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CNN Live At Daybreak

Unrest in Michigan: Riot Over Police Chase

Aired June 18, 2003 - 06:10   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is a tense morning in Benton Harbor, Michigan, this is the second day of rioting there. It's left buildings and cars on fire. At least one person has been wounded by gunfire. A state of emergency has now been declared by the governor in that city of 12,000 residents. About 250 police and state troopers used teargas to put an end to the rioting. The demonstrations were sparked by the death of an African-American who refused to stop his motorcycle. He was killed in a police pursuit.
Let's get the latest on the situation right now. Mark Albert with CNN affiliate WWMT in Benton Harbor live with us right now.

What's the situation now -- Mark?

MARK ALBERT, WWMT-TV REPORTER: Well the police chief here in Benton Harbor has declared the situation contained at about 4:00 a.m. this morning. That follows about eight hours of unrest. And the chief of police here, Sam Harris, joins me now from the Benton Harbor Police Department.

Chief, you've had a tough night out there. What is the situation this morning?

SAM HARRIS, POLICE CHIEF, BENTON HARBOR POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well right now everything is calm, quiet. We pulled back our forces and we're debriefing and preparing for another night of the same.

ALBERT: You had 100 state police troopers being called in after that state of emergency. You moved through major offensive about 2:30 this morning. You had to use teargas, correct?

HARRIS: That's correct.

ALBERT: Why was that necessary? Did it get the desired effect?

HARRIS: It was necessary because of the rock and bottle throwing. And the effect was achieved that caused the crowd to disperse, and we brought calm back to the city.

ALBERT: Was this a brazen crowd, violent?

HARRIS: Yes, it was very violent. We had gunfire. They shot at our trucks, they shot at the captain of police, ran barricades and it was a little chaos this evening.

ALBERT: Now you're a veteran of the Chicago police force, but you say that now seeing this, this is the last thing that you expected coming here.

HARRIS: That's correct. I spent 30 years in Chicago, and from 1966 until '96, I went through a number of civil disturbances and riots and that sort of thing, but I did not expect that here in the small city of less than 12,000 people in Benton Harbor.

ALBERT: You told me earlier you're considering two things for tonight, perhaps a citywide curfew and perhaps using the National Guard. What's the status on both of those?

HARRIS: Well the National Guard is probably a long ways off, but we probably will impose a 10:00 p.m. curfew this evening.

ALBERT: Will there be a third night of riots?

HARRIS: We hope not, but we will prepare for it in the event it should occur.

ALBERT: All right. Chief Sam Harris of the Benton Harbor Police Department, thank you very much for your time -- sir.

HARRIS: You're welcome.

ALBERT: Thank you very much joining us here. This comes after a second night of riots here in Benton Harbor as police try to get back control of that neighborhood.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: Mark, help us understand why this is happening in the first place. What beef do the residents of this small town have with police?

ALBERT: Well, actually it's a little ironic, because here in Benton Harbor, the police did absolutely nothing on Monday night in this police chase. They had a policy where they are not to chase suspects. It was a neighboring department, Benton Township, their officer gave chase. And these speeds reached more than 100 miles per hour, that is when a 27-year-old man, Terrance Shurn, crashed and he died from his injuries.

The residents there showing up at a town hall meeting last night, saying that they want that officer fired, they want the police force diversified, they want a commission appointed to oversee the police department. And most importantly of all, they want answers and they want a ban on all police chases.

They say that this has happened before. In fact, last night, Monday night, rather, that police chase was the third officer-involved death in the past three years for the 17 officer Benton Township force. A very small department there, but they've already had three involved deaths with officers. So certainly a community that is enraged. The police chief -- the police chase, rather, finally ended in the city of Benton Harbor and that's why you've been seeing the riot here the last few nights. COSTELLO: Right, and correct me if I'm wrong, but this person on the motorcycle, he was speeding so police did have reason to give chase. But the people in the town are upset because they say police knew who this guy was, he lived in Benton Harbor and they could have picked him up later.

ALBERT: They do say that. But Chief Sam Harris, whom you heard from just a little bit earlier, would argue, hey, if he had turned himself over and stopped speeding in the first place, they would have arrested him and this never would have happened. Also they say he was driving with a suspended driver's license. And after the accident, they found a small patch of marijuana on his person. So they say that certainly they had cause to chase this person. Benton Harbor -- the city of Benton Harbor did discontinue that chase but Benton Township, rather, has no such policy and did give chase.

