement met with Grosse Pointe Park Public Safety officials Wednesday following a short protest outside of city offices over allegations of racial harassment by officers.

About two dozen protestors gathered outside of city offices, to denounce members of the police force who were seen allegedly harassing African-American men in a blog run by ex-Detroit Free Press reporter Steve Neavling.
"We feel what has been done to you is an injustice," said Minister Malik Shabazz of the New Marcus Garvey Movement, to the man who was allegedly shown in the video. "This is a human rights violation and a civil rights violation."

Shabazz, who organized the protest, stated that he wants the individuals involved in videoing the man to be fired, and he wanted a federal investigation into the incident.

The blog did not identify the source of the video, but a quote in the post did state that some of the videos may have been provided by an ex-wife of a Grosse Pointe Park police officer.

Michael Scipio, who allegedly was captured on video by police officers, appeared at the protest and said,“it made me mad what they did.”

Grosse Pointe Park resident Lawerence Brooks was one of the protesters and said the video made him "cry" and added that what happened, "is not right."
Helen Serbernak visited the protest, and said Sciopi can be found singing around town and has been assisted him in the past by officers who have taken him home and given him food.

“I think they do more good than harm for this man,” she said. “I think the videotape was a bad idea, but I don’t think it was malicious at all.”

Michigan State Police Investigation

Following a conversation with Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, Grosse Pointe Park has asked the Michigan State Police to investigate the allegations, according to city spokesman Greg Bowens.

Bowens added that he could discuss particular steps that are being taken, but "the investigation continues."

"There are lots of questions that need to be answered," said Bowens, who added that the city has not acquired the actual videos in question.