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CNN Live At Daybreak

Unrest in Michigan: Second Night of Protests

Aired June 18, 2003 - 05:02   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: Police in Benton Harbor, Michigan, have a riot on their hands, a state of emergency now in effect for the city of 12,000. Benton Harbor, by the way, is on the south -- the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. About 300 people have been rioting for a second night. Rioters have set at least five buildings ablaze, as well as some cars. Police do remain on the streets right now.
The riots follow the death Monday of a biker who died when he slammed into a building during a police pursuit. Demonstrators claim the riots are the result of years of police harassment.

Reporter Jennifer Kuk of WSBT television in nearby South Bend, Indiana, was sent to the city along Lake Michigan's shoreline, and she tells us the riots appear to have expanded several blocks overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER KUK, WSBT-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Another building in flames, night two of demonstrations in Benton Harbor.

CHIEF SAMUEL HARRIS, BENTON HARBOR POLICE: We realize that we want to save our city and so we asked for assistance from the local police departments and the state and county government, and they've given us everything they've got.

KUK: Riot gear, officers from five surrounding areas, people working double, maybe triple shifts trying to stop the chaos.

HARRIS: The only thing we can do as police officers is to gather our resources and try to contain it.

KUK: First they tried patrolling, walking the streets and talking, trying to calm the crowd. But the officers were attacked with bricks and stones.

HARRIS: This incident could have been avoided if one person had stopped and submitted to the arrest. And now the police agencies are being accused of misconduct.

KUK: But police say this is beyond one incident and it's all got to stop, the bullets, fire and rage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Jennifer Kuk.

Is she live on the line with us right now? All right, Jennifer Kuk, that was the reporter that just filed that story.

Good morning -- Jennifer.

KUK: Good morning.

COSTELLO: You're in South Bend right now. Is it too dangerous for you to be in Benton Harbor this morning?

KUK: Well I can tell you, when we left there was still a lot of gunfire, a lot of smoke. Police have been working all night long to get this under control and it looks like they're finally able to do that. It is a lot quieter, but there is still a lot of chaos going on right now. Six homes have actually been set on fire, some of which people live in. They have four cars that have been torched. And we're talking an area about eight blocks long. Hundreds of people in the streets throwing bricks and stones at other people, even cars.

It's much bigger than last night's demonstration. In the last hour, more police have been called in, and I think that's kind of why they have this more under control. They've had to use teargas. Police have made about eight arrests here. And they're just shocked at how large and how violent this riot has become.

Several reporters and photographers have even been hurt, taken to nearby hospitals. When we were there, we had rocks thrown at us, chips in our windows, scratches on our vehicles. There was talk that the National Guard would be called in. That's not happened yet, but it is still an option -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I wanted to ask you more about Benton Harbor itself, 12,000 people live here. It's a tiny town. Tell us about the history that this town has with the police and the problems that they feel they have with the officers.

KUK: They think it's a racial problem here. And what's surprising to the police is that it is such a small community, everybody seems to know everybody else there, and they just didn't ever expect anything like this to happen in Benton Harbor. I mean it's just shocked everybody right now.

COSTELLO: Benton Harbor is predominately African-American, right?

KUK: Yes.

COSTELLO: Tell us about this motorcyclist, police were chasing him, he went out of control, he crashed, he died. Why are people so angry about this incident?

KUK: Well it was -- it was a high-speed chase. He was going about -- you know over 100 miles an hour. Benton Harbor Police had actually called off the chase.

Later that day, Benton Township Police saw him speeding again. They continued the chase. And like you had said, the chase ended when the motorcycle crashed into a house. Witnesses there say that he was -- that the police went too far with the chase, that they didn't need to chase him. They knew who he was, because this is a small community, and that they went too far and that they shouldn't have been chasing and that none of this might have happened.

COSTELLO: OK. Now I understand. So the motorcyclist was from Benton Harbor and people knew him in the town.

KUK: That's right, he has a good reputation in that town.

COSTELLO: Understand. Jennifer Kuk, reporting live for us from South Bend, we really appreciate it. And we'll get back to you later, we hope.

Before those riots began, the police in that small Michigan city held a meeting with area residents about the chase and the cyclist's death. One resident told the police chief that residents want the officer involved in the chase off the force.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BELINDA BROWN, BENTON HARBOR RESIDENT: We want this man off the patrol. We want him off. We don't want another death in Benton Harbor, Michigan. We don't want another death in our community. And we're not happy with the way this whole incident went down, so something needs to be done now. Your policy, whatever your policy says, if you have to rewrite it or whatever you have to do, right now we want him off the street because we do not want another death. We do not want to pick up another one of our young kids off the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The town's police chief says the department is likely to change its policy regarding police chases.