COSTELLO: All right. Mark Albert with CNN affiliate WWMT reporting live for us from Benton Harbor, Michigan this morning, many thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 18, 2003 - 06:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is a tense morning in Benton Harbor, Michigan, this is the second day of rioting there. It's left buildings and cars on fire. At least one person has been wounded by gunfire. A state of emergency has now been declared by the governor in that city of 12,000 residents. About 250 police and state troopers used teargas to put an end to the rioting. The demonstrations were sparked by the death of an African-American who refused to stop his motorcycle. He was killed in a police pursuit.
Let's get the latest on the situation right now. Mark Albert with CNN affiliate WWMT in Benton Harbor live with us right now.

What's the situation now -- Mark?

MARK ALBERT, WWMT-TV REPORTER: Well the police chief here in Benton Harbor has declared the situation contained at about 4:00 a.m. this morning. That follows about eight hours of unrest. And the chief of police here, Sam Harris, joins me now from the Benton Harbor Police Department.

Chief, you've had a tough night out there. What is the situation this morning?

SAM HARRIS, POLICE CHIEF, BENTON HARBOR POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well right now everything is calm, quiet. We pulled back our forces and we're debriefing and preparing for another night of the same.

ALBERT: You had 100 state police troopers being called in after that state of emergency. You moved through major offensive about 2:30 this morning. You had to use teargas, correct?

HARRIS: That's correct.

ALBERT: Why was that necessary? Did it get the desired effect?

HARRIS: It was necessary because of the rock and bottle throwing. And the effect was achieved that caused the crowd to disperse, and we brought calm back to the city.

ALBERT: Was this a brazen crowd, violent?

HARRIS: Yes, it was very violent. We had gunfire. They shot at our trucks, they shot at the captain of police, ran barricades and it was a little chaos this evening.

ALBERT: Now you're a veteran of the Chicago police force, but you say that now seeing this, this is the last thing that you expected coming here.

HARRIS: That's correct. I spent 30 years in Chicago, and from 1966 until '96, I went through a number of civil disturbances and riots and that sort of thing, but I did not expect that here in the small city of less than 12,000 people in Benton Harbor.

ALBERT: You told me earlier you're considering two things for tonight, perhaps a citywide curfew and perhaps using the National Guard. What's the status on both of those?

HARRIS: Well the National Guard is probably a long ways off, but we probably will impose a 10:00 p.m. curfew this evening.

ALBERT: Will there be a third night of riots?

HARRIS: We hope not, but we will prepare for it in the event it should occur.

ALBERT: All right. Chief Sam Harris of the Benton Harbor Police Department, thank you very much for your time -- sir.

HARRIS: You're welcome.

ALBERT: Thank you very much joining us here. This comes after a second night of riots here in Benton Harbor as police try to get back control of that neighborhood.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: Mark, help us understand why this is happening in the first place. What beef do the residents of this small town have with police?

ALBERT: Well, actually it's a little ironic, because here in Benton Harbor, the police did absolutely nothing on Monday night in this police chase. They had a policy where they are not to chase suspects. It was a neighboring department, Benton Township, their officer gave chase. And these speeds reached more than 100 miles per hour, that is when a 27-year-old man, Terrance Shurn, crashed and he died from his injuries.

The residents there showing up at a town hall meeting last night, saying that they want that officer fired, they want the police force diversified, they want a commission appointed to oversee the police department. And most importantly of all, they want answers and they want a ban on all police chases.

They say that this has happened before. In fact, last night, Monday night, rather, that police chase was the third officer-involved death in the past three years for the 17 officer Benton Township force. A very small department there, but they've already had three involved deaths with officers. So certainly a community that is enraged. The police chief -- the police chase, rather, finally ended in the city of Benton Harbor and that's why you've been seeing the riot here the last few nights. COSTELLO: Right, and correct me if I'm wrong, but this person on the motorcycle, he was speeding so police did have reason to give chase. But the people in the town are upset because they say police knew who this guy was, he lived in Benton Harbor and they could have picked him up later.

ALBERT: They do say that. But Chief Sam Harris, whom you heard from just a little bit earlier, would argue, hey, if he had turned himself over and stopped speeding in the first place, they would have arrested him and this never would have happened. Also they say he was driving with a suspended driver's license. And after the accident, they found a small patch of marijuana on his person. So they say that certainly they had cause to chase this person. Benton Harbor -- the city of Benton Harbor did discontinue that chase but Benton Township, rather, has no such policy and did give chase.

COSTELLO: All right. Mark Albert with CNN affiliate WWMT reporting live for us from Benton Harbor, Michigan this morning, many thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com