Detroit Cop Charged With Assaulting Journalists

A Detroit Police officer is being hit with felony charges by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office. 32-year-old Detroit Police Corporal Daniel Debono is accused of firing non-lethal rubber bullets at several journalists who were reporting on a protest in Detroit. The protest was one of dozens that sprang up around the nation following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. The police Corporal is being charged with three counts of felonious assault. At last word, he has not been arraigned on the felony charges. He was suspended from the force about two weeks after the incident. The Wayne County Prosecutor claims the three photojournalists were leaving the protest area and there were few people in the vicinity when they were fired upon by the officer with the non-lethal rounds.  The Prosecutor says the three had identified themselves as journalists and had their hands up in the air as they asked Corporal Debono and two other officers for permission to cross a street.  As they began walking away, the Prosecutor says that’s when they were fired upon from the rear.  The Prosecutor says the act was inexplicable.

The most seriously injured was a photojournalist from MLive. An executive of MLive says the incident was an assault on the rights of journalists to do their work and is pleased the officer is being charged. If convicted, the officer faces up to four years in prison on each of the three counts.