Public comments press East Lansing council on pepper‑spray incident, MDCR complaint and loitering ban
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Summary
During public comment, speakers urged the council to address a pepper‑spray incident involving two young Black men, criticized the city's responses to a Michigan Department of Civil Rights complaint, and warned that a proposed loitering law could disproportionately harm Black and Brown residents.
Several East Lansing residents used the public‑comment period at the April 7 council meeting to press officials on public‑safety and equity concerns stemming from a pepper‑spray incident earlier this year and related administrative responses.
A commenter who identified himself in the transcript as Naughty Sellers said two young Black men were pepper‑sprayed at close range and that the city’s accounts to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) and to the public had been inconsistent. He said the city’s human relations commission was told not to investigate the complaint and accused the city of protecting officers rather than investigating complaints. "You guys are some of the worst liars," he said in the public comment, and he named officer Lyons (who subsequently resigned, according to the speaker) and city attorney Carlito as officials associated with the city’s response.
A remote caller, Kath Edsel, praised council members who voted down a camping ban and argued a separate proposed loitering ban would have a racially disparate effect: "This was the intent from the onset... a ban on and criminalization of black and brown people for existing in East Lansing," she said, and urged the council to require data collection six months after enforcement to show who is arrested or criminalized.
City attorney (identified in the transcript as Carlito) later reported staff had reviewed public comment alleging prosecutorial misconduct and had not been able to match the assertions to a specific case; he noted city prosecutors handle municipal ordinances, misdemeanors and civil infractions but not felonies, and that public defenders commonly represent defendants in district court.
Council members did not act on police‑discipline matters at the meeting but several said they were following related investigations and encouraged appropriate administrative follow‑up. The exchange encompassed accusations, requests for data collection, and calls for meaningful police oversight and nonperformative remedies.
