DETROIT (WWJ) - Two Detroit police officers who were fired for mocking a woman following a traffic stop will not face criminal charges.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig had requested charges of misconduct in office against now former Corporal Gary Steele and ex-Officer Michael Garrison after Steele posted a Snapchat video of Ariel Moore walking away from a traffic stop last January.
In the clip tagged "What Black Girl Magic Looks Like" and "Celebrating Black History Month," Steel says "Bye Felicia," while Garrison chimes in: "Walk of shame."
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy says while the officers' behavior was "reprehensible, disturbing and unprofessional," it did not amount to criminal misconduct.
Worthy explained, in a statement released Tuesday: "Videotaping someone in public is lawful. The First Amendment ensures that even hate speech is protected, absent some form of intent to intimidate the target of the speech. Steele did not create this video while exercising his official police duties or under color of office. It was not taken using police property.
"The video was taken after, not during, the time the citizen was in custody. There is insufficient evidence to show that during his interaction with the woman that he treated the woman unfairly or inequitably during the official police interaction."
Chief Craig has said he was angered by the incident he characterized as "racially insensitive."
Separately, Worthy declined to press charges in another incident caught on video in May in which Steel broke a woman's arm while trying to put her in handcuffs. Worthy said body cam footage showed the 23-year-old woman's arm was fractured while she was resisting arrest on charges stemming from an earlier shooting.
Worthy noted that Steele twice asked the suspect to please not resist because she was holding her infant son.
"She refused and Steele told officers to take the child," Worthy said. "The child was taken away safely but the victim was able to slip her left arm free. Steele lifted her left arm up in the air and can be seen moving it sideways in an attempt to handcuff her. During this action, the victim screamed that her arm was broken. The video does not show any obvious sudden movement before the victim's arm is fractured. Steele immediately called for medics to arrive at the scene."
While Worthy said neither of these incidents are crimes, she noted the alleged conduct "is something that could support other possible liability" -- i.e: civil lawsuits.
