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Detroit police case dismissed in assault on reporters at 2020 protests

Monicel
Detroit police case dismissed in assault on reporters at 2020 protests

Felony assault charges against a Detroit police officer accused of shooting three photographers with rubber bullets during the 2020 racial justice protests have been dismissed again.

The trial of Daniel Debono, an officer with the Detroit Police Department, was scheduled to begin Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court, but the case was dismissed by Judge Bridget Hathaway because photographers transferred out of Michigan failed to appear at trial said Wayne County Chief Prosecutor Mark Hindelang.

Debono was charged with three counts of felonious assault after shooting MLive photojournalist Nicole Hester and two freelance photojournalists, Seth Herald and Matthew Hatcher, during a May 2020 protest in Detroit over the death of George Floyd.

He was accused of firing rubber bullets at the three photographers after the protests had dispersed, with the Wayne County District Attorney’s office calling the shooting “unprovoked.” At least one of the photographers was injured.

The incident came after Detroit police officials declared an unlawful assembly during the first day of protests in 2020.

Charges against Debono were dismissed during a preliminary hearing in October 2021 after 36th District Court Judge Roberta Archer ruled that Michigan law grants immunity to police officers who try to disperse crowds after they ‘has declared an illegal meeting.

But Wayne County prosecutors appealed the ruling, and both the Wayne County Circuit Court and the Michigan Court of Appeals found that the immunity statute applied only to the trial. Charges were levied again at the end of 2023.

Pamella Szydlak, Debono’s attorney, said prosecutors knew at least one of the photographers did not plan to testify at trial, but went ahead with the case anyway.

“Unfortunately, it is too late to undo the extreme and devastating consequences he has suffered as a result of the charges,” Szydlak said. “I don’t think anyone, unless they’re in the same circumstances, can fully understand the relief he felt (at the firing). It’s been an extremely aggravating or frustrating four and a half years.”

Debono has been suspended without pay since being charged, Szydlak said. His termination hearing was delayed until the criminal case was resolved. The Detroit Police Department did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday about Debono’s status with the department.

Szydlak said it was “absolutely absurd” to charge Debono in the first place. He said he was following orders from then-Detroit Police Chief James Craig to disperse the crowd into the streets. He was doing his job as protesters threw railroad spikes, urine and glass bottles at police, Szydlak said, and it was impossible to tell who was moderate and who wasn’t.

“People on the streets were warned that if they don’t disperse or leave, they will be arrested or the police will deploy non-lethal munitions,” Szydlak said. “These three chose to stay, they chose to stay there to take some good pictures. They put themselves in harm’s way.”

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