“Justice for Samuel Sterling,” chanted dozens of friends, family members and activists during a rally and march at the state Capitol in Lansing.
This week, a Michigan State Police trooper was in court to be arraigned on a second-degree murder charge in the death of Samuel Sterling back in April.
Brian Keeley allegedly struck and fatally injured Sterling as members of a fugitive task force attempted to put the 25-year-old Kentwood man into custody.
Keely entered not guilty pleas to the charges against him. He resigned from the MSP a day before his arraignment.
Prominent attorney Ben Crump praised the decision to charge the trooper with second degree murder.
“When you have bad police violating policy…killing our children…we won’t stand for that. We stand on the side of truth and we will speak truth to power,” said Crump.
But Andrica Cage told the marchers, she was upset to see the man charged with her son’s death walk out of the courtroom on Wednesday, without having to post a bond.
“He did not get treated as a criminal,” said Cage, “He might get charged as a criminal. But he did not get treated as one.”
Crump and other speakers called on state lawmakers to make the legal system more transparent in crimes involving police officers.