Graffiti of angel pointing gun at police investigated
Katrease Stafford, Detroit Free Press 9:17 p.m. EST December 31, 2014
Graffiti that was discovered on the side of a building in Detroit depicting an angel holding a gun against a police officer has upset the community and police, who called the image disturbing and unsettling.
Detroit Police spokesman Officer Adam Madera said police are investigating to determine who is responsible for drawing the graffiti on the side of the YouthVille Detroit building located on Woodward near Lothrop Street. The graffiti shows a uniformed officer with his hands up. The young black male, with a halo over his head and white angel wings, is pointing a gun at the officer. The graffiti was painted underneath a sign on the building that says "safe place."
"It's really disturbing, it's disheartening," Madera said. "We do know it's not indicative of our entire community though. It's one individual, one individual's opinions."
Madera said the graffiti was brought to the department's attention Tuesday. YouthVille is a youth development center that offers Detroit children and teens a safe place to participate in programs and receive support. YouthVille representatives could not be reached for comment.
"The superintendent of the youth building said he didn't even discover it until yesterday," Madera said. The organization removed the graffiti the same day it was discovered. The building sits catty-corner to the Detroit Police Department's Central District location.
Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality spokesman Ron Scott, who often works with the leaders of YouthVille, said his organization finds the graffiti to be alarming and deplorable.
"I think it's an important black institution and is a safe place for young people," Scott said. "Whoever did that, to deface a building that was paid for with hard earned money of people who are facing challenges, that person needs to have the courage to come forward and say, 'I did that.' That's the irony, you're going to avenge somebody and present yourself as an angel. That's hardly angelic when we have five murders this week alone. Let's try to change our culture of violence."
Scott said his organization stands for peace, not vengeance and calls for conflict resolution, not violence. Scott said members of the community believe the image should not be accepted or tolerated. The coalition is calling for the person responsible to join its Peace Zones 4 Life effort to help build peace in Detroit.
"That's part of my disdain for people who do this stuff, they have a total disconnect with the community they purport to support," he said. "We've been at this for at least 20 years dealing with police brutality. We don't flinch at challenging police and we fight for justice and against injustice but we're not anti-police. We don't support citizens against police just because they have on a blue uniform. Every cop out there isn't your enemy."
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2014/12/31/graffiti-youthville-police/21104385/