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 - 05:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Police in Benton Harbor, Michigan, have a riot on their hands, a state of emergency now in effect for the city of 12,000. Benton Harbor, by the way, is on the south -- the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. About 300 people have been rioting for a second night. Rioters have set at least five buildings ablaze, as well as some cars. Police do remain on the streets right now.
The riots follow the death Monday of a biker who died when he slammed into a building during a police pursuit. Demonstrators claim the riots are the result of years of police harassment.

Reporter Jennifer Kuk of WSBT television in nearby South Bend, Indiana, was sent to the city along Lake Michigan's shoreline, and she tells us the riots appear to have expanded several blocks overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER KUK, WSBT-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Another building in flames, night two of demonstrations in Benton Harbor.

CHIEF SAMUEL HARRIS, BENTON HARBOR POLICE: We realize that we want to save our city and so we asked for assistance from the local police departments and the state and county government, and they've given us everything they've got.

KUK: Riot gear, officers from five surrounding areas, people working double, maybe triple shifts trying to stop the chaos.

HARRIS: The only thing we can do as police officers is to gather our resources and try to contain it.

KUK: First they tried patrolling, walking the streets and talking, trying to calm the crowd. But the officers were attacked with bricks and stones.

HARRIS: This incident could have been avoided if one person had stopped and submitted to the arrest. And now the police agencies are being accused of misconduct.

KUK: But police say this is beyond one incident and it's all got to stop, the bullets, fire and rage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Jennifer Kuk.

Is she live on the line with us right now? All right, Jennifer Kuk, that was the reporter that just filed that story.

Good morning -- Jennifer.

KUK: Good morning.

COSTELLO: You're in South Bend right now. Is it too dangerous for you to be in Benton Harbor this morning?

KUK: Well I can tell you, when we left there was still a lot of gunfire, a lot of smoke. Police have been working all night long to get this under control and it looks like they're finally able to do that. It is a lot quieter, but there is still a lot of chaos going on right now. Six homes have actually been set on fire, some of which people live in. They have four cars that have been torched. And we're talking an area about eight blocks long. Hundreds of people in the streets throwing bricks and stones at other people, even cars.

It's much bigger than last night's demonstration. In the last hour, more police have been called in, and I think that's kind of why they have this more under control. They've had to use teargas. Police have made about eight arrests here. And they're just shocked at how large and how violent this riot has become.

Several reporters and photographers have even been hurt, taken to nearby hospitals. When we were there, we had rocks thrown at us, chips in our windows, scratches on our vehicles. There was talk that the National Guard would be called in. That's not happened yet, but it is still an option -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I wanted to ask you more about Benton Harbor itself, 12,000 people live here. It's a tiny town. Tell us about the history that this town has with the police and the problems that they feel they have with the officers.

KUK: They think it's a racial problem here. And what's surprising to the police is that it is such a small community, everybody seems to know everybody else there, and they just didn't ever expect anything like this to happen in Benton Harbor. I mean it's just shocked everybody right now.

COSTELLO: Benton Harbor is predominately African-American, right?

KUK: Yes.

COSTELLO: Tell us about this motorcyclist, police were chasing him, he went out of control, he crashed, he died. Why are people so angry about this incident?

KUK: Well it was -- it was a high-speed chase. He was going about -- you know over 100 miles an hour. Benton Harbor Police had actually called off the chase.

Later that day, Benton Township Police saw him speeding again. They continued the chase. And like you had said, the chase ended when the motorcycle crashed into a house. Witnesses there say that he was -- that the police went too far with the chase, that they didn't need to chase him. They knew who he was, because this is a small community, and that they went too far and that they shouldn't have been chasing and that none of this might have happened.

COSTELLO: OK. Now I understand. So the motorcyclist was from Benton Harbor and people knew him in the town.

KUK: That's right, he has a good reputation in that town.

COSTELLO: Understand. Jennifer Kuk, reporting live for us from South Bend, we really appreciate it. And we'll get back to you later, we hope.

Before those riots began, the police in that small Michigan city held a meeting with area residents about the chase and the cyclist's death. One resident told the police chief that residents want the officer involved in the chase off the force.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BELINDA BROWN, BENTON HARBOR RESIDENT: We want this man off the patrol. We want him off. We don't want another death in Benton Harbor, Michigan. We don't want another death in our community. And we're not happy with the way this whole incident went down, so something needs to be done now. Your policy, whatever your policy says, if you have to rewrite it or whatever you have to do, right now we want him off the street because we do not want another death. We do not want to pick up another one of our young kids off the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The town's police chief says the department is likely to change its policy regarding police chases.

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