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Michigan
residents,
church
groups
and
occupy
movement
march on
Gov.
Snyder's
Ann
Arbor
home
SUPERIOR
TOWNSHIP,
MI (Tell
Us Det)
- Nearly
a
thousand
people
chanting
and
carrying
picket
signs
came
together
on
Martin
Luther
King Day
and
marched
outside
of Gov.
Rick
Snyder's
home
located
in a
gated
community
near Ann
Arbor,
MI. The
gathering
was to
protest
a new
law that
makes it
easier
for the
state to
take
over
financially
struggling
schools
and
local
governments.
The
rally,
which
included
religious
groups
and
protesters
linked
to the
Occupy
Wall
Street
movement,
began at
Parker
Mill
Park in
Washtenaw
County
and
ended
outside
the
gatehouse
of
Snyder's
subdivision
in
Superior
Township.
The
sheriff's
department
had no
immediate
crowd
estimate
Monday
night,
but
authorities
and
media on
the
scene
estimated
it at
between
800 and
1,000
people.
The law
allows a
state-appointed
emergency
financial
manager
to take
over the
finances
of a
school
district
or local
government.
Protest
organizers
say it
disenfranchises
members
of
minority
groups,
noting
that the
school
districts
and
cities
with
such
managers
are
predominantly
black.
Rev.
Charles
E.
Williams
II,
pastor
of the
historic
King
Solomon
Baptist
Church
in
Detroit,
said he
hopes
the
governor
is
listening
and is
willing
to find
a way to
help
cities
in
Michigan
that are
struggling
financially
—
without
ruining
their
democracy.
The Rev.
David
Alexander
Bullock,
president
of the
Rainbow
PUSH
Coalition
and
Highland
Park
NAACP,
stood
alongside
Williams
at the
rally.
He
acknowledged
attendees
from
several
cities,
including
Benton
Harbor,
Flint,
Inkster,
Ypsilanti,
Ann
Arbor,
Lansing,
Grand
Rapids,
Pontiac
and
Detroit.
"We are
unified
today,"
Bullock
said.
"This is
not a
Benton
Harbor
fight.
This is
not a
Grand
Rapids
fight.
This is
not a
Flint or
Ecorse
fight.
This is
not a
Detroit
fight.
This is
the
state of
Michigan
coming
together."
From the
park,
the
protesters
marched
about a
half
mile
east on
Geddes
Road to
the
front
gate of
Snyder's
neighborhood,
where
several
police
officers
stood
guard.
Dennis
Muchmore,
the
governor's
chief of
staff,
met the
group
and
thanked
Bullock
and
Williams
for
sharing
their
concerns
calling
Monday's
rally a
great
example
of
democracy
in
action.
"We
certainly
recognize
the
concerns
and we
share
those
concerns,
and we
want to
make
sure
that all
of these
cities
are
vibrant
and have
got a
financial
status
for the
future
that can
be
sustained,"
he said
in an
interview
with the
press.
"I think
everybody
has a
concern
about
what
happens
to
cities
or
school
districts
or
townships
when
they
have a
problem
financially.
We think
that in
each of
these
situations,
what
we've
got to
do is
try to
find
some
kind of
common
ground
between
the
community
to solve
the
problems.
If we
can do
that, we
will do
that."
Emergency
managers
are in
place in
Benton
Harbor,
Pontiac,
Flint
and the
Detroit
Public
Schools.
Detroit's
finances
also are
under a
review,
meaning
Michigan's
largest
city
could be
brought
under
state
financial
control.
Snyder
has said
the law
isn't
racially
motivated.
Before
the
march,
Snyder
spokeswoman
Sara
Wurfel
said the
governor
supports
citizens'
rights
to
express
their
beliefs
through
protests
and
called
them
"part of
democracy
in
action."
"At the
same
time,
there's
been so
much
misinformation
on the
emergency
manager
law,"
Wurfel
told
AnnArbor.com
for a
story
Sunday.
"We just
hope
that
people
will
take
time to
consider
the full
picture
of the
crises
and dire
circumstances
we're
facing
in some
of these
communities."
Monday's
rally
purposely
fell on
the
Martin
Luther
King Jr.
holiday
in an
effort
to honor
King's
legacy
by
showing
opposition
to
Public
Act 4,
Michigan's
emergency
manager
law.
The law,
which
was
approved
by the
Republican-controlled
state
Legislature
last
year and
signed
by
Snyder,
allows
state-appointed
emergency
managers
to
remove
local
elected
officials
from
office.
Critics
say the
law is a
threat
to
democracy.
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