Michigan State Police Report on Rosser Shooting Turned Over to County Prosecutor Mackie
On Jan. 16 City Administrator Steve Powers, in response to a request for comment, responded via email: “The Michigan State Police have completed their investigation and it was turned over to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office. Until the County Prosecutor has completed his review, there will be no comments beyond what has already been provided.”
by P.D. Lesko
ON JAN. 14, 2015, a little over two months after Aura Rosser, an Ann Arbor resident and mother of three was shot in her home by an Ann Arbor police officer, The Ann Arbor Independent was told by a source who asked to remain anonymous that the Michigan State Police (MSP) investigation report had been turned over to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor.
County Prosecutor Bran Mackie confirmed that the MSP report had been turned over to his office, but didn’t have documentation at hand to identify the exact date when he’d received the report.
“Jan. 14 sounds about right,” said Mackie, “but I can’t be sure of the exact day.”
The county’s long-time head prosecutor did not speak specifically about the Rosser shooting report, but did say that the warrant review was being done along with his Chief Assistant Hiller.
“Two people often look at the materials,” said Mackie. “There’s quite a bit to go through and listen to.”
While the AAPD has steadfastly refused to say whether there was an audio recording captured by the officer involved in the Nov. 9 shooting, Mackie’s comment about the materials he’s reviewing suggests there may indeed be an audio recording.
In the approximately two weeks County Prosecutor Brian Mackie has had the MSP report, his office has made no public statement about either his receipt of the report or his review of the report. Likewise, neither Ann Arbor’s City Administrator Steve Powers nor AAPD Chief John Seto released any public statements about the MSP report or the end of the two-month investigation into the shooting of Rosser on Nov. 9.
When asked about why his office had made no public statement about receipt of the report, Mackie said that the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s office receives “9,000 requests for warrants every year.”
He added: “I know this one is a big deal. It involves a police officer and there’s the disquieting permanence of death.”
There was a funeral for Rosser on November 24 at Greater Grace Temple City of David, in Detroit, which was organized by her blood relatives. Rosser’s friends held a separate memorial on November 29 at Palmer Park.
Since the Nov. 9 shooting, the AAPD and City Administrator have steadfastly refused to release to the public police reports, video or audio recordings related to the shooting.
The Ann Arbor Independent filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the incident report filed by AAPD officers after the shooting of Aura Rosser. The ACLU of Michigan contacted the AAPD, as well, urging the release of public records related to the shooting.
On Nov. 16, The Ann Arbor Independent filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the AAPD for public records related to the shooting. The paper’s request was independent of the request filed by the Michigan ACLU.
On Nov. 19, the ACLU of Michigan sent a letter to Chief John Seto.
A copy of the letter was provided to the paper in which the organization used FOIA to request “written reports, recordings, computer disks, affidavits, investigative records, videotapes, digital video discs, correspondence, memoranda, court documents and records…email messages, activity logs, etc…” relating to the Nov. 9 shooting.
In Ferguson, Mo., the Missouri ACLU attempted to use FOIA to obtain a copy of the incident report filed after the shooting of Michael Brown. After the FOIA request was denied, the Missouri ACLU filed suit against the police department for violating that state’s Sunshine Laws. The incident report was released to the ACLU shortly after the suit was filed.
The Michigan ACLU lawyer in charge of that group’s FOIA said that the Michigan ACLU would not sue to secure the release of the requested public records because such suits “are time-consuming.”
When informed of the Missouri ACLU’s efforts and its success in obtaining the incident report, the Michigan ACLU official claimed to have no knowledge of that ACLU branch’s efforts to pierce the veil of secrecy put up by police in Ferguson.
County Prosecutor Brian Mackie’s office, in response to a FOIA seeking a copy of the MSP report responded: “The police report you refer to has only recently been presented to determine whether any criminal action has taken place. Therefore, it is an on-going investigation that is exempt under MCL 15.243(1) (b) (i). If no charges are brought, you may resubmit your request.”
Mackie said of the MSP report: “It will all be released. Somehow, you will have it.” He said that he expects to receive Freedom of Information Act requests.
Aura Rosser, according to family members, came to Ann Arbor to better her life. On Nov. 5 she changed her Facebook profile photo. Four days later she was dead, shot by an Ann Arbor Police officer who responded to a yet another domestic dispute call in the 2000 block of Winewood. It has been two months since the shooting and neither the public nor Aura Rosser’s family are any closer to knowing exactly what happened. An autopsy was done as were tests to determine if Rosser’s blood contained traces of any drugs.
None of that information was released to the public. However, there has been media speculation about whether Rosser was an addict.
In fact, Rosser’s sister Shae Ward feels that articles published by MLive “dragged her sister’s name through the mud.”
Ward and Rosser are not blood relatives. According to a piece published on AlternNet, Ward said the two “met in foster care at St. Vincent Catholic Charities Home during the late 1980s.”
Ward was born and raised in Flint, Mich., and Rosser was “the big city girl from Detroit. They considered themselves sisters ever since their days at St. Vincent,” said Ward.
Shae Ward also said: “I didn’t think her past mistakes should have been relevant. What’s relevant is why this officer used this kind of force and what happened. I want to know more about the actual facts.”
Part of Shae Ward’s outrage is that there has been such a lack of outrage on the part of Ann Arbor liberals at the death of Rosser, a black woman.
Treva B. Lindsey is an assistant professor of women’s studies at Ohio State University.
She is quoted in the Aug. 2014 issue of Dame magazine as observing that the “gender-exclusive narrative tends to dominate conversations of violence against black people.”
Dr. Lindsey says, “Both historically and contemporarily, when many people working towards racial justice around the issue of racial violence, the presumptive victim is a black male. From lynching to police brutality, the presumed victim is a black male. Therefore, black women and girls are viewed as exceptional victims as opposed to perpetual victims of anti-black racial violence. Our narratives around racial violence, unfortunately, have yet to evolve into ones that are gender inclusive. Black victim = black male.”
Shirley Beckley, who was born and raised in Ann Arbor, helped to organize a December march and is working with other activists in the city to raise money for Rosser’s three children.
“I think it’s important that [Rosser’s story] go national because all of these killings of these men,” Beckley told AlterNet, “and now we have had a killing of this black woman.”
Three weeks before Rosser’s death, Shirley Beckley said she attended a meeting called Lessons From Ferguson at the Church of the Good Shepherd, United Church of Christ where she said police officials, including the Police Chief, vowed not to behave in the same manner as law enforcement in Ferguson, Mo., where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson.
“What they were saying is that we would handle things differently here in Ann Arbor if we had a Ferguson here,” Beckley says. “But they didn’t.”
Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian Mackie couldn’t say when he would be finished reviewing the report from the Michigan State Police.
“I need to take the time it takes,” he said.