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Protests against police chief, trustee escalate in Shelby Township

Shelide suspended a month ago

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich.Protests took a turn in Shelby Township when people calling for the firing of the city’s police chief were met by counter protesters.

Protesters gathered in front of Shelby Township Municipal Offices to call for the firing of police chief Robert Shelide and trustee John Vermeulen.

Shelide was suspended a month ago without pay for offensive tweets. Vermeulen has been silent about a Facbook post that many feel is racist, that post has been deleted.

This week a snow fence was put in place as protesters arrived. Police said it was to keep them from getting dangerously close to the road.

READ: Opposing protesters face-off in Shelby Township

The fence immediately got trampled down. Protesters also eventually walked onto Van Dyke, marching and chanting as police blocked off traffic.

It led to some heated exchanges with counter protesters. Including, an incident where a man shoved a bottle of water in a young woman’s face and then she punched him.

Watch the video above for the full report


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Jason is Local 4’s utility infielder. In addition to anchoring the morning newscast, he often reports on a variety of stories from the tragic, like the shootings at Michigan State, to the off-beat, like great gas station food.

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Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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